Mike Leigh is my all-time favourite writer/director/creator.

Working with Mike Leigh is a process of distillation.

— Lesley Sharp

When I make films, I work with Mike Leigh, who's the most prolific director in England.

— Lesley Manville

I often draw from people in my own experience to base a character on, going back to my days with Mike Leigh.

— David Thewlis

I really want to work with Mike Leigh.

— Dervla Kirwan

I'm very influenced by Mike Leigh and the way that he always has these climactic confrontations, like in 'Secrets and Lies' and 'High Hopes,'…

— Sean Baker

Mike Leigh encourages you to choose a person that you know to base your character on. You write a whole list of people that…

— Jane Horrocks

I had two starts, really. The first was going to the Italia Conti stage school, aged 15. I'd gone to sing, but one day…

— Lesley Manville

I acknowledge Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. They are prostlytizers of English socialism preaching to the converted and telling us what we already know.…

— Peter Greenaway

I wanted to work with Mike Leigh. I had my list of British people I wanted to work with, and I wanted to work…

— Carmen Ejogo

Certainly as actors, and maybe as directors, you've got to hang on to something childlike. You've got to know what play is. I haven't…

— Alan Rickman

Mike Leigh taught me about making choices - as an actor, you choose between being honest and clever, and with Mike, it's always about…

— Eddie Marsan

Different directors have different things, so when I left Mike Leigh, as it were, and I went into other projects after 'All or Nothing,'…

— Sally Hawkins

I had left school at 16, gone to stage school - and, until I was 22, I hadn't really played anyone but myself. Then…

— Lesley Manville

A film director is not a creator, but a midwife. His business is to deliver the actor of a child that he did not…

— Jean Renoir

I became, and remain, my characters' close and intent watcher: their director, never. Their creator I cannot feel that I was, or am.

— Elizabeth Bowen