Screen work After graduating from
Drama Centre, Duff made her first television appearance in
ITV drama
Trial & Retribution as Cathy Gillingham for two episodes in 1997. She later made appearances in series such as
Amongst Women, in
Aristocrats as
Lady Louisa Lennox and in 2003
BBC television film Charles II: The Power and the Passion as
Henrietta of England. She first came to the attention of the British public in 2002 for her work playing Margaret in
The Magdalene Sisters. She also had a minor role in
Holby City as Alison McCarthy. Duff played Holly in the first series of
Simon Nye sitcom,
Wild West, alongside
Dawn French and
Catherine Tate in 2002. In 2002, Duff appeared in her first major film role as Margaret McGuire in
The Magdalene Sisters. Duff's first critical acclaim came for her portrayal of
Queen Elizabeth I in the lavish 2005 BBC television miniseries
The Virgin Queen, which also starred
Tom Hardy,
Emilia Fox and
Sienna Guillory. For Elizabeth I, she was nominated for the
British Academy Television Award for Best Actress in both 2006 and 2007. She was awarded the
BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress for her work in the 2007 television film
The History of Mr Polly. Following her breakthrough, Duff started working in films, first appearing in
Notes on a Scandal, alongside
Judi Dench. After film roles in Irish film
Garage and
The Waiting Room, she next appeared in a main role in
comedy film French Film and
Is Anybody There? in 2008. In 2009, Duff received further attention when she played the mother of
John Lennon,
Julia Stanley, a role for which she won
British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in
Nowhere Boy. She also appeared in
The Last Station, a biopic about
Leo Tolstoy's later years, in which she played his devoted daughter Sasha. She appeared in less-known film roles following this before her appearance in the 2014 film
Before I Go to Sleep. Throughout this time, Duff continued to appear on mainstream television in ''
Parade's End, a five-part BBC/HBO/VRT television serial adapted from the tetralogy of eponymous novels (1924–1928) by Ford Madox Ford as Edith Duchemin and in BBC One crime drama From Darkness'' which premiered in October 2015, appearing in the starring role. Of Duff's performance,
Metro stated "Not a fan of police procedural dramas? Good, because this ain't that. From Darkness is a character-driven tale of one women's journey and resolve and it includes a bloody brilliant performance by Duff." In 2015, she played Violet Miller in the film
Suffragette, a working-woman who introduces Maud Watts (
Carey Mulligan) to the fight for women's rights in east London. 's play
Husbands & Sons in 2016 In 2016, Duff was cast in an
BBC animated miniseries of
Watership Down, alongside her former husband
James McAvoy. It premiered in December 2018; Duff appeared as Hyzenthlay. In 2019, Duff once again appeared with McAvoy in the
BBC One and
HBO adaption of
Philip Pullman's
His Dark Materials. In 2020, Duff portrayed Erin Wiley, the estranged heroin addict mother of established character Maeve in the second season of the
Netflix original series
Sex Education. She later returned to the role for the third season. In June 2020, Duff appeared in a main role as
Tracy Daszkiewicz in three-part
drama The Salisbury Poisonings. The series portrays the 2018
Novichok poisoning crisis in
Salisbury, England, and the subsequent
Amesbury poisonings. Duff narrated the
BBC Two documentary
Hospital in 2017.
Stage work An accomplished theatre actor, she has worked extensively with the
Royal National Theatre, including its 1996 production of
Helen Edmundson's adaptation of
Leo Tolstoy's
War and Peace, and also in London's West End (
Vassa,
Collected Stories). Credits at the National Theatre include
Collected Stories,
King Lear and the title character in
Marianne Elliott's production of
George Bernard Shaw's
Saint Joan to great acclaim. In 2011 she played
Alma Rattenbury in
Terence Rattigan's final play
Cause Célèbre at
The Old Vic, directed by
Thea Sharrock. Duff was nominated for a
Laurence Olivier Award in 2000. ==Personal life==