Lesley Manville | Boat Trips with David Bowie!

0:00You're listening to Travel Secrets with Tanya Rose, the podcast that shares wisdom for fellow travelers.

0:10Welcome to Travel Secrets with me, Tanya Rose, the podcast sharing wisdom for fellow travelers. Each week, I ask my guests to reveal their six travel secrets and the holidays and adventures that surround them. I would just like to say thank you to Mason Rose, the sales and communication agency that represents some of the finest hotels around the world for partnering with Travel Secrets, the podcast. Today, my guest is one of my very favourite British actresses, Leslie Manville. I cannot tell you how honoured and delighted I am to have you on my sofa. Oh, thank you. Thank you. You started your career when you were very, very young, probably as a singer, I think I heard, with your father and your sister and you singing all over the world.

0:56and then no we weren't singing all over the world then because that was very much um family amateur thing but but I trained classically as did my sister and we used to sing with my dad who was a bit of a crooner and but that was just for pleasure and in little local places in Brighton but then when I was uh 15 I I left school and I went to the Italia Conti stage school in London to finish my education and do the vocational work in the afternoons, the singing, the dancing, the acting. So that's how that started. But my first job was a musical because I could sing. Amazing. Well, you are so prolific.

1:42You have done so many amazing things. It's difficult to even summarise, but most recently, as Princess Margaret in The Crown, I came to see you with our lovely mutual friend Mark Strong in Oedipus. Yes. The Phantom Thread is one of my very favourite films and I think was life-changing for you. Yes, yes. Just so many wonderful, wonderful things. So I'm sure travel has impacted the person that you've become. So welcome to Travel Secrets. Thank you. And perhaps before we start, you can just tell us a little bit about yourself and how travel has made you the person that you are. Well, well, to give you a picture of how my life is now.

2:24last year 2024 I probably slept in my bed two nights or no not 24 23 into the first half of 24 I was away so much so for me oddly enough travel is very linked to work I actually take holidays very rarely. I live alone happily. I don't have a partner happily. So the whole notion of going on holiday isn't something that I've done for a long, long, long, long time. I used to when my son was younger. We used to go away and have trips. But now I don't feel shortchanged by that, though, because the last 18 months I've been to so many great places within the sphere of my work. and what I love about being in a place is thinking right I'm here now for six weeks three months whatever you feel like you live there as opposed to just dropping in and being a traveler and being a sightseer and so you I feel that's for me that's the nicest way to see somewhere is to actually throw myself into the whole thing of being as it were however temporary a resident of that place and then you get under the skin of that destination yeah you feel like a local yeah and I might be staying in hotels sometimes but if it's a longer gig I'll have an apartment and um yeah so I that's for me travel's been about that now I do I do do weekends but you I don't think that really constitutes a holiday.

4:32But actually saying, right, I'm going to go to the Maldives for Christmas. You haven't done for a long time. I haven't done for a very long time. It is partly because I have a very dear friend who has an amazing house in the Louberon Valley in France. Oh, lovely. And every year he invites a small posse of people over a period of three weeks. you can come and go he has chefs it's beautiful we all know each other you can start the day with fabulous breakfast and get into great conversations or if you don't want to you can go and have a swim or you can sit in the um hammock and read your novel whatever it's that kind of easy easy time So I've done that quite a lot over the last 10 years that he's had this place.

5:29I haven't been for the last few years. But it's very hard with my job to book things up. For example, I've had a Eurostar train booking to Paris with a very close girlfriend of mine, because we did it once a few years ago, just went for a long weekend. I've had that booked and I've changed the ticket five times now Because you're so busy Because I'm so busy And then I'd booked it for January I've had to change it again Because you're going to LA Because I'm going to LA Well it's lovely because it's wonderful for us That you're working so much Because we get to see you But it is maybe sometime you've got to take a bit of it No I know I have I know but I don't feel shortchanged In the travel area of my life because of working in so many different places and so apart from doing Oedipus which we started rehearsals for in August 24 as I say the year 18 months prior to that pretty much all away.

6:35Are you going to tell us about some of the places you went away? Yeah. Yeah fantastic well let's get into your travel secrets so what is the number one destination that you think everyone should go to once in their lifetime and it's very hard to choose one. It probably ties up with another one of your questions, but I can't help but merge them. That's fine. It's an unexpected place, but I think it's definitely somewhere, I would say, if you can go there. I ended up probably 18 months ago-ish in Tasmania. Oh, wow. Doing Who Do You Think You Are? Oh, really? Interesting. Now, the story took us to Sydney, because my three times great grandfather had been sent there as a criminal.

7:25Oh, really? He actually wasn't a criminal, because then they were all pardoned. It was to do with the swing riots, which is when a whole swathe of farmers, working men, sort of were having a rebellion against the landowners who were raising the price of their land. so that the landowners were cutting back the wages of the working men, the agricultural labourers. So this swathe of agricultural labourers across the south of England, it went Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, down to Dorset. They rebelled and it was mostly non-violent. I think two men were executed, hanged, but out of thousands. But the rest were sent to Australia.

8:14And one of them was my three times great grandfather. Later, Lloyd George, who became Prime Minister eventually, did a universal pardon because he said these people were not criminals. They were actually fighting for their rights. So they were all pardoned, but they could never come back. I was going to say did their families come back? No. They couldn't come back. So my three times great grandfather, his wife had not long died when he was sent there. He left nine children ranging from seven months to 17. Wow. And he was sent to Australia, never saw them ever again. That's true. Now he was pardoned but by that time he'd been there nearly seven years.

8:58he was never allowed to come back to the UK so he stayed there anyway his brother was also one of the swing rioters who got sent there but his brother got sent to Tasmania so actually it was edited out of my final who do you think you are because there was so much fantastic material in just my grandfather's side with the Sydney. But we did go to Tasmania and film in these extraordinary places. Well, this is the thing about Tasmania. It's not that big. No. You can drive north to south in about three hours. And we did do a lot of it. I was there for about four days. I had this amazing driver who lived in Hobart, the capital.

9:47He was born there, brought up there lived there all his life so he knew the place so it was amazing it was like a history lesson and I'm not great being driven but I just loved it because he just talked talk talk I remember one there was one day when we were shooting and he said um we're going up to the north and we're going and we're going to stop somewhere for lunch and um and then we'll carry on to this place and I thought oh my gosh because it's so rural, epically so, epic countryside, it's the cleanest air in the world. Is it? How amazing. Yeah and I thought what's this, what's this place we're going to get, what's it going to be like you know.

10:33Terrible that I even, I just thought A restaurant? Where? In the middle of nowhere. Well, it was the most extraordinary place. It was run by these women, all family members. It was casual, laid back, had a boho feel about it. Amazing. But not pretentious for one minute. The food was amazing. Proper home cooked, again, unpretentious food, but delicious. And all around this little cafe restaurant was artwork that was for sale. Beautiful. And I bought a painting to bring back for my son and his wife. How lovely. Did he love it? Loved it. And opposite this restaurant was a shop, a big shop called The General Store.

11:26And I thought, well, I've got to go in here. Yeah, love a general store. I can't tell you. It's my favourite shop in the world. It had, I bought tea towels, bedspreads, candles, brushes. Fantastic. It was heaven. Heaven. That sounds amazing. And it was all a bit piled up, you know. And I thought, this is Tasmania. The people were extraordinary. It was wonderful. I had some amazing walks along the shore. The air, I couldn't get enough of it. and what was the restaurant called do you remember no name is i don't remember look up the general store the general store amazing i've never been obviously i've never been to australia which is shocking in my line of business it really really is but we've got a new client hopefully in um margaret river so on western australia oh yeah so if i do go over then i'm going to hot foot it Tasmania yes it's worth it it's worth it yeah and I never expected to end up there and I may never ever go there again but it it it what struck me with its physical beauty is really breathtaking I must watch your who do you think you are even though that bit's been that has been cut but I still must watch it that sounds a fascinating story about you yeah and we went to the real places where they were all the prisoners came off the boats and where they spent their first night it's a great program i do love that program i think it's wonderful i shall be looking that up so you've done your most unexpected as well in that answer that was unexpected another unexpected no okay that that was my unexpected but i think it's also where you should go if if you can if you can Absolutely.

13:22Let's go on to your most overrated or underrated travel experience. I have to say I wasn't a fan of Luxembourg. Oh. I found it, and I know it's a small place. Again, you can drive north to south in 45 minutes or something. It's really small, and obviously it's a place, hub. A lot of business gets done there. and I was there over Christmas and a lot of people said oh well there's lots of Christmas markets and I thought oh that's crazy I just found it a bit I was looking for something it felt a bit sterile and a bit corporate no special little feeling I couldn't find that little cafe where something sung out to you I was in a hotel because I was there for I think three weeks and I was filming every day so you know I knew I wasn't going to be cooking and things like that so a hotel is perfect but I don't know the place it didn't really speak to me what were you filming there it hasn't come out yet I was doing a film that it was actually it's called Winter of the Crow and it's actually set in Poland and we did go to Poland we went to Warsaw after Christmas to film there but we shot some of it in Luxembourg because they had invested in the film so by shooting in Luxembourg you got tax breaks which is why I've been to a lot of the places I've been to because like my series well I've done two of them already magpie murders and moonflower murders which has just been on yeah they're not set in Ireland at all but we shoot in Ireland because you get a lot of tax breaks when you did mrs.

15:26Harris goes to Paris did you go to Paris we mrs. Harris goes to Paris, you'd think, wouldn't you? Dior? Dior and all of that. No, I'm here to disappoint you and say rats that we had one day in Paris. There's the scene when Alba Baptista's character, that's the actress, can't remember her character's name, she drives Mrs. Harris around in her little red sports car, which is actually like the little red sports car that my character Susan Ryland drives around in Magpie Murders and Mouffle Murders, but But anyway, she drives her around Paris and you couldn't, you'd have to really do spend loads on CGI.

16:09So we did drive around. It's still quite tricky because, of course, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is set in the 50s. Yes. But they did a certain angle with the camera so that you could see our faces, but it was mostly looking upwards so that you could see the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and all of that without seeing too much of the 21st century so we had one day in Paris and the rest of it was in Budapest and because a lot of Budapest looks like old Paris in the 50s it really does and that was in late 2020 that we shot that After lockdown. So, yeah. And COVID still very much on the go with testing.

16:59I mean, we were tested. I was tested every morning at 5 a.m. Oh, really? And it was also at the time when they used to think that you couldn't, to have the tests, you had to not drink before. So I remember getting to Budapest. They said, you can't drink for eight hours before. I said, no, I drink gallons throughout the night. And they said, all right, well, two hours then. But we were tested all day, every day. But that was a great trip. And I want to go back to Budapest. Yes, very lovely, actually. I loved it. I lived down in the area where there were a lot of embassies. It was quite near Heroes Square.

17:43Beautiful. Oh, my goodness. if I could transport that flat to London, it was the best apartment I've ever had in my life. Huge, all on one level, huge open plan, great big epic ceilings, one room leading into the other, into the other. Oh, it was gorgeous. And I loved Budapest, but of course we couldn't do very much, well, I couldn't do any eating out. Because you were still having to... In fact, there was one meal, there was one restaurant that was open and you could only go with our little hub of people. Because you didn't want to get... And masks everywhere. But I really want to go back to Budapest now and experience it outside of COVID and outside of filming.

18:36That would be a real number one hotspot for me to go back to just for pleasure. Well, I met the general manager of the best hotel in Budapest and I can't remember what it is. I think it's in Anantara, I think. But I met the general manager and it's a member of leading hotels of the world, which we do the PR for. So if you want to go to Budapest, please, please let me know. Because apparently it is exquisite. Amazing views, right location. Yes. And fantastic. I think it's the hotel where if they had casts coming in just for a week or something, they put them in there. But because I was there for over two months, I had an apartment.

19:11but what a lovely place Budapest is and there was a beautiful um one of the they don't have a lot of uh subway lines but one of them that ran from Heroes Square up into the town was um original from the 30s all wooden and you went down into the subway and the ticket desk was all wooden and the carriages were all wood it was beautiful how lovely so if you go to Budapest top 10 Top tip, take that underground. Top tip, take that little underground journey. It's just the quaintest, cutest thing. And I love the people there too. Lovely people. Actually, it takes us nicely onto the next travel secret because I want to talk about food and drink.

19:58Obviously, so important to travel to all of our lives. Where have you eaten a wonderful meal? What do you like eating? What is your drink? What are your favourite restaurants? Let's just talk about food and drink. I am a great foodie. I love food and I love a cocktail or two. I love a Negroni. My favourite. What's not to like? They do a very good one at the Peninsula of London here. Do they? On the rooftop bar. I'll send you back. Do they? Right. Okay. Yeah, I'd love a Negroni on the rooftop here. So wherever I am, where to go and eat becomes a big thing. I worked in Rome last year, did two films in Rome, coincidentally, almost back to back.

20:49So I ate in a lot of good places there. Wonderful Italian food. Wonderful, love Italian food. And we also, while I, I mean, everything was happening there. I was shooting two films and then also they had the European premiere of season one of Citadel in Rome. so that night we had the most amazing you're going to ask me where and I'm never going to remember but this extraordinary restaurant that laid on a banquet for us and just course after course after course exquisite but food that I remember real memory of meals I remember going to with my ex-husband going to Le Manoir Quatre Saisons I was eight months pregnant and we did this the tasting menu oh my goodness where I managed to squeeze it in given that our tummies shrink and you're meant to eat little and often when you're pregnant and I'm being determined to get going to get I'm going to get through this meal and then And I did, but then I remember sitting in one of their window seats, and I just think I've really overdone it.

22:10Somebody carry me up to the room. But I remember that meal, epic. And another meal that I love is the River Cafe's lemon spaghetti, which you'd think would be... I make it all the time at home. Oh, do you? It's never the same. It's never the same. and it's something about I think properly combining the oil the olive oil which guess has got to be really top of the range olive oil so maybe my olive oil hasn't been great enough and you are meant to use Sicilian lemons so maybe I haven't always used maybe Ruthie's flying in the lemons from Sicily oh Ruthie is definitely flying in the Sicilian lemons definitely but mixing the lemon juice and the oil together so that it's really creamy before you then add the tons of parmesan and getting all of that making this creamy creamy sauce something about it I mean listen why would I be able to do it as well as as well as Ruth's chefs at the River Cafe.

23:28But, and I've been there, well, I haven't been there very recently, but I was there about six months ago. And of course, it wasn't on the menu. It's not always on the menu. No, not somewhere. So I really want Ruth just to put, I want one of her chefs to come to my house once a week, at least, and make me lemon spaghetti. It's such a great restaurant though, isn't it? Everything on that menu is so lovely. It's delicious. It's simple, but it's delicious. And I've got her cookery book and I can never do any of the menus like I do there. And that cake, the chocolate cake, chocolate nemesis. Amazing.

24:04I made that about three times and it was just not working. And then, this is decades ago, I think she had to publish some sort of apology because the ingredients had been wrong. So nobody was getting it right. That's very naughty. It kept just...

24:25But finally, my nemesis is proud and upright. Oh, that's so wonderful. So what do you do when you're in a play or something like that? Do you usually eat during the play or after the play? Or what do you do? I mean, it must be so difficult when you're doing a matinee for Oedipus. I mean, how do you get time? Yes. Well, on Oedipus, we were very lucky. We were at Wyndham Theatre. We were right opposite Sheetkis. and I probably went there four times a week if not five because it's perfect it's you know 10 steps and you're in cheekies and they were so welcoming and lovely to us so I've worked my way through the whole of that menu I did love the dorset crab and I did love the miso salmon very good light end of show meal and you happy eating after the show at that length well not at all I I didn't eat every night, but the show came down at 9.30.

25:22Okay. So it's not super late. But quite often, you know, just in chic is you just have a little crab on toast, a little light thing. Delicious. But normally, I'll try to eat at about 3 or 4 o 'clock, then go and do the show. But we were perfectly placed there to get lovely things. matinee days I didn't go out between the shows it's a bit crazy around there you've got Covent you have sandwiched between Leicester Square not so good and Covent Garden lovely but still rammed with people so didn't didn't go out between shows I'd bring stuff in but Sheiky's really was the mainstay yeah yeah canteen when I came to see you in the matinee I had lunch actually keys yeah it was perfect literally yeah stepped over the road and there we were They had the fish pie, which is delicious.

26:16Again, it's gorgeous. They know what they're doing with fish there. Yeah, they certainly do. It's terrific. But Negroni's at Brooklyn's Bar at the Peninsula. It's got a view over the whole of London on the rooftop and a really good Negroni. I highly recommend it. You need the big ice cube with the Negroni, don't you? Yes, you do. Absolutely. So that it doesn't, if the ice is too small, it dilutes the Negroni too quickly. Absolutely. You know you're on a gross move now. Me too, me too. So let's go on to your best insider travel secret. What's your insider travel secret or your travel tip? Get lost in a place.

26:51I remember going to Venice for the film festival, probably the first time I went was about 20 years ago. I had a day off. We'd done the festival. We'd done, you know, the work side of things. so I just took myself off for a day and I like that yes lovely I didn't have to book anything well and also I mean hopefully if you're going with somebody that you're close to you want to hope that you're on the same page anyway which is why you're in a relationship or a friendship with that person but the fact when you have nobody nobody else's whims or desires to adhere to you're totally free to do your own thing that's pretty for me that's heaven special and I remember this day I put away a map and I just walked I got lost I did obviously I consulted the map this is before mobile phones really lovely lovely I took a just so I could get back to my hotel and I got lost and I found little shops with with where handmade gloves were made tiny little shop I found another shop that sold nothing but hosiery ladies hosiery I went to a restaurant that that looked like a cafe family run.

28:28Heaven. So lovely. That's the thing. Just allow yourself to get lost. Don't over plan. And turn left instead of right. Yes. And just wander and actually go to the markets and just see the locals. And that's the thing about the extended time I've had in places when you're not there as a visitor. You're there because you're working. and in a way I like it more than having the holiday. No, because you do get to see how people live. You get to see how people live and you get to go to the supermarkets because you've got to, because you've got to shop. And that's very, I love French supermarkets. So do I.

29:07And pharmacies. And pharmacies, yes. The best. Yeah. They really are. Yeah. Fantastic. Fantastic. We have a new hotel opening in Venice this year, which is owned by Les Erel, which is a French group, but it's right next to the Cipriani, so it's on the other side. You know the Cipriani has an amazing garden. This has double the size of garden, and it is the most beautiful old classic hotel, which they are totally renovating. So that would be a lovely place for you to go. Well, I was there this festival with Queer, the Luca Guardinino film. Which are getting rave reviews and award buzz. It's a great film.

29:46Anyway, we were there at the festival, and we had the event and the screening, post-screening party and dinner at the Cipriani in that beautiful big hotel. And actually I stayed, when I got married, we went on the Orient Express. That was our honeymoon. That could be the last time I've had what you'd call a holiday. Oh, no, actually it isn't. No, it isn't. but we did the Orient Express and we stayed at the, what's the pink hotel in Venice? The Gritti. The Gritti. We stayed half the time in the Gritti and half the time in the Cipriani. Lovely. So it was gorgeous. And so it was lovely to go back there this August.

30:34So I'd love to go to that hotel. Yes, you'd love it. Absolutely. Beautiful. It's really, really beautiful. and I mean I've obviously hard seen it, I haven't seen it but the plans are fantastic and Venice is always a special place to go to. Yes you want to go to Venice sort of out of season, it is a bit when I was there on my honeymoon it was March Oh that's lovely. Really perfect and yeah but I feel like I've done Italy a lot as I say I was in Rome and with Luca's film this summer before last and another film that I did and then I was there the year before that filming with Alfonso Cuaron his series Disclaimer which was we made for Apple we went and shot on the Amalfi Coast so I've done a lot of been in Italy a lot over the last two years which has been wonderful need to change destination need to change things up a bit You're going to LA soon.

31:39I go to LA on Saturday just for a week. Then I'll come back and then I'll be in Chicago for a week. Oh, Chicago's lovely. Have you been to Chicago? I went for one day many years ago, decades ago. So it's going to be very cold. Thankfully, I'm not going from LA straight to Chicago because you've got completely two different wardrobes there. I don't know that I've quite got the gear for Chicago, so I need to do some shopping. That wind that comes up. Yes. There's a really nice peninsula there if you want to go there. Is there? Yeah, I don't know where you're staying but... I'm staying at Soho House.

32:16Oh, that's lovely. Yeah. That's nice. That's fun. Yes. You'll have a good time. Again, that's only for about a week and then I go, in March, I go back to do the third and final book in the Anthony Horowitz series of Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders. This one's going to be called Marble Hall Murders. he's just written the book which will be released quite soon I think it is the very last outing for Susan Ryland and I'll be going back to Ireland and I live when I'm there I live in Dorky which is about D-A-L-K-E-Y it's about 20 minutes south of Dublin on the coast I just want to give a moment on this podcast to Dorky because if there's anywhere I could live that's realistic, as in has a proximity to London and the UK, because I love London and I love the UK.

33:19Every time I fly back in and I see it, I just go, oh, wow, London is pretty amazing. Stunning. But Dorky, Bono lives there, actually. Stunning. It's a one-street town. Oh, really? Surrounded by epic coastline. Oh, gorgeous. Epic countryside. But dorky. This is the thing about dorky. This one street has got everything you'd want for a nice life. it's got the most lovely food shops coffee shops restaurants post office pub Finnegan's pub world famous pub I used to film all day and I'd get driven home and I'd say to my driver just drop me off at Finnegan's because when I film I like to eat you're up so early you're up at 4.35 so I have to eat a good breakfast breakfast to get me through to one o 'clock because by the time you get to lunchtime you're you've already done a seven hour eight hour day you've got another five hours to go so I eat a good breakfast and I eat a good lunch because I'm ravenous I don't really want much in the evening so I used to get him to drop me I'd go into Finnegan's the great thing about Finnegan's is I never felt like well there's that woman who sits on her own poor old thing poor thing She must be an alcoholic.

34:54She's about any friends. Oh, no, she's that famous actress. Oh, my God. It's great. There's loads of people, women included, in there on their own. Perfect. And I'd sit and I'd have a pint of Guinness, which is like dinner. Yeah, perfect. And then I'd walk home along the coast to my apartment. Lovely. But the people. Oh, my God, the people. The Irish are wonderful. Oh, and it's got a great butcher's. fish shop little gift shop that's going on my list Dorky here I come Dorky and I've now discovered other I was at Jack Loudon Saoirse Ronan's wedding this year and I met this lovely lady who lives in Dorky is Saoirse from there?

35:44no Saoirse's from Cork I think she's a great actress yes brilliant actress Yes, really wonderful. As is her husband, Jack. Yes, he's wonderful. So, Dorky, a big shout out for Dorky. Dorky! Dorky, Dorky, Dorky, I'm coming, I'm coming. It's not cheap to live there, though, because there was this house for sale. And I looked at it, a beautiful sort of double-fronted Victorian house. And I thought, oh, I love property anyway. I mean, that's my hobby, looking at property, even when I really don't want to move. well I'm a bit of a fan of the modern house and its sister company Inigo oh yes I love Inigo it's fantastic because the modern house it's all the very clues in the title but an Inigo is the period's part gorgeous anyway I looked at this house in Dorky I was really surprised it's it's not not it's not cheap but it's lovely maybe so I'll be there from March for a few months delightful.

36:49How wonderful. What is your most poignant travel memory? Well I can't tell this story without name dropping. That's fine. Name drop away. It's a pretty hefty name. The whole podcast is all actors and film people. Poignant is it's like a moment for me. You know this this is a moment I'm going to tell you about. My son was six weeks old and I was married to Gary Oldman. And Gary had become friends with David Bowie. But I'd not met David. They were in New York and they'd met through the late director, Nicholas Rogue. And they'd met and they'd become friends. And David said, well, why don't you and Leslie come to Mustique, where he had a house right next door to Princess Margaret.