Marianne Jean-Baptiste on Hard Truths: "Usually, women behaving badly aren't tolerated"

She has lived in Los Angeles since 2003, starring in TV series like Without a Trace, but she has now reunited with Leigh for the critically acclaimed film Hard Truths, playing the irascible yet wildly funny Pansy.

In December, she picked up the best lead performance award at the British Independent Film Awards and best actress at the New York Film Critics Circle — and now she’s nominated for a BAFTA…

How do you feel about the awards buzz around Hard Truths?

It’s exciting. It draws people’s attention to the film. We want people to see it. Plus it’s great to be acknowledged by the community you work in.

You left London for LA shortly after becoming the first black British woman to be nominated for an Oscar, for Secrets & Lies. Did you feel you had to leave because you weren’t getting offered work here?

Well, I didn’t feel as though I had to do anything, but I was being offered work in the States. I love the life it opened up for me. Initially, I went back and forth because my husband and I had two young daughters. After two years, we all moved to LA, and I didn’t work in England again for about 12 years. I enjoy working in London, but I’ve got that Cali lifestyle. I love going to the beach, I love the optimism and slower pace.

In a Guardian interview in 1997, you talked about being excluded from a group of young actors invited to the Cannes Film Festival. You said that "the old men running the industry have not got a clue". Has the attitude to actors of colour changed?

Look at the political situations around the world; it still seems to be a lot of old men running things. I’d like to think there’s been some movement but, in all honesty, I’m just getting on with my life.

You also acted in Mike Leigh's 1993 stage play It's a Great Big Shame! Actors often talk about feeling spoiled after working with Leigh — would you agree?

Yeah, Mike Leigh destroyed my career. I’m joking! I first worked with him three years after Rada, when I was still a sponge. After working with Mike, you’re like, "What about this? Why aren’t we exploring that?" And you very quickly realise that you’re more or less just required to stand on your mark and deliver your lines.

Do you trust Mike Leigh to take care of you?

You have to trust him. Sometimes it’s very hard. At one point filming Hard Truths he wanted my character, Pansy, to be more… and I was saying, "It’s not sustainable!" I thought my brain would explode.

Is playing an angry woman tricky?

Yes! Usually, women behaving badly aren’t tolerated. Especially when they’re not redeemed in the final act. We haven’t made it easy for audiences in that respect.

Hard Truths is quite an intense watch — how did you feel seeing it for the first time?

I didn’t know what I’d seen. My manager was asking if it was good – I liked it, but I like all sorts of s***, so I didn’t know if people were going to get it!

What do people say to you after screenings?

They’re blown away by the fact that they haven’t been spoon-fed an experience. Mike has treated the audience with respect, he knows they can ask questions and figure things out. It seems there are lots of Pansys in the world. A couple of men have told me they’re Pansy. I was like, "OK, the fact that they’re self-aware means they are not Pansy!" If you recognise yourself in Pansy, good luck, I’ll pray for you. She doesn’t stop talking. I’m not like her at all.

Have you thought about writing?

Toni Morrison wrote her novels because she wasn’t finding any books that were telling the sort of stories she wanted to read. I kind of feel like that about myself. I spend a lot of time painting, but I also write. It is hard, though… I wrote a pilot, about a thief, that is going around. I’m a firm believer in things happening in their time.

Have you found consistently interesting work in LA, and would you, for example, consider playing a superhero?

I’ve always had to compromise. Sadly, there is a dearth of great multilayered roles for black women to play both in the US and the UK. I don’t know if it’s changing. I really don’t. To answer the second part of your question, Pansy is a superhero!

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Hard Truths will be released in UK cinemas on 31st January 2025.

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