Bad Sisters star Anne-Marie Duff celebrates personal milestone in rare update

Known for her roles in Bad Sisters and Shameless, the actress has been formally made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to drama. She was also named in the New Year Honours list.

Fellow actresses on the New Year Honours list include Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) and Anne Reid (Coronation Street).

Upon receiving the good news, she told the PA news agency: “I feel incredibly lucky and privileged to do a job that I love, so to be acknowledged in any way always feels like an incredible blessing. I am very grateful.”

In 2024, Anne-Marie, 54, won a BAFTA for best supporting actress for her lead role as Grace Williams in Apple TV’s drama series Bad Sisters. 

Bad Sisters follows the story of four sisters who have always been there for each other – but when the husband of Grace, Anne-Marie's character, mysteriously dies, their bonds are tested like never before. 

Grace is the second eldest of the Garvey sisters, and is married to the abusive and manipulative John Paul Williams (Claes Bang). 

Much of the first season revolves around her sisters' attempts to protect her from John Paul and ultimately, their joint effort to kill him. 

Coercively controlled Grace is belittled by her husband, which leads to a strained relationship with her sisters as she constantly defends John Paul's behaviour.

In season two, Grace's story takes a turn as she dies in a car crash, leading her sisters to investigate her death.

Anne-Marie recently featured in The Split spinoff Reunion, where she plays Chrsitine, a woman consumed by grief and in desperate need for answers.

Anne-Marie has also been nominated for her roles as Julia in Nowhere Boy, Queen Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen and Fiona Gallagher in Shameless.  

It was on the set of Shameless that she met her ex-husband James McAvoy, whom she tied the knot with on 11 November 2006 and was married to for 10 years. They share one son, Brendan, together. 

Shameless followed a dysfunctional working-class family living on the fictional Chatsworth council estate in Manchester with an alcoholic father.

Other roles you might have seen Anne-Marie Duff in are Suspect (Channel 4); BBC's The Salisbury Poisonings, From Darkness, The Accused – Mo’s Story, Parade’s End, Margot, Charles II, Wild West, Sinners, The Way We Live Now, The Cold War; Sex Education (Netflix); and His Dark Materials (BBC One and HBO).