(Photo: Getty Images)
Lesley Manville has been working as an actress since the early '70s, but in recent years her career has really blossomed. She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 2017 fashion drama Phantom Thread, two BAFTA nominations for her work in the charming BBC sitcom Mum, and is currently starring in the BritBox original series Magpie Murders. Oh, and there's the not so small matter of playing Princess Margaret in the upcoming season of The Crown.
Manville turns 66 Saturday (March 12), so we're celebrating by making her our British Icon of the Week. Here are just 10 of the things we appreciate and respect about her:
1. She had a pretty interesting upbringing. 
Manville grew up in Hove, an English seaside resort that's right next door to Brighton. She has described her family background as being "working-class, but with privileges thrown in a bit" because her father, a taxi driver, gambled with varying levels of success. "If he had a big win, we'd go out for dinner quite a lot. For a few years, we had a pony," she wrote in a poignant personal essay for VICE.
2. She has definitely stayed down-to-earth. 
When we interviewed Manville in 2020, we asked how she felt about being on the cusp of British "national treasure" status. She gave a typically gracious reply, saying: "Well, that's nice. It's not a horrible thing so I'll take it! I don't walk around saying that myself, but it is something that nice people I do interviews with sometimes say to me now."
Manville also underlined her grounded approach to life by telling us she still does own her grocery shopping at U.K. supermarket chain Morrisons. 
3. She managed to attend the Oscars without taking time off work.
When Manville was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2017, she was midway through a West End run of Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day’s Journey Into Night. She only had Sundays and Mondays off, but flew from London to Los Angeles, via Amsterdam, on two hours' sleep to make the ceremony on time. "I knew I had to arrive in LA with clean hair, because there wouldn’t be time to wash it," she later told The Guardian.
4. And she definitely took her Oscars experience seriously. 
During an interview with You magazine, Manville pointed out that the Oscars lasted up to five hours and required her to stay pretty focused. "Helen Mirren kept asking me to go for a drink at the bar," she recalled. "I said: 'Helen, you've no idea what my journey's been like. I don't want to miss my category after all this traveling because I'm having a vodka with you.'"
5. She has taken career risks that have really paid off.
One of Manville's first TV roles came in Emmerdale Farm, the British soap opera that is now simply known as Emmerdale. She played a farmhand called Rosemary Kendall from 1975-1976, but decided to leave this steady job to pursue new challenges. "I was quite savvy. I just thought, 'I don't want to be in this all my life,'" Manville told The Guardian. "My dad couldn’t work out why. I was earning more money than he’d ever earned in his life and I was on telly twice a week. I thought, 'Well, there are a few other things I want to do…'"
6. She has received not one, but two prestigious honors from Queen Elizabeth II.
Manville was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2015. Then last year, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a slightly higher accolade. She collected her OBE from Prince William at Buckingham Palace, a memorable experience she shared during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

7. She supports her fellow actors.
In 2020, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Manville performed Susan Oudot's monologue "The Girl With No Name" as part of Equity Benevolent Fund's campaign to help struggling actors. Manville told the BBC at the time that she believes there is an "illusion" that "if you're an actor, you must be loaded."
"I'm not denying that there are some very well-paid actors around... who are not going to be knocking on the door of the Equity Benevolent Fund at all," she added. "But that is not the case of the majority. This is about them just needing support at a time when hopefully we're going to get through and there will be an industry when we come out the other side."

8. She knows she has earned her stripes.
In recent years, Manville has often spoken about having absolute faith in her ability to bring a character to life. "I feel very equipped in my career," she told us in 2020, "whether it's on a [TV or movie] set or in a play, to be able to come in and acquit myself very warmly and professionally and tackle all the things that the character has to go through and absolutely deliver."
In fairness, she always does absolutely deliver, doesn't she?
9. She is on amicable terms with her ex-husband, Gary Oldman.
She and Oldman were married from 1987 to 1990. They have a grown-up son, Alfie, who attended the Oscars in 2017 when both his parents were nominated (Oldman won Best Actor that year for Darkest Hour). "Gary winning was fantastic and we spent time with him and his wife and Alfie's two half-brothers," Manville told You magazine. "Alfie's one of very few people whose parents were both nominated the same year. It’s happened once before with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It's a very exclusive club."
10. And finally, she tells it like she sees it.
Manville has always made it clear that cosmetic surgery isn't for her. She told The Guardian in 2019 that she hopes it won't count against her because leading directors, she thinks, are "not going to want some Botoxed ninny."
Do you have a favorite Lesley Manville performance?