Here is a preview of our interview with director Mike Leigh on Peterloo, from our new ebook Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh Collaboration. To find out more and to purchase the book, click here. To read a review of the book, click here.
After falling in love with Peterloo at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, I knew I had to interview Mike Leigh, who was in town. I was so enamoured by the film’s blocking and Leigh’s skill in directing so many rich scenes featuring multiple characters — possibly the greatest challenge for any director. In a film with so many minor characters who, collectively, play a major role, I wanted to know how Leigh captured all of them so distinctly and memorably, with never a false note. I expected this to be tied to his background in theatre, which privileges supporting actors — theatre is the actor’s medium, and film is the director’s’ medium.
Instead, I discovered that Leigh’s approach would be radical on stage or screen, that his rehearsals are physical and personal in the way that most stage rehearsals are, but otherwise, they bear little resemblance to theatre work as they are focused on invention and discovery rather than on understanding, perfecting, and setting individuals scenes.
