‘I’d make a brilliant detective!’
Lesley Manville – soon to be Princess Margaret in The Crown – talks about her unconventional character, Susan, in brilliant new detective drama, Magpie Murders, and more…
Lesley Manville is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses, having starred in everything from BBC sitcom Mum to Amazon Prime period drama Harlots – and is set to play Princess Margaret in season five of The Crown later this year. The 65-year-old was married to actor Gary Oldman – they split up in 1989 when their son, Alfie, was three months old – then to actor Joe Dixon, who she divorced in 2004. Here, we hear what the star has said about new BritBox six-part whodunnit, Magpie Murders – based on the book by Foyle’s War creator Anthony Horowitz (about the death of a fictional crime novelist called Alan Conway, murdered while writing his next bestseller) – and other topics close to her heart…
…on Susan in Magpie Murders ‘She’s a book editor – who’s chosen a life of independence, to be quite “out there” with how she presents herself. She’s not conforming to anything stereotypical about a “woman of her age”. She doesn’t want to get married… she’s got a Greek lover, but she certainly doesn’t want to live with him. She hasn’t got children… I was really helped by costume designer, Annie Hardinge. She came in with this brilliant array of clothes, and it was… a lightbulb moment. Her leather jacket is fundamental to her look…and yes, it might have found a home somewhere, I don’t know…!’ …on ‘basing’ Susan on journalist, Emily Maitlis
‘Ha, I didn’t base her on Emily Maitlis, but I’ve always looked at her. I saw her once at the BBC. I was waiting for somebody in reception, and she was running across the foyer, busy, in heels and I just thought, that’s interesting. You can form images of what you think somebody in that position could be dressing like… and you can think of Susan Ryeland and think, she’s a publisher. She could be a bit plain, and I thought no, let’s go a little bit “Emily” with her. It’s that mixture of style and brilliant mind.’ …on whether Susan and Princess Margaret would get along
‘I think Princess Margaret would have loved to be
Susan in Magpie Murders – zipping around town in an open-top red sports car. She was that kind of girl as well. I think the only difference between them – speaking quite seriously, now – is that one of them’s got a tiara and the other one hasn’t.’
…on taking on the famous Royal
‘ You don’t just want to do an impersonation because
I am not Rory Bremner on his impressions show! It’s my version of Princess Margaret. I also have to pick up the baton from Vanessa Kirby and Helena Bonham Carter – they’ve played her so spectacularly…’
…on whether she’d make a good detective
‘I’d have been a brilliant detective, because I have ex-boyfriends who, to this day, don’t know how I worked out why they weren’t in the place that they told me that they were! I think women generally make good detectives because we’re good at multitasking!’
…on her late mum’s Alzheimer’s
‘She talked about her time as a child. So, we went with it. You realise very quickly there’s no point saying: “But your mother’s dead now…” What would it achieve? It makes you antagonistic and makes her frustrated because she thinks what she’s saying is not believed… The very last six months of her life were the worst, really. They weren’t pleasant for anybody, least of all my mother.’ …on how she likes to relax
‘I do a bit of gardening, but I also spend a lot of time sitting at my desk preparing for work. Unsurprisingly, I’ve got Princess Margaret rolling around in my head at the moment. I only really need one day off work, and then I’m happy to get going again!’
…on sexiness, over 50
‘In our culture people think once you’re over 50 it’s all sleepy time. No, it isn’t! You don’t stop fancying people or being sexy just because you are over 50. Or wanting to fall in love again, or even just finding a kind of grown-up intimacy. But you don’t see that with older people on television or in films unless they are very glamorous, like gorgeous Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci in [the James Bond film] Spectre.’
…on plastic surgery
‘I certainly won’t be doing anything. On so many levels it is wrong. It feels like a betrayal of my sex. What are you going to do when you are 90 and only looking 25? It’s crazy. We get older, we die, you might as well embrace it…!’
● Magpie Murders, streaming exclusively on BritBox now