Anna Friel wins Best Actress at International Emmy Awards for lead role in ITV's 'Marcella'

Photo: ITV

Anna Friel as Marcella

Anna Friel has won her first major award in over 20 years as she was awarded Best Actress at the International Emmy Awards in New York on Monday evening (20 November).

The 41-year-old Rochdale-born actress won the award for her role as DS Marcella Backland in ITV’s crime-thriller series, ‘Marcella’.

Anna stars as a former detective who returns to help the police force solve an old case whilst battling to save her marriage.

The International Emmy Award is an award bestowed by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) in recognition to the best television programs initially produced and aired outside the United States.

Written by Sweden’s Hans Rosenfeld, ITV billed the show as 'Scandinavian noir on the streets of Britain'.

Anna said: “Thank you all for your kind support couldn’t have done it without you. To a superb cast and crew. So proud of us all. Thanks ITV for taking on this brave drama. Thank you all at Buccaneer for believing in me, Netflix for being cool and to Hans Rosenfeldt for writing it.”

Filming has been completed on the second series of ‘Marcella’ and is expected to air next year.

Anna will next appear on screen in a three-part family drama, ‘Butterfly’, as the mother of an 11-year-old boy who identifies as a girl. She will also co-produce the ITV mini-series show, which will be filmed in Manchester during the early part of 2018.