Joanna Scanlan was just 14 when she experienced major grief for the first time. Her childhood friend Sarah, to whom she’d been joined at the hip since they were small, was 15 and just on the cusp of womanhood when she was hit by a car and killed. “I had to accept that Sarah wasn’t actually just around the corner or gone to Australia on holiday,” she said. “The shock of that lasted a long time.”
Scanlan, Bafta-winning star of The Thick of It and After Love, is speaking about Sarah’s death publicly for the first time, 50 years on. She is one of 11 actors and poets, also including Alison Steadman, Ophelia Lovibond and Lemn Sissay, who are reading poems in memory of their loved ones to commemorate Celebration Day, an annual moment dedicated to remembering those who have died.
