Lesley Manville Knows She Has More Stamina Than Actors a Third Her Age

Fifty years into her acting career, Lesley Manville is at the height of her powers. The “Phantom Thread” Oscar nominee has only been working harder and more often in recent years, and her latest awards-worthy performance can be seen in directors Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s “Ordinary Love.” She stars in the romantic drama as Joan, a woman battling breast cancer, opposite Liam Neeson’s Tom, her devoted but troubled husband. And that’s not all; she’s also currently starring in the National Theatre’s run of “The Visit.” On a brief trip of press through New York City, Manville sat with Backstage to discuss how she keeps her stamina up, the advice she has for other actors, and how she builds a character.

Manville was attracted to how honest “Ordinary Love” is.
“[Joan and Tom] love each other profoundly and enjoy each other which is quite refreshing to see in a middle-aged relationship, and then Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s an observation of that process in a woman’s life, but always with the backdrop of [how] that huge, epic thing affects this relationship and how you navigate that once you’ve got that diagnosis. What it does to a relationship, how you reform in a way and cope with that knowledge. I don’t want to paint the picture of a film that’s morbid or negative because I’ve had an enormous number of women who have said that they’ve been through breast cancer, as millions of women have, and they found the film incredibly uplifting, its take on it and its honesty. They were very thrilled to see a film that didn’t sugarcoat. This film is in no way schmaltzy or sentimental, and I wouldn’t have gone near it if it was because that’s not doing justice or service to the people who go through this every day.”

Manville and Neeson established their characters’ stories by culling from their own.
“We did what we thought was necessary and I think Liam and I, we’re both of a certain age; we’ve got a wealth of life experience and acting experience. So a lot of those things were called upon. We have, like everybody does, grief and pain in our lives we’ve experienced and happiness and joy that we experience. It’s all in there, and our job as actors is to use it in certain ways that we think might be appropriate for the characters, all the scenes that we’re playing.”

Manville’s stamina propels her work ethic.
“I mean certainly doing ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ in London and filming ‘Harlots’ three or four days a week was a challenge. But I think I have to admit that I’ve got a huge amount of stamina. I often feel that I’ve got more stamina than people a third of my age. I don’t know where that comes from, but I’ve just got it and I’ve got really good work. I’d rather not do a job than turn up unprepared. So when I was doing ‘Long Day’s Journey,’ I would make sure even though I was going to get to bed at 12:30 a.m. and I was up at 5:00 a.m. to do ‘Harlots,’ I knew those lines on ‘Harlots.’ I get quietly miffed if a 25-year-old on set the next day hasn’t bothered to learn the lines. I know I have a reputation of being a hard worker who turns up, having done a lot of work, preparation, in good humor and good spirits.”

If you’re looking to have a career like Manville, you have to work really hard.
“My advice to you is maybe to try and get into a drama school if that’s what you would like to do because I do think drama schools are a good start. You’re with other people who are trying to do the same thing. You learn a lot, that’s for sure. And it’s a very good launch pad because you will have agents come and see your final year shows, and if you’re lucky, you might get an agent. And it might even work out for you that you realize it’s not what you want to do. You could end up doing a year of drama school and think, Actually this is not what I want. But I hope you’re not looking just for 15 minutes of fame and you’re in it for the long haul. And that means a lot of work.”