Acting

Yes, I know. Actors are supposed to be good at being other people, so if they manage that really well, we shouldn’t be surprised. but even so…I read a catty review of the TV series Mum which was essentially complaining that Lesley Manville and Peter Mullen were old, so the gentle, tactful revelation of their growing relationship must be really dull. I’m a huge Manville fan, always have been, but I think this is one of the best things she’s done - quiet, low key,affectionate but a long way from stupid and - if she’s pushed, as she is pushed, by everyone around her - with a core of steel.

But then, this week, I caught up with Phantom Thread. Yes, it’s a Day-Lewis vehicle, where the great man airs a further range of eccentricities as a tyrannical head of a fashion house. He’s really good, of course, but his side kick is a superior, ruthless bully played by…yup, Lesley Manville. Yet again, of course, she’s totally convincing. Different era, different class, utterly opposite character - but she can do that too. Of course she can. I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet again I was blown away.