Anna Maxwell Martin, 47, in ‘financial terror’ after death of ex-husband as she opens up on grief struggle
Anna Maxwell Martin, 47, has opened up about coping with the fallout of the death of her ex-husband Roger Michell in a candid interview three years after his passing.
The pair split in 2020, one year before film director Michell’s death, but remained on good terms. They shared two teenage daughters.
Michell was 65 when he died in September 2021 and was best known as the director of classic British rom-com Notting Hill and other projects.
After his death, Maxwell Martin has admitted she was left in “financial terror” and fearing for the mental health of her children – all the while starring in some of the nation’s biggest shows such as Motherland and Line of Duty.
She opened up about the ordeal on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour, saying: “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.
“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’.”
Maxwell Martin was then probed on her first experience of grief, which occurred when she was 24 years old.
She explained: “When it happened… I was very lonely. I was very isolated because no one I knew had been through it what I’d been through – I didn’t know those people.
“Then when it happened with Rog, I saw it more as, we’ve all got to keep it together for the kids.
“I also think there’s something about being a woman in your 40s and by then, if you’re lucky enough you will have succeeded in having the best friends and best people around you.
“You’ll have stopped making mistakes in that area of your life and I really did. I had exceptional friends and an exceptional support network.”
Maxwell Martin may have lauded the support she received from family and friends but she previously admitted the same couldn’t be said for her daughters’ schools.
“We make these broad, sweeping statements about, ‘We’re much better now,’ but I haven’t found that. Schools certainly aren’t any better,” she previously explained to the Mirror, adding that people are “very bad at acknowledging pain or death or difficulty”.
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Following her split with Michell, Maxwell Martin insisted they remained close, telling You Magazine at the time: “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.”
Michell was a highly acclaimed British theatre, television and film director, best known for directing the romantic comedy Notting Hill in 1999, which became a major box office success.
Michell’s other notable works included Venus, the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and The Duke starring Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent.
Throughout his career, Michell received numerous accolades, including BAFTAs for Persuasion and the two-part TV drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.