Who’s Who in the Cast of Midwinter Break, Now Streaming on Peacock
This indie gem from Focus Features features an outstanding group of thespians.
If you like indie films, Focus Feature’s intimate and introspective film Midwinter Break is now streaming on Peacock. An adaptation of Bernard MacLaverty’s 2017 novel of the same name, Midwinter Break stars Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds in this two-hander that unfolds like a beautifully staged play.
The film is also the feature directorial debut of renowned British theater director Polly Findlay, who is known for her impressive theater productions of classics such as Sophocles’ Antigone and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, as well as contemporary pieces.
Midwinter Break is especially suited to audiences who love characters pieces with exceptional performances. Find out more about the actors and their characters, below.
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Who plays who in the Midwinter Break cast?
Lesley Manville as Stella
Stella is a retired teacher who originally hailed from Belfast but has lived as an expat in Scotland for the majority of her marriage to Gerry. Empty nesters who don’t live close to their child or grandchild, Stella and Gerry have settled into a gentle detachment that often comes with long marriages between opposites. Depressed by their dynamic, Stella purchases a weekend holiday trip for the two in Amsterdam. What she hopes will be a rekindling of their rapport instead becomes an exploration of their fraught past and the things they’ve left long unsaid.
English actress Leslie Manville plays Stella with a quiet strength. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award and Critic's Circle Theatre Award winner, Manville has starred in stage performances of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Three Sisters, Long Day's Journey into Night and Oedipus. In television, she’s appeared in many period pieces including North and South (streaming on Peacock), Harlots, the recent streaming series of Dangerous Liaisons, and as Princess Margaret in The Crown. She's also appeared in many films, including eight by Mike Leigh, and was nominated for a 2018 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread. Recently, she starred in the Focus Feature’s indie hit, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (also streaming on Peacock).
Ciarán Hinds as Gerry
Gerry is the retired husband of Stella. Once an architect, he now spends his time reclining in the den with many glasses of whiskey. An avoider of problems, he hasn’t tackled many issues that stand between him and Stella. However, this holiday will force them to confront many of those issues, as well as a long-ago tragedy that they’ve both kept buried inside.
Stella’s other half is played by Belfast, Ireland’s own Ciarán Hinds. The Irish actor has a wide-ranging career from award-winning theater work to character work in mainstream hits, like Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (streaming now on Peacock) and Steppenwolf in Justice League. Most recently, Hinds won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor as Pops in Kenneth Branagh’s ode to his own Irish roots, Belfast (2021). He also plays the enigmatic Dark Wizard in the prequel series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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Niamh Cusack as Kathy
A fellow Irish expat, Kathy is a woman that Stella meets when they’re touring Amsterdam. She becomes a shoulder for Stella to cry on during their brief visit. Her candor spurs the same in Stella as she’s examining the mistakes she’s made in her life.
Actress Niamh Cusack is Irish and comes from a performing family, including sisters Sinéad Cusack, Sorcha Cusack, and Catherine Cusack. She’s a frequent performer in Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions, from Othello to Macbeth. She also works in film and television.
Midwinter Break is now streaming exclusively on Peacock. Check out the official movie site.
