Anne-Marie Duff has almost always played second-fiddle roles, which I think is lame, because she’s super talented and quirky/beautiful. I first noticed her in Aristocrats and LOVED her in The Virgin Queen. She’s kept her hat in the historical costume arena while doing lots of contemporary stuff, most notably the British TV show Shameless from 2004-13. We saw her most recently in Suffragette, and I’m hopeful she’ll pop back up in our world soon?
As Lady Louisa, one of four super aristocratic sisters in Aristocrats (1999).
The overlooked, soon-to-be-spinster, desperate-to-get-married Georgiana in The Way We Live Now (2001).
Backing up Keira Knightley in the surprisingly-not-bad Doctor Zhivago (2002).
As Charles II’s sister Minette, who gets shipped off to France in The Last King (2003).
Making me, you, and everybody cry as a “fallen woman” sent to an asylum in 1960s Ireland in The Magdalene Sisters (2002).
Rocking it as Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen (2006).
As an unhappy wife in 1900s-set The History of Mr. Polly (2007).
Hanging with Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009).
Going all ballerina on us as Margot Fonteyn in Margot (2009).
I have blocked out too much about Parade’s End (2010) to remember her role. Sorry! I have Post Traumatic Parade’s End Syndrome.
As the working-class activist who recruits Carey Mulligan’s character in Suffragette (2015).
Which is your favorite of Anne-Marie Duff’s historical roles?
I remember Parade’s End and Anne-Marie was sublime in her role. She has a small part but she utterly stole every scene she was in. That and the costumes made PE tolerable.
I love watching her and you’ve reminded me how much I enjoy her work.
She was in The Aristocrats but her role wasn’t as interesting as the other sisters. She was fabulous as John Lennon’s mom in Nowhere Boy.
Why the angst over Paradise/Parade’s End…? I missed it.
Oh my, where to start?!?
First, and by far my biggest gripe was the fact that the main characters, a husband and a wife, were obviously in love with each other but failed miserably in communicating it to the other. This made them both intentionally and unintentionally cruel to each other. Very frustrating to watch over multiple episodes.
Second, the husband falls in love with a much younger woman that to me, made no sense. The two actors playing had zero chemistry and their love story was weird. (In all fairness, I’ve read that the actress playing the wife portrayed the wife more sympathetically than normal so that complicated the plausibility of the husband’s love for the younger woman).
I have a lot more issues but those are two and they are big ones. However, the costumes are fabulous! There’s a scrumptious purple outfit in episode five — it was so stunning. But the costuming was really outstanding overall.
Thanks for the reply. I’ll have to look into it more to get a feel for it.
YUP. Me watching this series:
Kendra
That sums it up nicely.
To be fair though, they cut a lot out and I mean a LOT. I’ve read the book, and his wife is an utter nightmare, it made me angry. In the book, he didn’t love her and only married her because he thought he had to (well that’s the conclusion I came to anyway.)
But I agree Anne- Marie Duff is a great actress. I adored her in Margo and The Magdalene Sisters pretty much broke my heart, considering her character did nothing to be put in there. She played it so well!