LUCIDMEDIA

Another Year Interview With Actress Leslie Manville

Written by Phil Brown Monday, 17 January 2011 11:06

As movie awards season rears its ugly head, lists of performers and filmmakers worthy of gobbling up gold statues are starting to clog up film blogs and publications. What’s immediately apparent when perusing through any list of candidates is what an uncommonly strong year 2010 was for actresses. But while the impressive work of youngsters such as Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), and Haillee Steinfeld (True Grit) seem to be dominating the Best Actress discussions, it’s actually veteran Lesley Manville who may have given best performance of any actress in 2010. Manville has made over 67 appearances in British film and television over her storied career, but has never received the level of attention she has for her role as a manic-depressive middle-aged alcoholic in Mike Leigh’s wonderful Another Year.

For Manville the sudden attention is pleasing, but she’s been in the business long enough to know better than to get caught up in the awards hype. “Ever since Another Year premiered in Cannes it has certainly garnered a lot of attention and that’s always very nice,” Manville told Lucid. “It’s all very positive, but I can’t get too excited. Awards are lovely, but it’s a busy field this year and there have thankfully been a lot of very strong roles for women. So I don’t know. I’m the unknown girl from England. I might be lucky and get a nomination, but I’m not expecting much.” Such humble words are rare from any actress during the awards rush, but for someone as talented as Manville, the work is always more important than the accolades. It could never be claimed that she went into the movie with any lofty ambitions. In fact, she started the project with no idea of what the film would be at all. That’s simply how her longtime director Mike Leigh works.

Manville and Leigh first collaborated in the 80s when the acclaimed director was working in British television. During that period the director developed a unique style of filmmaking, starting his projects by improvising with his actors before even a page of the screenplay was written. The results of this unique and somewhat enigmatic filmmaking technique have certainly worked wonders for the director responsible for such contemporary classics as the Oscar-nominated Secrets And Lies and Cannes Film Festival favorite Naked. However, for those outside of his close circle of collaborators the process can feel like a mystery. Fortunately Leslie Manville was more than happy to detail Leigh’s technique.

“We really do start with a blank canvas and rehearse for 18 weeks,” explained Manville. “In essence, he works one-to-one with all of the actors creating the characters and then he will start to bring us together to build up their relationships and then further down the line we’ll start doing little master improvisations that may end up becoming part of the fabric of the film. Once we start filming, it it’s very much laid down. We know what we’re saying and we don’t improvise on camera. But the process to get to that point does start without a script.” According to Manville, this technique of writing through improvisation continues throughout the shooting process. Leigh’s films are typically shot chronologically with frequent breaks taken throughout production to allow for Leigh and his actors determine where to go next. It may sound like a terrifyingly uncertain way of working, but for Leigh and his actors the technique is exhilarating.

“One of the great things about working with Mike that’s terrific for actors is that he’s so collaborative,” explained Manville. “You feel very involved and I suppose very responsible. It’s very fulfilling work because you don’t just get a script, get your act together at home, and turn up on set to do something that’s hopefully good. This process is completely collaborative and Mike very much needs the input of his actors. He can’t create the characters this way on his own, that much is for sure. You feel very involved and inevitably that feeling of closeness to the piece carries through to the completed film.”

Another Year is the latest of Leigh’s humanist domestic dramas (albeit with a hint of comedy of course. It wouldn’t represent real life without it).  The small, but ambitious film follows a content aging married couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) over the course of a year, showcasing how their simple and somewhat boring domestic life brings them a sense of fulfillment and happiness impossible for their less well adjusted friends. Manville’s character Mary is the ultimate flipside of that coin, a perpetually single woman whose love of drink and flirting may have been satisfying in her youth, but has become deeply depressing. It’s an incredibly difficult role for Manville, requiring her to fully embody the tragedy of a character who could have easily been a simple drunken buffoon. The audience deeply feels her pain and for Manville that meant months of playing a role in a perpetually pained and drunken state.

For many actors that task would be psychologically devastating off screen. Fortunately Manville is able to turn those emotions on and off at will. “Once I’m finished for the day, I come home and am completely wearing my other hat. I don’t carry stuff form characters around with me. I’m just lucky that way, which was particularly good news in the case of Mary,” laughed the actress. Amusingly while Manville was easily able to shake off the emotional burdens of her role, she did have to get a bit method about portraying a drunk onscreen. “We didn’t really discuss it because I don’t think Mike wanted me to get hung up on it, but I’d never really played drunk before,” admitted Manville. “I found that it was easier to stay in a semi-bubbly state because I found going in and out of being it quite tricky.” It’s not the aspect of the role that you’d expect to be difficult, but the results of the actress’ choice speak for themselves.