'I'm not their girl': Lesley Manville enjoys 'uncluttered' single life as men her age are 'needy'
LONDON, ENGLAND: ‘The Crown’ star Lesley Manville, who has been divorced twice, likes “the uncluttered nature” of her single life. The actress, 67, shared recently in an interview, “It sounds awful and makes me sound a bit cold,” before adding, “but if I don’t have somebody at home, I don’t have to consider them. While warmth and all that is wonderful for some people, I just think, ‘Well, phew. Thank goodness.’ Because I’ve got so much else to do going from job to job. I like the uncluttered nature of my life.”
The 'Citadel' star was previously married to Gary Oldman, 65, from 1987 to 1990. They separated when their son, Alfie, a photographer by profession, was only three months old. Oldman went on to marry Uma Thurman in the 1990. The Princess Margaret of ‘The Crown’ then went on to marry ‘The Mummy Returns’ star Joe Dixon in 2000. The couple separated in 2004.
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'The cocktail of the man that I need is so difficult'
Lesley Manville has not been married in almost two decades but for her “that’s not a problem." The Academy Awards nominated actress for ‘Phantom Thread’ told The Guardian, “Nobody asks me. But that’s not a problem. I don’t think, come on, where are you?, because meeting someone that you like enough to say, ‘I might invest some emotion, some time in this’ is … ” before adding, “The cocktail of the man that I need is so difficult. They’ve got to be good at their job, really good at it. They’ve got to be funny, that’s top of the list. I know there are brilliant, funny men out there, but it’s harder as you get older. Most men my age are with someone. They tend not to be good on their own. They’re needy. They want somebody doing things for them. In that respect, I’m not their girl.”
Quipping that she is happy on her own, the Laurence OLivier Award winner said, “I can’t work out whether I could live with somebody again.” while she advised not to date an actor, even a bad actor she remarked, “No! I wouldn’t want to go out with a bad actor. You see? My hands are tied. I don’t know what to do.” and joked, “Maybe I should go out with an accountant.”
Lesley Manville and Gary Oldman divorce
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ in February 2023, Manville talked about her experiences of her separation from Gary Oldman, “I just thought, ‘oh well I won’t tell them because maybe in a few months, it’ll all be alright.’”
She continued, “But it was a tremendously lonely time. (In the) days before mobile phones as well, so very hard to speak to him or you know what I had imagined for myself,” before adding that while she had “the best time” with Oldman before “the rug was very severely pulled from under my feet.” Manville added, “I’d thought we’d be together forever, we’d have a big family, but maybe if that had happened, maybe I wouldn’t have the career I’ve got now,” reports Evening Standard.
In a Zoom interview to iNews in 2020, Manville talked about an alternate future with Oldman, “Oh, I mean, there are always ‘what ifs.’ What if Gary and I had stayed together? Deep down I probably long for the kind of 30-year relationship that some of my friends have, the kind where you know no-one’s going anywhere because, well, why would they?” However, she sees the silver lining as she said, “But maybe if I’d had that I couldn’t have been the mother I think I’ve been or had the career I’ve had.”
Lesley Manville talks about Joe Dixon
After her divorce with musician husband Joe Dixon, Manville was found saying to The Guardian, “I am divorced now. I have done a lot of being a single parent on either side of my second marriage. But I am happier now than ever.”