Lesley Manville

“I love playing women at the far ends of the social scale. I've done it all my life; that's where my ability lies.”

“When I make films, I work with Mike Leigh, who's the most prolific director in England.”

“I'm quite chameleon in my work - not normally looking much like I do in real life.”

“In 1990, I was in 'The Three Sisters' at the Royal Court and won the Clarence Derwent award for my supporting role as Natasha - the prize was £100. I could have paid the gas bill, but I ended up buying a porcelain and silver Bavarian coffee set in an antiques shop in Penzance.”

“I've got two older sisters who I'm very close to. And my son's grown up with a big sense of family around him.”

“A friend of mine rang the box office to collect a ticket I'd reserved for her, and the girl said, 'Who's Lesley Manville?'”

“There isn't a spare minute in the day. I have spent my life doing everything. I work. I go home. I do the shopping. I cook. Then there's the laundry and the dog. Most of my life, I have been a working mother. And even when I wasn't, I still did it all.”

“היה לי קול מוזיקה קלאסית יוצא דופן. אם הייתי הולכת בדרך אמיתית בשביל הכישרון שלי, הייתי בסופו של דבר זמרת אופרה.”

“הגעתי לנקודה באנגליה שבה אתה לא יכול ללכת הרבה יותר רחוק; אשמח לבוא לאמריקה ולעבוד עם כמה מהבמאים המעניינים כאן.”

“אני די זיקית בעבודתי – בדרך כלל לא נראית כמו בחיים האמיתיים.”

“אני אוהבת לשחק נשים בקצוות הרחוקים של הסקלה החברתית.”

“בעבודה שלי, אני רוצה לשכנע אנשים שאני הדמות הזאת. אם הם יודעים הכול על לזלי מנוויל – החיים הפרטיים, כל הדברים האלה – זה לא יעזור. אז סוג האנונימיות שאני נהנית ממנו הוא המפתח.”

“I still sing, but completely for my own pleasure. I play a nightclub singer in 'Sparkle,' but I'd like to pursue it a bit more. I sang at a friend's 60th at Claridge's the other month; I did 'Baby It's Cold Outside' with the actor Hilton McRae, and 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.'”

“I quite like that people tend not to know my name. I remember being at the Cannes film festival for 'All or Nothing.' I looked very different in the film - I had a little greasy bob and no makeup. I went to a dinner after the screening, and everyone completely ignored me. I got a real buzz out of that.”

“I like to personalise my dressing room, have a cover for the bed and, if it is a long run, a few cushions and a teapot - a little pot for one.”

“The thing is, when you have a child with someone, like it or not, you're going to have to have a continuing relationship with them.”

“When I was eight, it was clear I was a very good singer.”

“With learning lines, before I had Alfie, I'd put it off and think, 'Oh, I'll just have a glass of wine and then do it later,' but when you've finally got a child to bed and you know you've only got an hour, then you achieve so much.”

“I've reached a point in England where you can't go much further; I would love to come to America and work with some of the interesting directors here.”

“For Kitty Gilbert in 'Topsy-Turvy,' I had to get to the point where I could improvise in the style of 1880, which is difficult. The research for that was huge.”