January 9, 2025

‘Hard Truths’ Filmmaker Mike Leigh on Reuniting with Marianne Jean-Baptiste For Their Character Study (Video Interview)

Item: ‘Hard Truths’ Filmmaker Mike Leigh on Reuniting with Marianne Jean-Baptiste For Their Character Study (Video Interview)
Author: Edward Douglas

by Edward Douglas

For more than 50 years and over the course of 15 films, filmmaker Mike Leigh has become one of the most respected and praised British filmmakers with seven Oscar nominations – five for his screenplays, two for his direction – as well as 13 BAFTA nominations, winning two and receiving two special BAFTA honors. That’s not even to mention the numerous actors who have been nominated for Oscars and other awards for their performances in his films.

One of those actors is Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who received an Oscar nomination in 1997 for her performance in Leigh’s 1996 film, Secrets and Lies. 28 years later, they’ve reunited for Hard Truths, in which Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a Londoner of Jamaican descent who is infinitely unhappy with her life, with her immediate family, and with the world around her. There is much more to Pansy than just grousing and sniping at others, including her husband Curtley (David Webber) and son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), as we learn over the course of the film.

Ms. Jean-Baptiste has already been winning many critical awards for her performance, and it’s another terrific character study by Leigh that really pulls you into Pansy’s world and makes you consider your own life and the decisions you make.

Cinema Daily US had a chance to talk with Mr. Leigh at length about his process for conceptualizing and creating Hard Truths, an interview that you can watch above.

Hard Truths will get a limited release on Friday, January 10, with plans to expand further across America in the coming weeks.

Check out more of CinemaDaily US’ video interviews on our YouTube channel