Citadel’s Lesley Manville was ‘worried I’d be lost’ in new thriller

Citadel: Richard Madden stars in trailer for Prime series

The Crown’s Lesley Manville admitted she had concerns about her performance getting lost amongst the action in Amazon Prime Video’s ambitious new espionage series.

In the rip-roaring global thriller, Manville stars as wealthy ambassador Dahlia Archer who leads a manhunt against amnesiac Citadel agents Mason Kane (played by Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas).

When asked how she tapped into her evil side, Manville joked: “I don’t know, I’m a nice woman! But you get a rich script like this – I read it and just thought, ‘Oh boy, I’ve got to play this woman’ because she’s so duplicitous.

“You think she’s one thing and then she’s another.”

Despite starring in one of Netflix’s biggest dramas and receiving an Oscar nomination for Phantom Thread, Manville admitted she had concerns about joining the action-packed drama.

“I was worried because I’ve never done anything on this scale before,” she told the crowd at Citadel’s London premiere.

“I thought it was going to be all action and I’m going to be lost. What I bring to the table is going to be lost, and I can’t impress on you enough how much that wasn’t the case.”

Thankfully, the show’s creative team – led by Marvel directors Anthony and Joe Russo and creators Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh and David Weil – made sure her performance was always appreciated.

“I felt that what I was bringing to the table was absolutely the most important thing,” Manville continued.

“All the wonderful, amazing camera work and clever stuff reflected what I wanted to do, and it felt like a proper collaboration.

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“So, for me, it was a bit of a revelation. I thought, ‘This kind of [show] is not what I usually do and I’m probably going to feel a bit odd’. And I loved every second of it.”

Rounding out the main cast is Stanley Tucci as top agent Bernard Orlick, who was similarly impressed after starring in blockbusters in The Hunger Games and Transformers franchises.

“I’ve never done anything on this scale before,” he said.

“I’ve done big movies but when I signed on to this I had no idea it was going to be this global phenomenon.

“They’re doing something that has never been done before, and it’s very exciting.

“Basically, cinema has finally come to television. And I think that’s a very exciting thing.

“What I like about this show, and the way the Russo brothers direct, is they see everything on a grand scale but they also understand intimate human behaviour. And that’s very hard to find in directors.”

Amazon execs already have huge plans for the series, with several international spin-offs already greenlit, but will the ambitious and expensive new thriller have legs after the first season?

Citadel continues Fridays on Amazon’s Prime Video.

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