Anna Maxwell Martin has opened up candidly about the ‘state of shock and fear’ she entered after the sudden death of her ex-husband, Roger Michell.
Roger, who was best known for directing iconic ’90s romcom Notting Hill, died on September 22 at the age of 65. He and Anna had separated the year before, but had reportedly remained on amicable terms, with the Call of Duty star regarding her ex as her ‘friend and sounding board’.
Anna, who tonight stars in ITV’s Until I Kill You, has now spoken bravely about the grief she endured in the aftermath of Roger’s death, which she says plunged her into ‘financial terror’.
During an episode of BBC’s Woman’s Hour, aired October 29, Motherland lead Anna, 47, shared: “My husband died three years ago and things were really difficult in every aspect of our lives. And one of those was – there’s lots of stuff that comes with grief, and one of those was financial terror.
“Then there are real practicalities around your children, and their mental health and supporting them, which is your priority. Looking back I was probably in a state of shock and fear – a heightened state – for a long time until very recently. I’ve trod this road of grief and sudden traumatic death before. I’ve done it before. So in a way I could pick myself up and do it again.”
Anna, who lost her own father when she was just 24, continued: “It was horrible to have to see my children walk that road. But I’m pretty gritty and pretty strong, and I think I’m quite deft, I hope, at navigating life. I thought, ‘I’ve just got to keep the motor chugging on’.
Anna and Roger first locked eyes on the set of Enduring Love, a 2004 psychological thriller based on the Ian McEwan novel of the same name. Roger was in the director’s chair, while Anna played the character of Penny.
Back then, Anna was a 26-year-old star on the rise, with her BAFTA-winning performance in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Bleak House still a year away. At 48, Roger was already a renowned theatre, television and film director, who had earned widespread acclaim for his work as Resident Director with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Touching upon their sizeable age gap during an interview with The Telegraph in September, Anna remarked: “He was my friend and my sounding board. He was also a lot older than me. He was my boss when I met him. It all sounds inappropriate now but it was a different time [then]. He was the person I would go to, to ask, ‘Is this all right?'”
What started as a working relationship turned into love, and eventually marriage. The couple went on to welcome daughters Maggie, 15, and Nancy, 13, in addition to Roger’s eldest children Rosanna and Harry, born during his first marriage to actor Kate Buffery. And it was Roger’s children who Anna thought of as she and Roger parted ways, emphasising that ‘there are four children to think about’ in her post-break-up statement.
Anna stated: “Our marriage has ended and we’ve been separated for quite some time. I haven’t really spoken about it because it isn’t fair on all the people involved. There are four children to think about. It’s taken an enormous amount of time, but we are all getting through it in a healthy way.”
The couple continued to co-parent with apparent grace and mutual respect, making sure their children were protected during the difficult transition. In an interview with You magazine at the time of their split, Anna praised her ex’s parenting skills, revealing: “I’m definitely not a single working mother. Roger is amazing. I feel incredibly supported. We always have conversations about work. He is great and we also have a brilliant nanny, and my mum helps out with the girls as well, so all is fine.”
After news broke of Roger’s shock death, Anna paid tribute to the ‘kind and gentle’ father of her children in a touching social media post. She wrote: “He always had a sweet grin on his face and a perfect piece of direction to share.”
An official cause of death was not given, however, during an interview with The Wrap, Dame Helen Mirren, who worked with Roger on his final movie, The Duke, shared that the great director had passed away following a ‘sudden heart attack’. Dame Helen said: “It was devastating for all of us to lose Roger. We never…it completely came out of the blue, he was very very fit and active and creative. There was never any sense that this was someone who was ailing. He wasn’t ailing. It was a very sudden heart attack that took him away. He meant a huge amount to the British film industry.”
During her recent interview with The Telegraph, Anna made it clear she had never stopped loving Roger, in spite of their separation, explaining: “I didn’t fall out of love with Roger. But sometimes a marriage can’t continue for certain reasons and for me, it couldn’t continue. I still love Roger very much and I miss him desperately.”
You can catch the first episode of Until I Kill You this evening (November 3) at 9pm on ITV1.
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