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 commented, "Warner were fascinated by the similarity" between his name and that of Bruce Wayne. Payne has said that "they drew up a very short shortlist and there I was on it. Obviously, I lost out in the end to Michael Keaton".<ref name="http://www.agwlbp.com/sunday.html"></ref> In the same year Payne appeared as Doctor Burton in the dramatic film "Zwei Frauen" The film was nominated for Outstanding Feature Film at the German Film Awards. In 1990 Payne appeared in the music video for Neil Young's song "Over and Over", directed by Julien Temple, as a Stanley Kowalski (played by Marlon Brando in "A