'I don't know how I'd cope without MY FAMILY'

Actress Samantha Bond reveals why it’s important to count our blessings

- HAYLEY MINN

With it looking increasingly likely that theatres will be closed until next year, it’s a difficult time for anyone who works in the arts industry at the moment.

Downton Abbey actress Samantha Bond, 58, has opened up on just how difficult she’s found life without work – and with her 59-year-old husband, Alexander Hanson, and asthmatic daughter, Molly, 28, both falling ill with coronavirus during lockdown.

She reveals, ‘I’ve been finding lockdown really, really tough actually. I’ve found it almost overwhelming for people in our industry. When the Government said, ‘OK, we’re going into lockdown for three weeks,’ I thought, ‘Fair enough.’ But now, we don’t envisage theatres realistically working – regardless of what the Government is saying – until the new year.

‘My husband and daughter both being ill near the beginning occupied my time initially, but once they were on the mend, I was really struggling with sadness and depression.’

One way Samantha has tried to cope throughout lockdown was by taking part in meetings with her Home Fires castmates, and she confesses that many of them have been feeling similar to her.