Lesley Manville Interview
A-list actor Lesley Manville brings style and substance to amateur sleuthing in the Moonflower Murders, the second in the series of Anthony Horowitz’s bestselling books. In her interview with MASTERPIECE, Manville shares insights about her character Susan Ryeland, filming in Crete, fashion, bee stings, and understanding what makes men tick.
The interactions between your Moonflower Murders character, Susan Ryeland, and Atticus Pünd are, of course, imagined. That said, what do you make of their relationship?
I think that’s right, and certainly as actors, Tim [McMullan] and I have to think about it as a real relationship because ultimately, that’s what the audience member sees—two people communicating—even though obviously, he is absolutely a figment of her imagination. And you have to bear in mind that she knows this character very, very well through all of the Alan Conway books that she’s published and edited and scrutinized. Of all his novels, Pünd has become the character that she really gravitates towards and really likes. They have a great thing that’s good for any couple, whether romantic or platonic: They have humor together, and that’s very bonding for them. And she has such respect for his investigative skills, and he’s very encouraging, spending a lot of time urging her to push forward with her own investigating skills. There’s mutual respect and admiration between them. I mean, it’s a shame, really, that they’re not a real-life couple. But there’s a real charm about them.
With the understanding that there’s no better role than that of Susan Ryeland, is there any part of you that wishes that you had been able to play two characters in the two different time periods, as did much of the Moonflower Murders cast?
Well, yes, I was quite jealous of that because there’s not much on television where an actor hears, “Can you come and do this fantastic series”—written by Anthony Horowitz, no less—”and you’ll get to play two characters?” I mean, it is heaven. It’s like doing two jobs rolled into one. So yes, a bit jealous of that.
But then I’ve got so many rich pickings with playing Susan in that he’s written such a multifaceted, terrific woman. So I’ve got absolutely no complaints! But I know those other actors were thrilled and couldn’t believe their luck that they got to play two characters. It’s interesting, the two different versions of those characters. It just shows what a kind of wonderful chameleon bunch they are, because it really is a pretty impressive cast of talent, demonstrated in the fact that they play these two characters that are so different and with such ease.
What was it like for you filming in Crete?
Oh, it was gorgeous, really, properly gorgeous. I hadn’t been to Crete before. We were all in heaven, really. We stayed at a very lovely hotel on the beach, and our location was not very far away, about 20 minutes, and it was just the perfect spot. It was this little hotel with individual rooms and chalets, and right on the sea—the crew were jumping into the water every lunchtime, and of course I couldn’t, because I had costume and hair and makeup and everything. But they were all just putting on their swimsuits and spending their lunch breaks in the water.
I did get stung quite badly when we were filming in Crete, up in the mountains. I got stung by a wasp or bee, one or the other, and I had to be taken to hospital to get it looked at because I really did react very badly. I think it was a bee—there were lots of beehives up in the mountains, and honey was being harvested. But one of them got up my trouser leg and gave me a nasty sting, so I had to have a few injections and things like that.
When Susan returns to England in Moonflower Murders, it’s exciting to see her back in her chic leather jacket. How do her different Greece and England styles relate to her character?
Well, I think the England style is symbolic to her of her old life and the old Susan. She’s gone to Greece full of optimism about the relationship and the hotel they’re going to run. But it’s almost as though she’s trying to fit into a world that really she’s not organically comfortable in. Of course Greece is beautiful, and you wake up to this beautiful glistening sea every day and the sun is shining and you can eat amazing Greek food. But you can’t put those on a sticking plaster over your life and just say, “Well, because I have all those things, and there are people who pay lots of money to go on holiday and have two weeks off every year, aren’t I lucky I can have that 365 days of the year now?” Of course, it’s lovely objectively speaking, but it isn’t her life, and it isn’t ultimately what makes her tick.
There’s a really lovely moment when she does go back to the UK and she gets her car out of the garage. And it starts first time, and it’s just the noise of that lovely MG engine—it’s thrilling to her because it represents everything that is the meat and bones of Susan, her independence, the love of her job, even though she’s not back there strictly speaking, to do her job; she’s back there to investigate a murder that somebody thinks is partly to do with the book that she published. So she’s back there for a whole set of complex and rather uncomfortable and slightly scary reasons, but she can put her leather jacket on and a bit of red lipstick, and she doesn’t have to wear the kind of loose dresses that she wears in Greece to keep cool. She can actually be the cutting edge Susan that she is.
We created her as a woman who unashamedly enjoys her wardrobe…And I love the fact that a woman can be brilliant and intelligent and vibrant and thoughtful and provoke all kinds of conversation, and also be very interested in her own personal style, which can often be seen as something that’s quite slight in a person. Isn’t it a bit fickle just to be interested in your clothes? But I personally, as Lesley, don’t think that’s the case. I happen to love clothes, and I don’t think it diminishes anything about my personal integrity or intelligence. And I think Susan feels exactly the same way.
Are there any similarities between an actor and an amateur sleuth?
Well, that’s interesting. I suppose only that when I get given a part to play, I have to fill in so many gaps and create history that sometimes might not be there. But as to whether I feel an actor is a bit like a sleuth. I don’t know, really. I do think women make very good sleuths. I think I’d have been quite a good detective, but not because of my acting skills—just because of my nosiness and my understanding of what makes men tick.
