Michele Austin, muse of filmmaker Mike Leigh and one of the stars of his new family drama Hard Truths, has been a cornerstone of British cinema for over three decades. After first working with Leigh onscreen in the seminal Secrets & Lies in 1994, Austin’s relationship with the director sustained through to Another Year in 2010. Some might call their latest collaboration, Hard Truths, the most-snubbed film of the 2025 awards season. In it, Austin plays Chantelle, the caring and fun loving sister to Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s complicated and unyieldingly negative Pansy. A familiar face on British television, with recurring roles in classic shows like The Bill and Eastenders, Austin has sharpened her tools in the background and now delivers a supporting performance that earned her a National Society of Film Critics award.
Ahead of the U.K. release of Hard Truths, Austin spoke to the Cut about her love of gardening, cinema etiquette, and her No. 1 tip for staying hydrated.
What are your rules for being a good audience member?
If you must have a crunchy snack that comes in a bag, transfer it into a paper cup. That way you do not disturb everyone with your crinkling of the packet. For me, it is always about the noise and the talking. Silent means silent. I feel very strongly about that. You don’t find it at film festivals, but when you go generally to the cinema, the sort of chat that goes on, I find really rude and distracting. It’s almost like people think they’re still at home. I don’t know whether it got worse after the pandemic.
That was my theory, it’s because of streaming culture.
People just got so used to being on our phones and watching something on Netflix and I find that so rude. Because also I think, God, it’s expensive enough! Why are you talking through it? You paid 15, twenty 20.
The most egregious thing happened to me the other week. I was seeing Conclave in the cinema and this woman answered her ring doorbell during the film. She’s going, “If you could leave it behind the bin. No, not that bin. If you leave it there.”
I mean that takes some front, doesn’t it? To answer your ring doorbell in the theater. That is amazing to me. The other thing that I’m still so shocked by is when I go to the cinema or theater and people have an alarm that goes off. I’m like, what are you? What is that? Where are we? Are we still in 1982? What? Who still has that?
I’m glad we got that off our chest, because it’s ridiculous. I’ve seen Hard Truths three times now. It hit a little bit close, you know?
Did you recognize some family members there?
Yeah. I’ve started saying, “Oh yeah, they went full Hard Truths.”
They went full Pansy.
When I saw the film for a second time in the cinema, something that got a massive laugh was your character Chantelle’s giant water bottle.
Oh my gosh! I was hoping that you would say this. That’s what my hairdressers do, and I’ve always found it hilarious. They’re very specific bottles that have that “Way to go!” or “Nearly there!” on them. It gets a laugh because it’s true.
It’s so accurate. But while you’re super busy on this press tour, what are your rules for hydration?
I do try to hydrate but generally, it’s two very strong coffees in the morning — don’t speak to me before I’ve had my coffee. I’ve got a milk frother, I mean, I’m proper middle class now.
I love a gin-and-tonic. My rules for gin-and-tonic are a double G&T with the tonic on the side. I like to pour my own tonic; I like to taste the gin.
With a lemon or a lime?
I used to be a lemon, now I’m a lime. I work away from home a lot and to treat myself I will have a glass of Champagne, some oysters, and I will toast myself. I’ll pat myself on the back for getting there.
As I’ve gotten older, I have really enjoyed being able to travel on my own. I find it liberating in a way that I wouldn’t have done in my 20s, I’d have felt self-conscious about eating on my own. One of the joys of my life now, being an older woman, is I love to be able to sit in a restaurant on my own, with a book or just staring out of the window and maybe having a conversation with the handsome barman. Yes, I’m married, but I’m not dead.
Sticking with Chantelle, we’ve spoken about how accurate that water bottle is, but there’s also the openness of her clients. What are your rules around that kind of familiarity, with your hair and makeup teams?
I’m always conscious of being ready with clean hair. I have had the same hairdressers since about 2010 or 2011, I have an incredible relationship with them. I have brought back mangoes from Jamaica for my hairdressers, and they’ve brought me back sorrel rum from Jamaica. It’s beautiful. On this tour, I’ve been really lucky to have met a great makeup artist. I remember the bad old days of walking into makeup trucks, and you not being catered to as a person of color, in the same way that your other co-workers were. It feels like we’re in a really wonderful age of being able to be looked after as Black actors in the same way as our non-Black co-workers.
I like to have people who are positive and have a little chat, I like a little bit of music playing.
Do you have a playlist?
I’ve got a great playlist called “Lena Is 90.” It’s for my mum’s 90th birthday. There’s a bit of calypso, a little bit of rap, a little bit of reggae.
I find the whole getting dressed up has been a challenge and I am getting used to it. I’ve met some brilliant people who put me at ease. The whole dressage element of it can be quite daunting, as women, we are used to being judged in a way.
It sounds like you’re smelling the roses, from your Champagne and oysters to learning to enjoy the dressing-up element.
Listen, I don’t think the red carpet is ever going to be my natural habitat, right? But from where I started, I think I look a bit more comfortable now. I am trying to smell the roses, I am also doing the work on myself.
It hasn’t been an easy thing and I think we must also be really honest about it. I mean, some people are great at it. But I’ve worked really, really hard, and I have to accept that I have, and that I deserve to enjoy it. It’s hard for me to say that. I’m trying to say it more and more because I’m trying to do the work on myself, rather than just keep talking about it. Especially somebody who comes from a working-class background, it’s good to acknowledge what you’ve done and where you’ve come from.
There’s such a lovely relationship between Chantelle and her daughters in the film. What are your rules for raising adult children?
It’s about dialogue, isn’t it? When I think about my own children, to be interested in them and to be open and honest, even when it’s difficult. Find out what they’re interested in, ask them questions. Sometimes the best times are when you’re in the car, or you’re walking next to each other and you’re not even really looking at each other and they tell you things. Sit next to each other a lot, put down your phones and step away from the screens.
I think dancing in the kitchen is always one of the things that as a family I try to encourage. I think if you can have a family where you can dance in the kitchen at any given time and throw some shapes together, that’s the best thing. Treating your adult children like adults, but also allowing them to sit on your knee.
How would you deal with an impolite dinner guest? Perhaps someone who came over and decided they didn’t want to eat.
Here’s the thing, I’m not Chantelle. I’m actually more of a Pansy. I’d love to say that I would be understanding, but it would depend on how many gin-and-tonics I’ve had. I probably would be quite passive aggressive about it. I do love to cook so I would be annoyed. I think I would be asking a lot of questions until I could force them into a situation where they would eat the food.
What are your rules for maintaining a garden in London?
It’s about little and often and you’ve got to plan forward. Look at your little spot, where does it get sunny? When does it get sunny? Take your time because it’s such a lovely thing to sit out in your garden with the sun on your face and to have a breather. Especially when we live in London. You get off the Northern line hating everyone and it’s such a refuge to sit with a cup of tea in the garden with the sun on your face.