Interview: Bafta nominee and Oscar contender Lesley Manville

Imitation of Life voted Lesley Manville best actress of 2010 for her performance in Mike Leigh's Another Year. I first saw the film in the Sarajevo Film Festival, where I had the opportunity to talk with Lesley Manville about the film, her longtime collaboration with Mike Leigh and the Oscar buzz generated by her extraordinary performance. Here's an extract of the interview:

Imitation of Life: You've been working with Mike Leigh for over three decades now. It's been a terrific collaboration. You gave, for instance, a memorable performance in your single scene in Secrets and Lies, but apart from All or Nothing you had never enjoyed leading status in any of his films. How does it feel to be the focus of this one?

Lesley Manville: Well, obviously I feel this is a very good film for me. When you first see Mary [her character in Another Year] in the film, you sort of think you got her number, but events do happen and it's a great opportunity as an actor to be able to show the terrible side of this woman's life as opposed to the upside of it.

IoL: Were you aware of the character's clout in the film when you were first offered the role?

LM: Well, no. It's actually impossible to know because Mike Leigh doesn't work with a script. What happens is, he rings you and basically you have to say yes or no without knowing where exactly your character is going. I guess he has some notions or ideas but, believe it or not, we start with nothing, so there's no way of knowing.

IoL: Mike Leigh's improvisation method is already legendary, but it's still mind-boggling for anyone who has never been part of the process. Could you elaborate on it?

LM: As I said, we start with nothing and there is no script whatsoever during the whole process. We rehearse over a long period of time. In the case of Another Year we worked for 18 weeks before the cameras came in. During this period the actors create the characters and through the improvisations we determine the dialogue. Just before shooting we do master improvisations in real time from which the scenes of the film are then distilled. But dialogues are never written, words are the actors'. The words of Mary in the film, they all come from me.

IoL: You should get billing in the writing credits.

LM: [Laughs] Yes, I guess so. But it would be hard in case Mike gets an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. It'd be like: Another Year, a script by Mike Leigh and Lesley Manville and Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen and the rest of the cast.

IoL: Speaking of what… I know you're going to tell me you are not thinking about it and it doesn't really matter, but have you already chosen the dress you will wear next February when you walk on the red carpet as an Oscar nominee?

LM: [Laughs] Thanks for saying such lovely things about me. Well, no, I haven't thought about it. Any ideas?

This interview was held on July 27, 2010 in the Sarajevo Film Festival. In the meantime, Lesley Manville has won the National Board of Review Award as best actress of the year and has received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Another Year. Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow, Tuesday, January 25, 2011.