The Crown’s Lesley Manville has opened up about the pressures of starring in Magpie Murders, a crime drama based on the best-selling Anthony Horowitz novel.
Lesley, who will star as Princess Margaret in the final two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown, is playing the heroic book editor of the infamous crime writer Alan Conway, Susan Ryeland, in the murder mystery series.
Manville told Digital Spy and other media about the pressures that come with playing a version of a much-loved book character.
"There’s always pressure," Manville began. "With this, because it’s such a successful book, New York Times best-seller list forever, Sunday Times best-seller list, so there's a lot of pressure to get it right."
Related: The Crown’s Lesley Manville teases Magpie Murders character
The series, which was released on BritBox on Thursday (February 10), is a murder mystery set within a murder mystery based on the book that gripped countless readers for its almost Agatha Christie-style charm.
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Manville continued: "I was surprised when I told people I was doing it how many had read it who I wouldn’t have necessarily put down for reading this type of book, which is a testament to the book."
The actress went on to add that the Alex Rider writer had reinvented his acclaimed book in a clever new way to suit the small screen.
Related: The Crown star Claire Foy’s new Facebook-set TV series gets promising update
"He [Anthony Horowitz, who has adapted his novel for the screen] has taken his book and he’s really jumbled it around without losing the essence of the book," she explained.
"He’s very cleverly interwoven these two timespans, and the director [Peter Cattaneo] has done a really good job in terms of how we marry those two worlds together."
Magpie Murders is an adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s 2016 murder mystery novel of the same name.
Magpie Murders is available to stream on BritBox now.
The Crown season 5 will premiere in November 2022, while seasons 1-4 are now streaming on Netflix. Seasons 1-3 are also available on DVD and Blu-ray.
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Jess is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for over-analysing everyone’s favourite movies and TV shows. As an English graduate from the University of York with an MA in Creative Writing, Jess worked as a magazine editor before turning freelance. Since then, Jess has written for outlets such as GQ, The Guardian, Inverse, Huff Post, Stylist, and Insider. She specialises in the representation of mental health, grief, and women in film. She’s also a major Marvel nerd and is writing a YA fantasy novel. LinkedIn
