Leslie Mann makes Greg Williams an espresso martini.
Photographs & interview by GREG WILLIAMS
As told to JANE CROWTHER
Actor Leslie Mann joins Greg Williams for a cocktail in Claridges as they discuss family and funnies.
The saying goes that only mad dogs and Englishmen stay out in the midday sun. Which is why Leslie Mann and I are meeting in the cool calm of Claridges during an unseasonable British heatwave, escaping the 34-degree lunchtime temperatures in Mayfair. Summer in London may be undependable weather-wise, but the cocktails in the hotel’s Painter’s Room are reassuringly consistent. Barman Nico is going to teach us how to make one of Leslie’s favourite tipples – her ‘go-to when going out’, an espresso martini.
‘We come to London every summer, usually to go to Glastonbury and to visit friends,’ the actor tells me as we get behind the bar. She and husband, Judd Apatow, have an apartment in the capital to continue Leslie’s love affair with England that began when she was a girl. ‘I came here the first time when I was 12 years old with my mother, who was going through a divorce, and we stayed in Rye in East Sussex in a haunted, tiny, little house. I just kind of fell in love with it, and have been coming back ever since.’ Californian born and bred, Leslie began life in San Francisco, before growing up in Newport Beach with her mother. As Nico and Leslie begin building their cocktails, shaking them and then decorating the foam heads with coffee beans, Leslie recalls a memory of her children, actors Maude and Iris Apatow. ‘I used to make oatmeal for my kids, and I would make raisin smiley faces on it,’ she laughs. ‘I wonder if they remember.’
I ask about her childhood and whether the proximity to Hollywood from Newport Beach made acting seem more achievable to her. ‘No. It was just a beach town, and I didn’t know anything about, or know anyone in, the movie business. I had a friend who was a photographer, and he said, “I’ll take some photos of you. And I want to introduce you to this commercial agent” – a friend of his. He brought me up to Los Angeles, and that’s kind of how it started. But I didn’t have any connections to the movie business before.’ She began taking acting classes and getting independent film roles. ‘I was painfully shy as a kid, and very uncomfortable in my own skin. But when I was acting, I could be someone else, which I loved.’
I was painfully shy as a kid, and very uncomfortable in my own skin. But when I was acting, I could be someone else, which I loved
After two years, the movie that really kicked off her career in a meaningful way was The Cable Guy with Jim Carrey – and also where she first met Apatow. After that came George of the Jungle, a movie beloved by so many families, including my own. ‘I love when people come up to me and say that they grew up watching that movie,’ she smiles. ‘It makes me so happy. I was in love with Brendan Fraser at the time and I was dating Judd. So I remember just having so much fun. Every morning in the makeup trailer, I used to say hello to Brendan, and we would give each other a mwah – a kiss. And then one day, I took a big bite of oatmeal, and kind of licked my lips with the oatmeal gooey goop stuff. We gave each other a little kiss, and it was gross and sticky. And he never kissed me again after that. That was it.’ She laughs. ‘There was a lot of physical comedy that was fun. Remember the lion scene? That was a real lion. It was only 5ft away, and it didn’t have a leash or anything. I guess this was before they had “protect the actor” rules. I just trusted that they knew what they were doing. But it’s a lion, and it could have just had me for lunch!’
As we sip our martinis, I ask Leslie what her proudest moment from her career is. ‘Working with my daughter, Maude, and watching her direct for the first time. I was really nervous at first because I didn’t know what she would be like as a director… she could’ve been a real tyrant screaming at everyone all day long. She had total control over me as an employee. Luckily for me she was the best director I’ve ever worked with – nurturing, smart, capable and fun. Proudest moment by far.’
Leslie is obviously well known for working well with her spouse, most notably playing a disastrous date in The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Debbie (married to Paul Rudd’s Pete) in both Knocked Up and This is 40 (the latter both being somewhat autobiographical). I wonder if the duo go through life recognising moments that might make great comedies. ‘We used to. But it’s been a while. A lot of the stories from Knocked Up were stolen from our life. Like the birth of the baby, and the doctor not showing up – I’m still mad about that,’ she laughs. ‘What a dick! Judd and I went to see the doctor because I thought my water had broken. He examined me, and he said, “No, your water didn’t break. You can go home.” So I did, confused, and then I went into full-on labour that night, and he was gone. So he sent me home because he had to catch a flight. That part wasn’t in the movie. But a lot of other things from our life were in that movie, and on This is 40, also. And from Paul Rudd’s life.’
There was a lot of physical comedy [in George of the Jungle] that was fun. Remember the lion scene? That was a real lion. It was only 5ft away, and it didn’t have a leash or anything. I guess this was before they had ‘protect the actor’ rules. I just trusted that they knew what they were doing. But it’s a lion, and it could have just had me for lunch!
Not taken from her real life, her latest role in Spa Weekend, a comedy from the makers of The Hangover following a group of friends (Mann, Anna Faris, Michelle Buteau) on a relaxing weekend when their most annoying mate (Isla Fisher) drops by – and chaos ensues. ‘I think it’ll be a great movie to go see with your girlfriends,’ she says, calling her castmates ‘super funny’. ‘We shot on the Gold Coast of Australia. It was a blast. I think it shows in the movie if it isn’t fun.’ Fisher’s chaotic character brings much booze-fuelled bad behaviour to the party but that wasn’t part of the real-life hijinks – though she tells me she nearly blinded herself once by accidentally popping a champagne cork directly in her eye ‘like one-eyed Willie’.
A lot of the stories from Knocked Up were stolen from our life. Like the birth of the baby, and the doctor not showing up – I’m still mad about that
Mann’s next film, Poetic License, has more familial ties: she leads a comedy about a woman who audits a college poetry class and becomes the focus for two Gen Z friends (Cooper Hoffman and Andrew Barth Feldman), directed by her first-born – Euphoria star Maude Apatow. The film premiered at TIFF last year and Maude is now developing new projects as a producer as well as director. Quite the proud moment for the actor who used to put raisin smiley faces on her morning oatmeal. The coffee-bean smiley face on my Leslie-made espresso martini is now at the bottom of my glass and our respite from the heat is over. Leslie returns to the sunshine to enjoy her summer in London…
Photographs & interview by GREG WILLIAMS
As told to JANE CROWTHER
Spa Weekend is in cinemas 21 August
Poetic License is in cinemas in October
Thanks to Claridges, London
