Main content

Anne-Marie Duff

Kirsty Young interviews actor Anne-Marie Duff.

Anne-Marie Duff is a stage and screen actor.

Born in 1970 to Irish parents, she grew up in a working class household in west London. A shy child and a voracious reader, she took acting classes from the age of 11, but failed to get into drama school on her first attempt. Her second application to the Drama Centre in London was successful and she's barely been out of work since.

She started off on stage, but gained more widespread recognition when she took the role of Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, the acclaimed Channel 4 comedy drama.

She has since played dozens of roles, both in the theatre and on screen, which range from Queen Elizabeth I to John Lennon's mother, from a penniless suffragette to a retired police officer with skeletons in the cupboard, and from Joan of Arc to Lady Macbeth on Broadway and at the National Theatre. Her performances have been described as having a "multi-faceted, diamond-hard intensity".

Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Sarah Taylor.

Available now

35 minutes

Last on

Fri 30 Mar 2018 09:00

Music Played

  • Pluto Shervington

    Dat

    • Young Gifted And Black.
    • Sanctuary Records.
    • 21.
  • The White Stripes

    Ball and Biscuit

    • Elephant.
    • Beggars Banquet Records.
    • 81.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    Chi Il Bel Sogno di Doretta from La Rondine

    Performer: Montserrat Caballé. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Puccini: Opera Arias, Montesserrat Caballe.
    • Angel.
    • 12.
  • µþÂáö°ù°ì

    Possibly Maybe

    • Post.
    • One Little Indian.
    • 8.
  • CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE

    • Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

      Love Letter

      • No More Shall We Part.
      • Mute Recordings Ltd.
      • 4.
  • Gorillaz

    Clint Eastwood

    • The Abum.
    • 1.
  • Elvis Costello & The Attractions

    Alison

    • Simply Acoustic.
    • 5.
  • Declan O’Rourke

    Marrying The Sea (Til Death Do Us Part)

    • Since Kyabram.
    • Universal.
    • 11.
  • BOOK CHOICE

    The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

  • LUXURY ITEM

    Gorgeous underwear

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Anne-Marie Duff
Producer Sarah Taylor

Broadcasts

  • Sun 25 Mar 2018 11:15
  • Fri 30 Mar 2018 09:00

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast