Miriam Margolyes Brings Her Unflinching Truth to Ireland: 'I'm Not a Rock Star, I'm a Little Old Lady'
At 85, with a twinkle in her eye and a few choice words on her lips, Miriam Margolyes is hitting the road again. The award-winning actress, best known to a generation as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, is embarking on a 36-date book tour this autumn, and she's bringing her particular brand of candour to Ireland.
“It's a rock star tour,” she declares. “But I'm not a rock star, I'm a little old lady. I'm only 4ft 10. There aren't many people on the stage shorter than me.”
Meeting her over Zoom, she is as sweary as she is on television, dryly asking the PR to tell her lodger to 'f*** off' before calmly turning back to relate, in her cut-glass accent, the more pertinent parts of her latest book, Miriam's Full English, which she suspects will be her last.
Despite mobility issues that require sticks and a wheelchair on standby, she worries she won't be good enough. It's a vulnerability that sits oddly with the woman Graham Norton calls 'TV gold', but it's part of her charm.
Why the 'National Trinket' Keeps Going
Described as a 'national treasure', Margolyes thinks 'national trinket' is more accurate. “It's flattering to be thought of as any sort of a treasure, national or international, but I'm happy with anybody who listens to me and likes me and doesn't try to rubbish me.”
She agrees she's become more famous in recent years, a fact she greets with wry satisfaction. “I didn't know it was going to take so long. I always thought I'd be famous but I didn't know I'd have to wait till I was in my 80s. And I think I deserve it because I'm a nice person. I'm kind and I think kindness is probably the most important thing of all.”
She is grateful she hasn't been sidelined, “as many older women are. I'm just very lucky that television started to do things called chat shows and I got invited on to them and I started to show off, which is what I do, and it's made me famous.”
A Sharp Eye on the British, and a Warning on Politics
In her new book, she turns her unflinching gaze on the British and what makes them tick, covering everything from queuing to farting, accents, eccentricities, the weather, sex and smut. It is full of quick wit and disarmingly candid observations.
“I am habitually foul-mouthed,” she agrees. “I've got a very posh voice and that's because I was born in Oxford. But it cuts you off from people if you sound middle class. I use swearing as a conduit to that world that otherwise I might not reach.”
While much of the book pokes fun at British society, there is a serious message. “It seems to me that we are surrounded by slippery politicians and liars,” she says. “I think that politics, particularly, has overwhelmed people, and the evil of three men particularly, Trump, Netanyahu and Putin, have undermined people's belief in the future, in the decency of the current world we live in.”
She also disparages Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, and fires criticism at past Labour politicians. It's a perspective that resonates with those who feel the current political class has lost its way.
No Reality TV, Just Real Connection
These days she turns down a lot, including Celebrity Traitors, which her friend Stephen Fry tried to persuade her to do. “I won't do anything like that. I don't like programmes where you have to choose people to be in or out. I don't like competitions.”
Instead, she's making travelogues, filming a documentary in Australia, and has a new road trip movie, Holy Days, about three nuns, released just before her book.
More than 60 years after her career began, she predicts spinal stenosis will confine her permanently to a wheelchair soon. Does she feel old? “I do sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes I feel quite larky and that's why I like performing. When I'm actually on stage and looking at an audience, I feel joy.”
What She Wants for the Future
In the book, she offers a manifesto for a happier and saner future: 'Adopt a granny', 'Talk to strangers', 'Take your earphones out' and 'Be brave'.
Her worries of the world fade when she's on stage. “When I step on stage now, usually I have sticks in my hands but there's a roar, a real roar. There's such an affection in that roar and they are all smiling and clapping. Aren't I lucky?”
Miriam's Full English: A Grand Tour Of All Our Best Bits by Miriam Margolyes is published by John Murray on September 3, priced £25. The tour visits various cities across the UK and Ireland from September to December 2026.