Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Anna Friel opens up about family tragedy that helped with role in Marcella

The actress recently returned to the ITV drama

marcella anna friel
Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
Share this:

ITV's Marcella recently returned to our screens for its tense third series and it certainly isn't short of twists and turns. Anna Friel also returns as the titular character, but this time with a new identity and new crises on her hands.

MORE: All you need to know about Marcella star Anna Friel's love life

The actress reprises her role as the troubled detective who is suffering with PTSD, and Anna was keen to portray the trauma that many face authentically on screen. 

She told HELLO! and other reporters in a Q&A before the series return, of a situation close to home that made the representation more poignant. "I did a lot of research," she began.

WATCH: ITV's Marcella returns for series three

"There was family tragedy in our family, with someone very close to me." She added: "There was a loss of the baby full term and I saw it happen with my own eyes so it was very, very important that I represented that in truth.

"So many people suffer from PTSD and I have friends who have suffered for years who didn't know they were suffering from it."

Meanwhile, the third instalment in the Scandi-Noir drama, which is also available to stream on Netflix, has been hugely popular with fans since it returned to ITV and Anna even recently hinted that a fourth could be possible.

MORE: Fans saying same thing about return of Marcella

MORE: Meet the cast of Marcella series three

marcella 3© Photo: ITV

Anna Friel recently returned for series three

Speaking to press ahead of the show's launch, the actress revealed whether fans could look forward to a fourth series: "It was always intended to be a trilogy, but the end of the third season is left very much open. I guess it depends on how much the viewers here like it."

MORE: Married at First Sight is returning to the UK for new series – get the details

The 44-year-old added: "It's been really well reviewed and respected in all the other counties that have been able to see it, I'm so sorry [the UK] had to wait so long. I think it [also] depends on everyone's availability. But it was intended to be a trilogy, there is a kind of satisfying end to series three as you'll see."

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.