Richard E Grant has admitted he was in an 'well of grief' after losing his wife Joan to lung cancer in 2021.
The dialect coach was married to the actor for 35 years and is the mother of Richard's daughter Olivia.
Since Joan's passing, the Withnail and I star , 65 has spoken candidly about how he and Olivia, 33, are coping.
Speaking to Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, Richard said writing his memoir A Pocket Full of Happiness was like "resurrecting" Joan, who he affectionately called Monkee-mine.
"It was healing [writing the book] because once you've dealt with the funeral and bureaucracy of death, you have to fill in forms and when people have stopped dealing with you on a daily basis," he shared.
"It's like that movie where you walk through London and the world has been vacuumed of people.
"Writing the book was like resurrecting my wife, which was very helpful."
The actor continued: 'I now see her in her prime and well, rather than what the cancer had done to her. And it's a trick what the brain has done to help me survive."
The book's title comes from Joan's final wish that Richard and Olivia try and find a 'pocket full of happiness in every day'.
Richard admitted the saying became the family's mantra, giving them "permission to be happy".
"The thing that it did more than anything is that it gave us permission to be happy, and you feel guilty if you have a good day or if you feel happy about something," he explained.
"There's a sense you are being judged by people that how can someone be happy when this happened to them?"
Joan passed away in September 2021 - eight months after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Richard revealed his loss in an emotional tribute that included a video of the pair dancing together and laughing before they embraced along to the song Only You by The Platters.
The actor wrote: 'ONLY YOU! Joan - Love of my Life & Giver of Life to our daughter Olivia. Our hearts are broken with the loss of your Life last night. 35 years married & 38 together.
"To be truly known and seen by you, is your immeasurable gift. Do not forget us, sweet Monkee-mine."
In the weeks following Joan's passing, Richard admitted in his memoir he contemplated 'the sheer aloneness of being alone' as he wrote of how the absence of his beloved late wife 'feels blinding' at times, as he and daughter Olivia try to come to terms with their loss.
