Anne-Marie Duff still has the "greatest bond" with her ex-husband James McAvoy.

Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy

Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy

The 47-year-old actress met the 38-year-old actor on the first season of Channel 4's hit series 'Shameless' and the couple were married for 10 years before splitting in 2016, but Duff is adamant they have remained close friends and have both agreed to make their eight-year-old son Brendan their "biggest priority".

Speaking to The Times newspaper, she said: "We have a son, we have the greatest bond two people can have - that for us will always be our biggest priority."

Duff and McAvoy announced their formal separation in a joint statement after coming to a mutual agreement it was for the best.

Although the pair tried to handle the split in the most responsible way possible, the 'Suffragette' star will readily admit that divorce is a "profound and difficult" experience, especially when played out in the public eye.

She said: "Divorce is a profound, difficult experience. It just is. It's a bit like you go to bed and you wake up holding hands in a hurricane. And nobody gave you any storm warnings. And if you are recognisable, you can't leave the hurricane at home, because you walk down the street and everyone knows you are holding hands with the hurricane. And they mean well and they are well-wishers, but they are strangers so you have to deal with that for a while and be as big a version of yourself as you can be. So maybe I needed to check out and check into this world where I feel very connected to myself and not in a public way. It was just being a grown-up, and we all have s**t going on, don't we?"

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