Vera Anderson/WireImage.com Photo
	'What's that, Hollywood? You say you would have funded Happy-Go-Lucky with Kate Hudson?'

Despite Mike Leigh's standing as one of the greats of contemporary cinema, it is never an easy task for a filmmaker who eschews big names and conventional scripts, instead developing his story along with the characters once he starts working with his actors.

"Many a time, [producing partner] Simon [Channing Williams] has come from a meeting with potential backers and said, 'Well, it's the same story; get Johnny Depp - or whoever it is - and they'll give you all the [money],'" Leigh explains to FilmStew during a recent visit to the San Francisco Bay Area where the Mill Valley Film Festival was screening Happy-Go-Lucky and feting lead actress Sally Hawkins. “No disrespect to Johnny Depp, he's a metaphor.”