Lesley Manville: ‘Historically the Royal family haven’t publicly exposed their emotions’

telegraph.co.uk:

Mum, even Lesley Manville is somewhat surprised to find herself as the go-to actor for stories set in the world of haute couture. 'Surprised, yes,' she says with a laugh. 'But also delighted.' In 2017 Manville played the role of Cyril Woodcock, the tightly wound sister of haute couture designer Reynolds Woodcock, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, in Paul Thomas Anderson's film Phantom Thread.It was a role in which she ruled with a firm hand over the Woodcock atelier - and her brother.

Now she is back in haute couture with a new film, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, but this time not in command of a fashion house, but as an unlikely interloper.Based on the 1958 book by the American novelist Paul Gallico, who became famous for his comic, sentimental novels and short stories, perhaps the most famous of all being The Snow Goose, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris tells the story of a widowed charwoman, Ada Harris, who while tidying the wardrobe of a rich, titled client sets eyes on a sparkling turquoise couture dress from the house of Dior, aptly named Ravissante.Spellbound, Ada holds up the dress and admires herself in the mirror - and is sold.Determined to buy a Dior dress herself, through scrimping, saving - and the apparent intervention of her late husband from beyond the grave - she sets off for Paris.

In a comic fantasy of suspended disbelief, she walks from Orly Airport to the centre of Paris, inveigles her way into the house of Dior, is befriended by a marquis, and sets in chain a series of events that saves Dior from imminent bankruptcy.

It would be giving it away to reveal whether or not she gets the dress she desires; suffice to say, it is the sweetest, most gently amusing film you will see this year.'It's like a balm,' Manville says..