LOS ANGELES 鈥� A casual comparison of Oscar-nominee Lesley Manville鈥檚 feature film Phantom Thread and her television series Mum would suggest the projects are radically different. Manville argues the moody and emotionally anchored movie about a noted designer and a TV production dealing with what strange events life can present to a mature mother and widow aren鈥檛 that far apart.
鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 done a lot, as it were, drama that was really labelled as comedy, and I would argue that Mum is somewhere in between drama and comedy anyway. A lot of it, as you know if you鈥檝e seen it, is very, very tragic and very moving and very human, and it鈥檚 interspersed with a lot of very funny characters, ostensibly, as opposed to necessarily funny kind of joke lines,鈥� Manville tells TV critics.
The show Manville鈥檚 talking about, which is described in press material as 鈥渁 family comedy,鈥� is a series that looks at the world through the eyes of Cathy (Manville), a mother who has just turned 60 and is finding her footing following the premature death of her husband. The second season of the six episodes of Mum, slated to be available through the streaming service BritBox on Sunday, continues the examination of a woman rediscovering herself with the help of family and friends including Michael (Peter Mullan).
Because Mum deals with serious issues 鈥� even when some come across as funny 鈥� Manville sees her career as being more of shifting in the dramatic world and not so much leaping from genre to genre.
鈥淚 love the whole thing of jumping between different types of drama. I鈥檓 doing Long Day鈥檚 Journey Into Night now, which is an unequivocal tragedy, and Phantom Thread with Paul Thomas Anderson was just a wonderful experience in itself to be with that directing genius and with Daniel Day-Lewis, who was just wonderful to work with,鈥� Manville says. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 very lucky, really. I鈥檓 having a really, really good time at the moment doing all these different things.鈥�
Manville, 62, has been working as a professional actor since she was a teen and has compiled a massive list of stage, screen and TV credits, including All or Nothing, Another Year, Law & Order: UK, River, Harlots and Maleficent. Those acting jobs have been mixed with theatre work, including The Cherry Orchard, The Alchemist, Grief and Ghosts.
Manville credits her extensive theatre work as helping her avoid a slowing in her career because whenever there are no TV or film roles immediately available, she always has the theatre.
Each role 鈥� whether in front of a camera or an audience 鈥� has pressed Manville in different ways, but Mum has felt very familiar. Along with being a real-life mom, the fact she鈥檚 in her 60s and playing a woman who is dealing with that milestone age gives her a connection to the role. She鈥檚 happy there鈥檚 been a shift in the way people think about people reaching retirement age.
鈥淚 think 60 is being redefined by this generation of people who are 60. There鈥檚 always going to be exceptions. There really is in any generation, but I think that women particularly are breaking the stereotypical role that鈥檚 been set for them over the decades, over the previous decades, about how they should be when they鈥檙e 60,鈥� Manville says. 鈥淐ertainly, my mother, who was arguably very youthful and very glamorous, she looked very different at 60 to how I look now and how other 60-year-olds look now.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 that we鈥檙e just not being pigeonholed anymore. Culture allows us to be sexually active and attractive and nobody鈥檚 pigeonholing us any longer.鈥�
The reaction Manville has gotten from the first season is viewers of all ages have been able to relate to Mum because at the heart it is a love story about two people finding their romantic feet again. They just happen to be over the age of 60.
Manville鈥檚 portrayal has clicked with viewers because they see Cathy as the strong center of the series who is surrounded by enough slightly ridiculous characters the show gets pushed into the comedy category. Manville looks at Mum as a very human story told in very tender terms through the writing of series creator Stefan Golaszewski.
All that unfolded so beautifully in the first season, Manville was concerned that trying to do a second batch of episodes might not go as well. Her mind changed quickly.
鈥淵ou are always worried about the second series because you worry that they鈥檒l never be as good. And I remember reading Series 2 and immediately ringing my agent and saying, 鈥橧t is unbelievable how he has surpassed himself, the writer, with Series 2. It鈥檚 even better than Series 1.鈥� And what he鈥檚 done so brilliantly is take it less so with Cathy and Michael, because they鈥檙e a constant,鈥� Manville says. 鈥淭heir emotions are all over the place with each other, but they don鈥檛 change, really. They are steadfast.
鈥淏ut what he鈥檚 done very brilliantly is see what the amazing actors who are in it have done with their characters in Series 1, and he鈥檚 taken all of those elements and really run with them and just used them up for Series 2 and given them wonderful, wonderful things to do and wonderful dialogue to say. And they鈥檙e just really amazing. So I think that you can look forward to a lot more funny stuff from them. Yeah. It鈥檚 really, really, really beautifully written.鈥�
It鈥檚 beautifully written enough that Manville already has agreed to do a third season.
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