Bafta winner Anne-Marie Duff tells bullying victims: Stand up and scream

Anne-Marie Duff said she had a message to people at home who are going through “bullying” as she accepted the Bafta award for supporting actress.

The 52-year-old actress was honoured for her performance in Bad Sisters as Grace, a woman trapped in a controlling marriage until her husband, played by Danish actor Claes Bang, dies suddenly in mysterious circumstances.

She told the ceremony on Sunday that TV is a “political arena” where you “get to whisper in people’s homes”.

Duff said: “If someone is watching this tonight who has in their life (a person) who is bullying them, who is telling them that who they are is wrong, that what they are isn’t enough – I am telling you now you are everything and please stand up and scream at the top of your lungs.”

She then received a huge round of applause and cheers from the audience.

Sharon Horgan, who created and starred in the show, said the dark comedy was a “really difficult shoot” but praised the “brilliant” cast during her speech as she accepted the award for drama series.

“Thank you for letting us tell the story of domestic abuse,” she added.

Horgan also said she stands in “solidarity” with the US-based Writers Guild of America strikes.

“It all begins and ends with the writers so we are in solidarity with our WGA brothers and sisters,” she said.

Kate Winslet who picked up the leading actress award for I Am Ruth, which sees a mother and daughter work through emotional turmoil, also paid tribute to the chronicling of female stories during her speech.

The 47-year-old actress told director Dominic Savage “this is all you” and said his “delicate handling of real, painful stories that really do happen to women is not only powerful but brave and it’s also important”.

She added: “We need this, we want to be heard, thank you for giving us and creating this space us to tell you our stories.”

Winslet also said: “(I am) guaranteed to be the one (on) the night to cry, I can’t see (my speech).”