Kiwi star Anna Paquin walks red carpet with a cane due to undisclosed health issues

Anna Paquin is battling undisclosed health issues that have left her with mobility problems and difficulties with her speech. Photos / Getty Images

Anna Paquin is battling undisclosed health issues that have left her with mobility problems and troubles with her speech.

The True Blood star appeared at the New York premiere of her new film A Bit of Light on Wednesday, walking the red carpet with a cane alongside her husband Stephen Moyer, who directed the movie. She admitted she’d had a “difficult” time over the past two years.

She told People magazine: “It hasn’t been easy.”

She has not disclosed the nature of her illness but a source told People she was hoping to bounce back: “[Anna] will hopefully make a full recovery.”

Paquin, 41, said she felt grateful still to be working after starting her career as a child star in The Piano, which earned her an Oscar nomination aged 11.

She told People: “My first love was independent filmmaking. That’s how I entered the film industry. I was working with people who were all about telling stories and telling them with integrity and truth.”

Anna Paquin and husband Stephen Moyer at the New York premiere of A Bit Of Light earlier this week. Photo / Getty Images

In her latest film, Paquin plays Ella, an alcoholic mother who loses custody of her children. She said of the role: “Not everyone ends up having the journey with motherhood that they have hoped or had planned.

“We’re all flawed and imperfect, and Ella is kind of on some level repeating some sort of familial patterns as far as stuffing feelings down.

“It’s very relatable because there’s so many ways that people can get in their own way, or sort of learn to cope with trauma.”

Paquin and Moyer met during a screen test for their TV show True Blood. He previously revealed he knew she was the one after just a couple of days working together.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Moyer said: “We were both single at the time, and there was just this kind of spark.

“[Then] I didn’t see her for three months, and she had gone from having dark hair to this beautiful blonde, and I had gone from being blonde to this dark vampire.

“By day three or four – oh, this is going to sound so syrupy – but I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. It was within seconds, really, and it just became a thing.”