She is an icon in her own right, but Miriam Margolyes has admitted that she finds it ‘odd’ that she will always be known for her role in the Harry Potter movie series despite having acted for decades before landing the roles.
The 81-year-old played the herbology professor Pomona Sprout in Chamber of Secrets and the franchise’s final movie, Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
She said: ‘It’s an odd feeling to know that, whatever else I do, I will go to my grave best known for playing Professor Pomona Sprout in two of the Harry Potter movies.
‘It made a great difference to my career, making me more famous than I ever thought possible.’
She continued to tell My Weekly magazine: ‘Fans follow me in the street, people ask to have their photographs taken – selfies as they call them – standing next to Professor Sprout.’
Miriam, who won a BAFTA for her role in The Age of Innocence in 1994, admitted that her portrayal of Professor Sprout ‘wasn’t all that important’ to her.
She said: ‘In terms of my development as an artist, playing Professor Sprout wasn’t all that important because she was well within my capabilities as an actress. But in terms of marketability, it made an enormous difference.’
Miriam also admitted that she is concerned about how growing older may impact her ability to learn lines for future roles.
‘My main fear about growing old as an actor is not losing the looks,’ she said. ‘I never had any to speak of, and what I had I’ve still got – but losing the memory is another matter.’
Miriam assures she had no intention of being so loud, but when the Queen – who died on September 8, aged 96 – told her to lower the volume, she was taken aback.
‘It shocked me because I hadn’t quite realised how rude I was being,’ Miriam began.
‘I was waffling on when she was talking to somebody else, and I was overriding that rudely.’
She continued to The Times: ‘But it wasn’t deliberate – I wasn’t meaning to be rude.
‘I say what I think and I don’t care how it comes out. Sometimes it comes out in a way that people find very upsetting and offensive, and I’m sorry about that, but what I say is the truth.’
