An Oscar nomination is no guaranteed one-way ticket to fame and fortune, says Hollywood star Samantha Morton, especially when you've just become a single mum.
The Nottingham native, who has been up for the gong twice, once for her turn in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown in 1999 and again for her performance in In America (2003), spoke candidly to "good mate" Kathy Burke as part of a new Channel 4 series fronted by the comedian.
All Women, an exploration of what it means to be a woman today, follows Kathy as she travels around the UK meeting all kinds of people both famous and not.
Samantha, who was in the original cast of ITV hit Band of Gold, appears in episode two as part of Kathy's look into motherhood.
Travelling to the Walking Dead star's family home in Derbyshire, Kathy, of Harry Enfield and Chums fame revealed how the pair met and how she admires her "balls".
She said: "I'm heading to Derby to meet a really good mate of mine, Hollywood superstar Samantha Morton.
"Sam and I met on a TV set 20 years ago, not after she became a single mum.
"She was basically a single mum to her eldest child for quite a few years, she didn't throw in the towel, she didn't give up at any point. I just admire her balls really."
Sam's first child Esme was born on February 5, 2000, just a year after her big break.
"I did always want kids, but I was always scared of it. It was so overwhelming, I took the first year off.
"I remember being Oscar nominated and signing-on. [I had] no money because Woody Allen doesn't pay. I spent all my Band of Gold money on the deposit for my flat, do you know what I mean?
"I struggled."
Sam is now a mum-of-three and has recently returned from LA where she is filming The Walking Dead.
Get the most important news straight in your inbox before 9am every day - sign up to Nottinghamshire Live's newsletter. No complicated forms to fill out, just enter your email address in the black box at the top of this page.
