Anne-Marie Duff has had a rollercoaster few years. She’s enjoyed huge career highs, while also facing heartbreaking personal loss – including the death of her beloved mother, who passed away last December. In an exclusive interview for Good Housekeeping’s October issue, the 55-year-old Bad Sisters star opened up about her grief and shared the final gift she was able to give her before she died.
She recalled how, when she got an email to say she was being awarded an OBE for services, she initially had reservations about accepting it. But, ultimately, she came to see it as something she could do for her mum, at a time when she was gravely ill.
Asked whether she had any qualms, she said, “Yes, because OBE has got British Empire” in it. Mamma mia! But you know what… I’m going to try and not cry when I tell you, but it was a thing I could do for my mum when she was in so much pain.
“She was profoundly ill. She didn’t have a movie ending to her life. Ultimately, for me, it was a gift I could give my mum.”
Needless to say, Anne-Marie’s mum was delighted. “All I ever wanted was to make my family happy,” the actress said. “She was thrilled.’
Tragically, Anne-Marie’s brother, Eddie, also died in February this year, from early-onset Alzheimer’s. Eddie was diagnosed in 2017, in his late 40s, and lived with the disease for several years. Anne-Marie made the decision to take 18 months off work to be with her family in those precious final months, turning down “a lot of jobs” in the process. And, rightly so, she has no regrets.
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“I wanted to be around,” she explained. “I’m so happy that Dad and I were able to be there at the end for both my mum and Eddie. It was hard as hell, but this is midlife, huh? This is loving people.”
Anne-Marie shared how, over the past few years, she’s leaned heavily on her best girlfriends describing them as “the string on my kite”. She met two, Dorothy Duffy and Eileen Walsh, when they were all acting in Peter Mullan’s 2002 film The Magdalene Sisters, and another seven or eight years ago.
“I’d be lost without those three,” she shared. “But I’m always jealous of people who have friends from school because I didn’t have that kind of experience.”
Despite the grief she’s experienced recently, Anne-Marie explained that she’s looking ahead with a sense of hope. It would be easy, she said, to think that, in her mid-50s, “the tank is empty”. But if the past few years have taught her anything, it’s that she’s lucky to be alive.
"Losing my mum and [brother] Eddie makes you so aware of time. It’s the only thing Elon Musk can’t buy! It’s to be savoured. My kid’s doing well, I’m in bloody great shape. It’s time to start the next chapter now."
Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping’s October issue, on sale from 27 August. Anne-Marie will star in Some Woman at the Dorfman Theatre, London, from 7 October to 21 November. For tickets, see nationaltheatre.org.uk.
