Anne-Marie Duff: 5 Things To Know About James McAvoy’s Soon To Be Ex-Wife

So sad! ‘X-Men’ star James McAvoy and his wife Anne-Marie Duff have decided to split up after nearly a decade of marriage. While we all know about James’ storied career, Anne-Marie is a successful actress in her own right.

It’s over. James McAvoy, 37 and Anne-Marie Duff, 45 have called it a day on their nine-year marriage, and while we all know plenty about the blue eyed Scottish hottie, let’s get to know five things about his soon to be ex-wife.

1. Anne-Marie and James met when the pair were co-stars on the UK’s version of Shameless.

The pair fell in love in 2004 after starring on Britain’s Channel 4 hit that U.S. cable network Showtime eventually did an American version of. They married two years later in 2006.

2. Anne-Marie originated the role of Fiona Gallagher that Emmy Rossum, 29, plays on Shameless.

She portrayed Fiona on the show from 2004 through 2005. Both she and James left the show after the first season but she returned for the show’s final episode in 2013. She almost turned down the role but her mother changed her mind, saying that the script rang true because “it is about what people have when they don’t have anything except laughter, sex and the stars”.

3. Anne-Marie is an accomplished stage actress. 

She has worked extensively with London’s Royal National Theatre, starring in such productions as War and Peace, Collected Stories, King Lear and Saint Joan all to great praise and acclaim.

4. Anne-Marie has one son with James, a six-year-old boy named Brendan and she loves being a mother.

After her son was born, she said in an interview that, “I do feel my life’s completely expanded since he arrived. When my baby was born, I felt like somebody had spiked my drink and I suddenly was so full of love that it was a little bit as if I was drugged. I didn’t think that anyone could feel that way.”

5. Anne-Marie became an actress to help battle her painful shyness.

She has said she was painfully shy growing up, and joined a local youth theater company to help combat the problem. As a result, she fell in love with being on stage.

HollywoodLifers, are you surprised that James and Anne-Marie split up?