Photogrpahy by Alexander Wagner

Sally Hawkins isn’t used to air conditioning yet. During an interview in a midtown hotel room, the automated A/C unit kicks in with a not-so-discreet roar. “It sounds like we’re taking off,” she laughs. “I imagine you very quickly get used to this sort of thing.” She’ll probably have to. Before this year, Hawkins was a well-kept secret, best known in the UK for turns on miniseries like Fingersmith and elsewhere for supporting roles in Mike Leigh’s last two films, All or Nothing and Vera Drake. Now that she’s taken the lead in Happy-Go-Lucky, a higher profile is almost certainly in the offing; her recent Silver Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival is already generating a fair share of Oscar buzz. In the film, Hawkins plays the maniacally cheerful Poppy, whose perpetual perkiness evolves from grating to endearing in the course of two hours. It’s an intense collaboration between Hawkins and Leigh, and I started by asking about their mutual bonding over art.