David Leland in Britain" won the Prix Italia (an international Television award) in 1984. In 1986 he wrote the screenplay for the thriller-drama "Mona Lisa", featuring Bob Hoskins. This film was critically acclaimed and Leland earned nominations for the Golden Globe and the Writers Guild of America. He then wrote "Personal Services" in 1986. It was directed by Terry Jones and was about Cynthia Payne, a real-life British madam who ran a private brothel. Julie Walters took the leading role. While "Personal Services" dealt with the adult life of Cynthia Payne, Leland's next film, "Wish You Were Here", concerned her teenage years.
Bruce Payne a plum role as the icy head of British black ops'. In addition, Payne portrayed Auschwitz camp Commandant Rudolf Hoess, in a 'superciliously evil' manner, in the French film "Victor Young Perez", which concerns the life of the Tunisian Jew flyweight boxer Victor Perez. In 2015, Payne played Winston, a religious fanatic, in the horror film "Re-Kill". In 2018 Payne appeared in the Anthology film "London Unplugged", which premiered at the East End Film Festival. Payne played the main antagonist in "" (which he also produced and acted as assistant director for), which is due to be released in 2019.