Lesley Manville Unpacks Cliffhanger Ending

(This story contains major spoilers from the season finale of Big question.)

The plot of Big question may be more confusing than ever after the season finale’s cliffhanger ending. But one message that is woven into the themes of women’s (and men’s) rights, AI and climate change explored in the Ryan Murphy Horror series couldn’t be clearer for the star Lesley Manville ahead of next week’s presidential elections. “Be careful what you vote for,” says the British actress The Hollywood Reporter of a takeaway for American viewers. “Think carefully before you put your check in the ballot box.”

Manville starts off playing Nurse Redd in the FX horror series, which later appeared simply as Redd, Lois’ lover (Niecy Nash-Betts) husband Marshall (Courtney B. Vance) after the episode seven reveal that the original characters in the story were projections created by Lois while in a liminal state. Marshall, who was initially thought to be in a coma for the first half of the film Big questionends up back in a hospital bed in the finale, having attempted suicide after being accused of sexual assault by one of his students. And upon release Ed by Travis Kelce introduces him to the Mexicali Men’s Club, where he finds himself in the company of like-minded individuals, exhausted by pronouns and so-called masculine witch hunts against “strong men”, including Lois’ trusted Dr. Witticomb (Santino Fontana) and Dr. Charlie (Nicholas Alexander Chavez), the latest to be accused of sexual misconduct with an unconscious patient.

But what is real and what may be another dream sequence ultimately remains uncertain for both the audience and Lois, who wonders if she ever woke up from her coma and if she is actually dead. Dr. Witticomb assures her that she is awake and diagnoses her with Cotard Syndrome, a condition resulting from the mind going through too much to bear, and wonders if she could actually be the serial killer of the season, Grotesquerie. Those lingering questions still linger at the end of the episode, as there is no resolution to the identity of the suspected copycat killer, or who or what Grotesquerie is.

According to Manville, there are plenty of other things to think about amid the uncertainty of a second season Big question. Below, Manville shares these takeaways as she talks about the duality of her characters, what she sees for their future in a possible season two, and what made her gasp when she read Murphy’s script.

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Co-creator Ryan Murphy and FX boss John Landgraf told the story THR That Big question is designed as a multi-season showand that the finale heralds a second season (EEditor’s note: The series has not yet been renewed.) What did you know about the long-term plan when you signed up?

They talked to me about the fact that it might have legs and it might go away, but we’ll just have to wait and see. They haven’t announced anything about a new season yet. But from what I understand, it all went very well. It’s been positively received, so I think they might want to do some more, and she’s definitely a character I’d love to play again.

What appealed to you most about this project, and were you aware of this duality in your character from the beginning?

Yes, I did. I met Ryan a long time ago. We met about, I think, 10, 12 years ago. I was in LA doing press for a Mike Lee movie called Another year and he requested that we meet, and we had a wonderful meeting. It was about two o’clock if I remember correctly. We both said that we would love to work together and that sometimes these things take a while to work out, and finally he came to me with Big question and he said, “I’m going to send you all the scripts because you have to see what happens.” And it was certainly the greatest twist I have ever read in my life. I think I gasped out loud a little bit when I (read) what happened, and I called him and we talked and he said, ‘I feel like in the first six episodes, when we’ll eventually find out come that (Redd is) a figment of Lois’s dreams while she was in a coma, maybe she should be very English. And after episode seven – when it is revealed that she is in fact Lois’s husband’s lover – we see her as an American and we get her existence as the real living person.

I just thought, “well, that’s too good not to do.” It’s like getting two insanely good parts in one performance. I’m sure a lot of people were very confused looking at Nurse Redd because what nurse do you know who wears so much makeup, has long red nails and is kind of a heightened, slightly stylized version of a nurse? I think there were a lot of people saying, “What the hell is Lesley doing?” And I just had to shut up and say, “Keep watching and all will be revealed.” I loved it when it was revealed that she still had that fabulous red hair. She was a nice lady who made a living post-COVID by having her OnlyFans site and being a bit of a teasing stripper. I just thought it was brilliant.

There is such an interesting relationship between Redd and Lois that culminates in this final proposal to have a fight with Marshall. What was it like to work together? Niecy Nash-Betts and developing the dynamics of your characters?

They’re really prickly with each other, aren’t they? Although, when you get to episode seven and you see them in the real world, so to speak, a lot of that is kind of melted away. They are two very spirited women who know their own minds. But most of the scenes I had with Niecy are where I’m Nurse Redd, like a huge figment of my imagination. So I had a bit of carte blanche to do whatever I wanted. But it was wonderful to work with Niecy. She’s a very smart, immensely talented actress, and when you work with people like that, you immediately know you’re on the same page. That you’re going to give and they’re going to come back, and it’s going to be a good day on set, and she always was. She’s a very easy woman to love. And the same goes for Courtney B. Vance. He was absolutely wonderful to work with.

Travis Kelce had Niecy with him as a guest New Heights podcast yesterday and he said after watching his performance he felt like there were things he could have done better. What were you thinking? his performance?

I haven’t seen it and I haven’t done any scenes with him, so I can’t comment. Good for him for wanting to go a step further and do something different and take the bold step of challenging himself to do something completely different. That’s a very brave thing to do, to put yourself on the line like that. I’m looking forward to seeing it for several reasons. But I suspect it will, given my current schedule, since I’m not doing this alone (Oedipus) play with eight shows a week, I’m also doing a series – December actually, before I sit down to watch Big question in all its glory.

When you got to the end of the scripts that Ryan sent you and you saw how this ended – even though it’s quite a cliffhanger – what did you think? Did you have any theories about how things could have gone differently?

No, because when I get to the end of a script, a large part of it is out of my control and has nothing to do with it. So what I was excited about when I read the scripts was the challenge and fun of playing British Nurse Redd and American Redd. I had to create two characters and that will be my job. I completely trusted that Ryan Murphy would understand the genre and look of the series since it was in such good creative hands. And the script was constantly changing. So I’ll elaborate a little: Yes, I read it. I see where it’s going. Now I have to do my part. And then you get to the set and see the brilliant set and costume designs. You work with the hair and makeup team that is second to none, and I do my job. And in a way, the overall look of it, the editing and everything else is not my responsibility. So what I’m looking forward to now is actually sitting down and watching it so I can enjoy all these elements that will have inevitably come together.

When you think about possible future seasons, where do you see your characters going next?

I think if they do another season, I imagine there will be no more Nurse Redd since we know that was part of Lois’ coma. So it would be Redd as Redd. And in fact, in terms of screen time, she was the least explored. Because I was Nurse Redd in the first six episodes. So there are more places you can go with her. But where would it go? I really don’t know. I can’t imagine it. But that’s why Ryan Murphy is such a successful producer and writer; he has a mind that is probably already thinking about where it could go, and it will be somewhere extraordinary and probably a little fantastic. So I wouldn’t speculate, because my speculation would probably be pretty boring compared to what his is going to be (laughs). I just enjoy creating the thoughts he has in his head. I enjoy being the person, the channel, bringing those people to life. That’s the little I can do.

With the series coming to an end so close to the election, what do you hope viewers take away in terms of the messages woven throughout the series?

Be careful what you vote for. Think carefully before you put your check in the ballot box. Listen, it’s a brutal series, despite all its many layers. There’s a very dark image and message going on, and I think it’s in big, bold letters. And I think that’s partly why Ryan wanted to do the series. You might say, “Well, it’s not a typical state drama.” But in many ways it is. The entire series has a somewhat prophetic character. But yes, think carefully, Americans, when you cast your votes.