Lisa Liberati: who is James McAvoy’s wife after they secretly married - and what happened to Anne-Marie Duff?

Actor James McAvoy, who is currently starring in Cyrano de Bergerac on the West End, has quietly confirmed that he tied the knot with his American partner Lisa Liberati.

This is everything you need to know.

Who is Lisa Liberati?

Not much is known about Liberati, and her relationship with McAvoy has been largely private save for the occasional picture on Instagram together.

She is from Philadelphia in America, and was working as a PA to director M Night Shyamalan on his 2016 film Split, which is where she met McAvoy.

According to IMDb, Liberati has also worked as an assistant to Shyamalan on his 2010 film Devil, an assistant to executive producer David Streit on 1995 film Species, and as Vice President of Operations with Blind Edge Pictures on the 2015 film The Visit.

According to some reports, it’s believed that the 42 year old was the social media manager of the Jove app.

On Instagram, James McAvoy follows a private account under the name Lisa Liberati. While the account is not visible to the public, it states in profile bio says that she is the Managing Director of En Commún.

When did they meet - and how long have they been together?

McAvoy and Liberati met on the set of Split and, according to a recent interview with the Guardian, the two began their relationship a couple of years later.

During the filming of Split, McAvoy was in the process of separating from his wife, fellow actor Anne-Marie Duff, after having been married for nine years.

Two months after his divorce was finalised, McAvoy and Liberati confirmed their relationship online with a post on Instagram in 2017.

According to the Sun, a source said: “James and Lisa are having a lot of fun together and behave like a pair of lovestruck teenagers when they are together.

“They both love partying and are regularly all over each other when they go out together. It’s no secret amongst their social group that they are together and everyone thinks they are a great fit.”

When did they get married?

While the actor did recently confirm that they married recently, he declined to go any further into the details of his relationship “for fear of creating tabloid fodder”.

Rumours of their marriage first began circulating in 2019, when Liberati was reportedly spotted by paparazzi wearing a wedding ring during a trip to Philadelphia.

The Daily Mail also reported that director Jamie Lloyd, a friend of McAvoy’s, had allegedly been overheard at a party describing Liberati as McAvoy’s “wife” and commenting that the two had married “recently”.

A spokesperson for McAvoy at the time declined to comment.

When was James McAvoy married to Anne-Marie Duff?

McAvoy met his first wife, fellow actor Anne-Marie Duff, on the set of the TV series Shameless, where Duff starred as McAvoy’s love interest.

The two married on 11 November 2006, and welcomed their son, Brendan, into the world in 2010.

In 2016, McAvoy and Duff released a statement announcing their split, stating: “It is with tremendous sadness that we have come to the decision to divorce.

“We enter this next phase with continued friendship, love and respect for one another and the shared focus of caring for our son.”

The two generally kept a low profile regarding their relationship, and subsequent divorce.

In an interview with Mr Porter in 2017, McAvoy said that while his life “changed massively” following their breakup, “one of the things that stayed the same is that I still don’t talk about my personal life”.

He said: “Me and Anne-Marie, when we were together, it was our policy not to speak about each other in public. We rarely broke that and if we did, it was for tiny things - “Yes, we are cooking turkey this Christmas” - and that policy still stands.

“Even separated, we’re still respectful of each other and committed to doing that publicly and personally.”

Duff also opened up about their split in an interview with the Times in 2018, where she said: “Divorce is a profound, difficult experience. It just is. It’s a bit like you go to bed and wake up holding hands in a hurricane. And nobody gave you any storm warnings.

“And if you are recognisable, you can’t leave the hurricane at home, because you walk down the street and everyone knows you are holding hands with the hurricane.

“They mean well and they are well wishers, but they are strangers so you have to deal with that for a while and be as big a version of yourself as you can be.”

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