Anne-Marie Duff 'loved' playing Beatle's mum

Not knowing much about John Lennon's upbringing was an advantage, the actress who plays his mother in new film Nowhere Boy has said.

Nowhere Boy, which is directed by Sam Taylor Wood, tells the story of the troubled early life of the future Beatle. After being brought up by his Aunt Mimi as a child, a young Lennon was introduced to his free-spirited mother Julia as a teenager.

Speaking to the Mirror, Anne-Marie Duff, who plays Julia, said she had been a Beatles fan when she was a teenager because "it was embarrassing not to be", but added that she didn't know much else about his life.

"For me, reading the script was just like reading a bonkers old family saga," she said.

"I loved the fact that, on the one hand, it felt like every other screwed-up family, but on the other it was the genesis of this genius," she added.

Nowhere Boy stars Aaron Johnson as Lennon, while Kristin Scott Thomas plays the role of Mimi.