Anna Friel has revealed how she plans to celebrate her milestone 50th birthday this year – with a lavish joint party alongside her daughter Gracie.
The actress, 49, shared that she will mark the occasion with a combined 50th and 21st birthday bash, as her daughter turns 21 just days before her own big day.
Speaking to The Mirror on the red carpet at the Royal Television Society Awards on Tuesday evening, she said: ‘I’m going to have a joint birthday party with my daughter, who’s turning 21 a few days before, so we’re going to have a joint 50th and 21st!’
Anna, who has previously spoken about embracing ageing, was nominated at the ceremony for her supporting role in playwright Jimmy McGovern’s BBC drama Unforgivable.
Elsewhere, the proud mother gushed about her daughter’s budding music career, revealing that Gracie is already performing to large audiences.
She said: ‘Well, I’m here tonight and she’s elsewhere, as she’s got a gig. She’s got a really big audience, she’s a great singer-songwriter and she’s been doing it all by herself, at the same time as doing her dissertation because… I’ve got a daughter finishing university in May!’
Anna Friel has revealed how she plans to celebrate her milestone 50th birthday this year – with a lavish joint party alongside her daughter Gracie (pictured with her ex David Thewlis and their daughter Gracie)
The actress, 49, shared that she will mark the occasion with a combined 50th and 21st birthday bash, as her daughter turns 21 just days before her own big day (pictured this week)
Reflecting on when she first spotted her daughter’s talent, Anna added: ‘I realised it since she started played guitar for two hours every day, from the age of seven.
‘So, instead of watching TV or anything, she was upstairs in her room, constantly playing and singing.’
Her appearance at the star-studded event comes after Gracie took a major step in her burgeoning music career last year, performing her first major live show in Bristol.
The singer is carving out a very different path from her famous actor parents as she pursues the music industry, singing and writing her own music.
Gracie put on an incredible performance as she opened for rising indie star Nell Mescal, 22, – the younger sister of Normal People actor Paul Mescal – at the packed Bristol venue, The Fleece.
Playing the guitar while singing, the youngster delivered an emotional set that included her latest song, Chemical Reaction, which drew cheers from the crowd.
She told fans: ‘I wrote this song about the frustration of being with someone who only loves you the way you want when they are the furthest thing from themselves. I hope this song finds someone who can relate to this feeling.’
A source close to the rising star said: ‘This was a huge gig for Gracie. Stepping onto a stage and opening for Nell Mescal, who she adores, means so much to her.
Speaking to The Mirror at the Royal Television Society Awards on Tuesday evening, she said: ‘I’m going to have a joint birthday party with my daughter, who’s turning 21 a few days before,’
Elsewhere, the proud mother gushed about her daughter’s budding music career, revealing that Gracie is already performing to large audiences
‘Anna and David are incredibly proud. They know how hard she’s working to make it as a singer.’
The Bristol venue has previously played host to famous acts including Radiohead, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, and Ed Sheeran.
Gracie is the only child of Marcella star Anna and her ex-partner David Thewlis, who played Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films.
The pair started dating in 2001 and separated in 2010, when Gracie was one. Anna has previously described her and Gracie as a ‘little unit’ who travelled together from set to set during her early childhood.
Gracie, who has always said she has no desire to follow her parents into acting, is very open about drawing inspiration for her song-writing from her troubled love life.
She recently explained on TikTok that another one of her songs, Meet My Skin Again, is ‘about the unfulfillment of someone not being able to commit to you emotionally. I hope the person this song is about never hears it.’
Fans online have praised her talent, with one calling her voice ‘literally amazing’ while another predicted: ‘You’re going to go so far with these songs.’
Gracie said of another recent track of hers: ‘I wrote this song after a guy spoke at me for 45 minutes straight about his philosophical views… and told me that I’m such an “amazing person” even though I hadn’t uttered a word.’
She has been very candid about the challenging process of writing and trying to make it as a singer.
In a post shared on TikTok last year, she showed herself sitting in the back of a car to the sound of Lily Allen’s hit song Pussy Palace.
She captioned it: ‘Either gonna write something about the fact I feel guilty for not believing in God, my unhealthy relationship with intimacy or the fear that I’ve become aromantic.’
Anna has previously said of Gracie’s career: ‘She loves the creative world but she’s more into her music. Playing guitar is her escape.’
