Anna Maxwell Martin Shines at Cannes Red Carpet

looked worlds away from her Motherland character as she made a glam appearance on the fourth day of the . 

Among the acclaimed actress' huge variety of performances, her role as Julia in comedy Motherland is perhaps her most loved, but the star looked worlds away from her harried character as she made a dazzling display on the red carpet. 

For her appearance, Anna, 48, looked effortlessly chic as she flaunted her abs in a long-sleeved black cropped top. 

She paired her simple garment with a pair of matching trousers and added inches to her statuesque frame with black heels. 

Anna posed on the red carpet alongside Matt Wolpert, Rhys Ifans, Agnes O'Casey and Ben Nedivi to promote her anticipated Apple TV space race drama Star City.

The actress has admitted she almost lost out on the career-defining part in Motherland, thanks to her own 'horrible' attitude.

'When I auditioned for Motherland I was livid. I was horrible. I had reached a bit of a nadir with my career and I was in the early years of motherhood, and exhausted,' she remembered during an interview with The Guardian.

'What I really wanted was to be at home with my kids. As a result I was surly in the room. To my shock, I got a phone call the next day from my agent saying: "They really like you. They want to see you again." I said: "No. Not going in again. Why do I have to go in again?"'

'They said: "Graham Linehan [who helped develop the pilot] is a bit scared of you." Thankfully, it turns out that's what they wanted from my character Julia.'

Anna gushed of her pride for the show and what her co-stars have gone onto achieve in their careers, singling out the success of Lucy Punch and her spin-off series Amandaland, which returns for an anticipated Christmas special this month.

'I’m so proud of what everyone’s doing now. Diane [Morgan] has her own show, and Paul [Ready] is in it with her. Amandaland is fantastic. I do sometimes wonder, though: why is everyone else working together?' she laughed of her lack of involvement in the new show.

'I even asked Lucy [Punch] recently, "Can I come along to the Amandaland set, just for the day?" But she said no.'

In February 2024, Diane Morgan, 50, one of the shows leading women who plays single mother Liz, revealed that the critically-acclaimed and hugely popular comedy would not return.

The actress told RadioTimes: 'I hate to say it because I still get women running up to me with prams in the street asking me when it’s coming back.'

Spin off series Amandaland hit screens last year, with a second series coming soon.

Motherland is available to stream on both Netflix and BBC iPlayer.