Joanne Froggatt, who played housemaid Anna Bates in hit TV show Downton Abbey, has two films coming out this Autumn, both true stories. She has the lead role in Starfish, about a woman coping with her husband's disfiguring surgery after contracting sepsis. And in next month's A Street Cat Named Bob, she plays a social worker helping a junkie make a fresh start.

Joanne Froggatt at the premiere of StarfishJoanne Froggatt at the premiere of Starfish

Since Downton Abbey ended last year following six successful seasons, Froggatt has begun work on a number of different film and television projects. Like her Downton co-star Laura Carmichael who stars in two films this year, 'Burn Burn Burn' and 'A United Kingdom', Froggatt also has a double movie release.

On the end of Downton, Froggatt says, "It was a bit strange. There was an element of grieving, so it's good to start on something else because I don't have much time to think about it. Anna wasn't like anyone I'd played before. She was just a really good person who - when she started out, at least - didn't have a lot of issues."

With A Street Cat Named Bob, Froggatt feels like she has made "a different twist on a feel-good film, because it's real. You see this person overcome these incredible obstacles through a connection with another being. That's a very heart-warming story, I think."

Based on the book by James Bowen and Garry Jenkins, 'A Street Cat Named Bob' will be released on November 18th and explores how the life of a drug addict busker named Luke Treadaway changed dramatically with the help of a new feline friend. Bill Clark's 'Starfish' is her latest release, however, detailing the dramatic lives of a married couple - Nicola and Tom Ray - whose love is tested by a heart-breaking incident no-one could've foreseen.

'Starfish' arrives in cinemas today (October 28th 2016).

Watch the trailer for A Street Cat Named Bob: