‘The real world is terrifying’: Anne-Marie Duff on sisterhood, survival and Shameless

Anne-Marie Duff is extremely precise. Ask her a question, and she will take great lengths to make sure her delivery is spot on, pausing for epochs to get a phrase exactly right. Even though she’s famously shy, the beam of her concentrated attention makes our conversation in a central London hotel feel intimate – despite taking place in one of those artificial environments where actors gather looking sleek and shoot-ready. Sure, all actors have to inhabit the moment, but not many do that in an interview. Then again, she does have plenty to concentrate on: we’re here to talk about Bad Sisters, the new Sharon Horgan drama – specifically, why it’s so strikingly good.

“That’s Sharon’s writing, isn’t it?” Duff says. “She’s so brilliantly irreverent and funny, and cheeky. And, at the same time, full of emotional truth and compassion, and sometimes devastating heartbreak. All in a breath.” If she had her way, Duff would talk exclusively, the rest of her CV, plus people doing things nothing to do with her – , , ) under the wire, however much I try to wrestle the topic back to her.