With writer-director Thomas Bezucha’s Let Him Go opening this weekend, I recently had the opportunity to talk with Lesley Manville about her work in the fiery thriller. Based on the novel of the same name by Larry Watson, Let Him Go follows a retired sheriff named George Blackledge (Kevin Costner) and his wife Margaret (Diane Lane) who set out to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas, headed by matriarch Blanche Weboy (Manville). When they discover the Weboys have no intention of letting the child go, George and Margaret are left with no choice but to fight for their family. Let Him Go also stars Jeffrey Donovan, Kayli Carter, Booboo Stewart and Will Brittain.
During the interview, Manville talked about why she had so much fun playing this role, what she enjoys about playing bad people, why she was really nervous on the first day of filming Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread with Daniel Day Lewis, and more.
Check out what she had to say below. For more on the film, you can read Jeff Sneider’s review of Let Him Go here and here's my interview with Costner.
Lesley Manville:
- When was the last time she was really nervous before filming a scene and why?
- How much fun did she have playing this role?
- Why she enjoys playing bad people.
