James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff Expecting First Child

Atonement actor James McAvoy and his actress wife Anne-Marie Duff are expecting their first child.

“We are happy to confirm that James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff are expecting their first child,” said the couple’s spokesman.

Anne-Marie, who has been nominated for three Bafta TV awards and a Bafta Film award for Nowhere Boy in which she played John Lennon’s mother, recently said she wanted to become a mother, saying: “I would love to have a baby.” Pointing towards the sky, she added: “As soon as the big fella makes it happen, it would be brilliant. I’m not putting it off but unfortunately bodies don’t work that way.”

The 30-year-old Scottish actor and the Shameless star, who is nine years his senior, met in 2003 on the set of the Channel 4 show when she played James’s feisty girlfriend Fiona Gallagher. Since then, James has forged a successful Hollywood career with starring roles in movies such as Wanted, with Angelina Jolie, and the Narnia Chronicles. Anne-Marie has become a respected TV and theatre actress, playing the likes of Queen Elizabeth in BBC series The Virgin Queen.

The couple, who shun the celebrity limelight, married in a low-key ceremony in October 2006. The Last King Of Scotland star James was recently linked with the role of James Bond creator Ian Fleming in a forthcoming film. Anne-Marie last appeared on screen as British prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn in the BBC Four film Margot.

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