Anne-Marie Duff

 ( 1970 Births ) 

Anne-Marie Duff (born 8 October 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is best known for her BAFTA nominated television roles in Shameless and The Virgin Queen, and her performance as Grace Williams in Bad Sisters, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA in 2024.

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Early life and education Duff was born in London on 8 October 1970, the younger of two children of Ireland immigrants: her father, a painter and decorator at Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick, was from County Meath and her mother was from County Donegal and worked in a shoe shop. The family lived in Southall, London, and Duff attended Mellow Lane School. While at school, she joined the school choir, where she discovered she could 'really sing'. She paid for singing lessons with a woman who taught classical singing, who made a huge impact. Duff initially thought about pursuing a career as a singer and talked about it in great depth with her teacher, who looked at her and said, 'I think you have the soul of an actor.' At an early age, Duff attended a local youth theatre, Young Argosy, linked to the Argosy Players, in order to battle her shy nature; she soon became hooked on the stage. After further study of Film and Theatre, at the age of 19, she attended the Drama Centre in London, alongside John Simm, Anastasia Hille and her good friend Paul Bettany.

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Career

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Screen work After graduating from Drama Centre, Duff made her first television appearance in ITV drama Trial & Retribution as Cathy Gillingham for two episodes in 1997. She later made appearances in series such as Amongst Women, in Aristocrats as Lady Louisa Lennox and in 2003 BBC television film as Henrietta of England. She first came to the attention of the British public in 2002 for her work playing Margaret in The Magdalene Sisters. She also had a minor role in Holby City as Alison McCarthy. Duff played Holly in the first series of Simon Nye sitcom, Wild West, alongside Dawn French and Catherine Tate in 2002. In 2002, Duff appeared in her first major film role as Margaret McGuire in The Magdalene Sisters.

Duff's first critical acclaim came for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in the lavish 2005 BBC television miniseries The Virgin Queen, which also starred Tom Hardy, Emilia Fox and Sienna Guillory. For Elizabeth I, she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in both 2006 and 2007. She was awarded the BAFTA Cymru for Best Actress for her work in the 2007 television film The History of Mr Polly.

Following her breakthrough, Duff started working in films, first appearing in Notes on a Scandal, alongside Judi Dench. After film roles in Irish film Garage and The Waiting Room, she next appeared in a main role in comedy film French Film and Is Anybody There? in 2008. In 2009, Duff received further attention when she played the mother of John Lennon, Julia Lennon, a role for which she won British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in Nowhere Boy. She also appeared in The Last Station, a biopic about Leo Tolstoy's later years, in which she played his devoted daughter Sasha. She appeared in less-known film roles following this before her appearance in the 2014 film Before I Go to Sleep. Throughout this time, Duff continued to appear on mainstream television in Parade's End, a five-part BBC/HBO/VRT television serial adapted from the tetralogy of eponymous novels (1924–1928) by Ford Madox Ford as Edith Duchemin and in BBC One crime drama From Darkness which premiered in October 2015, appearing in the starring role. Of Duff's performance, Metro stated "Not a fan of police procedural dramas? Good, because this ain't that. From Darkness is a character-driven tale of one women's journey and resolve and it includes a bloody brilliant performance by Duff."

In 2015, she played Violet Miller in the film Suffragette, a working-woman who introduces Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) to the fight for women's rights in east London. In 2016, Duff was cast in an BBC animated miniseries of Watership Down, alongside her former husband James McAvoy. It premiered in December 2018; Duff appeared as Hyzenthlay. In 2019, Duff once again appeared with McAvoy in the BBC One and HBO adaption of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

In 2020, Duff portrayed Erin Wiley, the estranged heroin addict mother of established character Maeve in the second season of the Netflix original series Sex Education. She later returned to the role for the third season. In June 2020, Duff appeared in a main role as Tracy Daszkiewicz in three-part drama The Salisbury Poisonings. The series portrays the 2018 Novichok poisoning crisis in Salisbury, England, and the subsequent Amesbury poisonings.

Duff narrated the BBC Two documentary Hospital in 2017.

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Stage work An accomplished theatre actor, she has worked extensively with the Royal National Theatre, including its 1996 production of Helen Edmundson's adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, and also in London's West End ( Vassa, Collected Stories). Credits at the National Theatre include Collected Stories, King Lear and the title character in Marianne Elliott's production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan to great acclaim. In 2011 she played Alma Rattenbury in Terence Rattigan's final play Terence Rattigan at The Old Vic, directed by Thea Sharrock.

Duff was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2000.

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Personal life Duff married Scottish actor James McAvoy in 2006, and gave birth to their son in 2010. On 13 May 2016, Duff and McAvoy announced they were divorcing. To minimise disruption to their son's life, they initially shared a home in North London when not working elsewhere. Andrew Purcell , "James McAvoy, man of many faces, adds another 24 in Split", The Age, 13 January 2017

She admits to being "a hopeless romantic. And that means sometimes I'll burn with pain as well as burn with desire, I will. 'Cos that's the nature of opening your heart up to someone else ... This sounds ironic, of course, but sometimes in a marriage you are never closer than the moment at which the two of you decide it's time to finish."

Duff was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to drama.

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Activism In 2007, she was one of nine female celebrities to take part in the What's it going to take? campaign promoting awareness of domestic abuse in the United Kingdom.

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Acting credits

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Film

1998	Mild and Bitter	The Woman	Short film
2001	Enigma	Kay
2002	The Magdalene Sisters	Margaret
2006	Notes on a Scandal	Annabel
2007	Garage	Carmel
	The Waiting Room	Anna
2008	Is Anybody There?	Mum
	French Film	Sophie
2009	The Last Station	Sasha Tolstoy
	Nowhere Boy	Julia Lennon
2012	Sanctuary	Maire
2013	Closed Circuit	Melissa
2014	Before I Go to Sleep	Claire
2015	Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism	Librarian (Lucy Logan)
	Suffragette	Violet Miller
2016	Miranda's Letter	Mother	Short film
2017	On Chesil Beach	Marjorie Mayhew

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Television

1997	Trial & Retribution	Cathy Gillingham	Series 1; episodes 1 & 2: "Trial & Retribution I" - Parts 1 & 2
1998	Amongst Women	Sheila	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
1999	Aristocrats	Lady Louisa	Mini-series; episodes 2–5
2000	Reach for the Moon	Cath Bird	Mini-series; unknown episodes
2001	The Way We Live Now	Georgiana Longestaffe	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
2002	Sinners	Anne Marie / Theresa	Television film
	Holby City	Alison McCarthy	Series 4; episode 32: "Lives Worth Living"
	Wild West	Holly	Series 1; episodes 1–6
	Doctor Zhivago	Olya Demina	Mini-series; episodes 1 & 2
2003		Minette (Henrietta of England)	Mini-series; episode 3
2004–2005, 2013	Shameless	Fiona Gallagher	Main role. Series 1 & 2; 18 episodes, & series 11; episode 14
2005–2006	The Virgin Queen	Queen Elizabeth I	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
2006	Born Equal	Michelle	Television film
2007	The History of Mr Polly	Miriam Larkins	Television film
2008	Pop Britannia	Herself - Narrator	Mini-series; episodes 1–3
2009	Margot	Margot Fonteyn	Television film
2012	Accused	Mo Murray	Series 2; episode 2: "Mo's Story"
	Parade's End	Edith Duchemin	Mini-series; episodes 1–3 & 5
2015	From Darkness	Claire Church	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
2016	Murder	DCI Mirella Goss	Mini-series; episode 2: "Lost Weekend"
2017	Hospital	Herself - Narrator	Series 1; episodes 1–6
2018	Watership Down	Hyzenthlay (voice)	Mini-series; episodes 1–4
2019	His Dark Materials	Ma Costa	Series 1; episodes 1–3, 5 & 6
2020	The Salisbury Poisonings	Tracy Daszkiewicz	Mini-series; episodes 1–3
2020–2021	Sex Education	Erin Wiley	Netflix Original series 2 & 3; 13 episodes
2022–2024	Suspect	Dr. Susannah Newman	Series 1 & 2; 16 episodes
	Bad Sisters	Grace Williams / Grace Reilly	Apple TV+ series 1 & 2; 14 episodes
2024	The Read	Herself - Narrator	Series 3; episode 2: "A Christmas Carol"
2025	Reunion	Christine Mokhtar	Episodes 1–4

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Radio and audio

1997	The Playboy of the Western World	Sarah Tansey	Radio drama
1998	Twelfth Night	Viola
2000	The Art of Love	Cypassis
	Diary of a Provincial Lady	Mamselle	Radio series
2001	A Time That Was	Sim	Radio drama
2003	Stranges and Brothers	Rosalind
	Carmilla	Laura
2004	Life Half Spent	Joanne	Radio play
	Jane Eyre	Narrator	Radio drama
2005	Ears Wide Open	Diane
	Othello	Desdemona	Audiobook
2006	The Queen at 80	Narrator	Radio series
	The Possessed	Liza / Marya	Radio drama
	Look Back in Anger	Alison	Rehearsed reading
2007	Kingdom of the Golden Dragon	Narrator	Radio drama
2008	Twenty Chickens for a Saddle
2009	The Little Mermaid
2010	Thumbelina
2011	Cause Célèbre	Alma Rattenbury
2015	Kingdom of Cloud	Juliet
	The Master and Margarita	Margarita
2017	A Streetcar Named Desire	Blanche DuBois
2020	Tess of the D'Urbervilles	Narrator	Audiobook
	The Mill on the Floss
2021	The Absolute Book
2022	Unmade Movies: Dennis Potter's The White Hotel

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Theatre

1994	Uncle Silas	Maud Ruthyn
	The Mill on the Floss	First Maggie
1995	La Grande Magia	Amelia
1995–1996	Peter Pan	Wendy
1996	War and Peace	Natasha
1997–1998	King Lear	Cordelia
1999	Vassa	Lyudmila
1999–2000	Collected Stories	Lisa
2000	A Doll's House	Nora
2002	The Daughter in Law	Minnie
2004	The Playboy of the Western World	Pegeen Mike
2005	Days of Wine and Roses	Mona
2007	The Soldier's Fortune	Lady Dunce	Young Vic, London
	Saint Joan	Joan	Olivier Theatre, London
2011	Cause Célèbre	Alma Rattenbury	Old Vic, London
2012	Berenice	Berenice	Donmar Warehouse, London
2013	Strange Interlude	Nina Leeds	National Theatre, London
	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth	Broadway debut, Lincoln Center Theater
2015	Husbands & Sons	Lizzie Holroyd	Co-production between National Theatre, London and Royal Exchange, Manchester
2016	Oil	May	Almeida Theatre, London
2017	Common	Mary	Royal National Theatre, London
	Heisenberg	Georgie	Wyndham’s Theatre, London
2018	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth	Royal National Theatre, London
2019	Sweet Charity	Charity Hope Valentine	Donmar Warehouse, London
2022	The House of Shades	Constance Webster	Almeida Theatre, London
2024–2025	The Little Foxes	Regina Giddens	Young Vic, London

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Awards and nominations

2000	Laurence Olivier Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2001	Shanghai Television Festival	Best Actress
2004	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a TV Drama
2005
	Broadcasting Press Guild	Best Actress
	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress
2006
	Royal Television Society	Best Female Actor
2007	British Academy Television Awards	Best Actress
	Evening Standard Theatre Awards	Best Actress
	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a Lead Role in Television
2008	Laurence Olivier Awards	Best Actress
	BAFTA Cymru	BAFTA Cymru
	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2010	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Best Actress	Nowhere Boy
	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress
	London Film Critics' Circle Award	British Supporting Actress of the Year
	BAFTA Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
	Empire Award	Best Actress
	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Film
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2012	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best Actress in a Film
2015	British Independent Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress
2019	Evening Standard Theatre Awards	Best Musical Performance
2022	Peabody Award	Entertainment
2023	British Academy Television Award	British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress

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External links

• Duff at the British Film Institute

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