Harry Potter star slams Miriam Margolyes for ‘terrible’ remarks about fans

A Harry Potter actor is unhappy that fellow Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes recently told adult fans of the fantasy film series to “grow up”.

Lesbian acting legend Margolyes played Professor Pomona Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, but it’s safe to say she won’t be re-watching them any time soon.

Speaking to New Zealand news programme 1News last month, the 82-year-old BAFTA winner said that she is worried about adult fans of the franchise who are still obsessed with the wizarding saga.

“I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now… it was 25 years ago, and it’s for children. I think it’s for children,” she said.

She added that she still gets video requests via a video-sharing ap, where fans of the films tell her their Potter-themed plans.

“They get stuck in it. I do Cameos, and people say: ‘We’re having a Harry-Potter-themed wedding, and I think: ‘Gosh, what’s their first night of fun going to be?’ I can’t even think about it,” she said.

In a separate interview shortly afterwards, she doubled down, saying that the film series is for children. “If your balls have dropped, it’s time to forget about it. Go on to other things,” she advised.

But now one fellow former Harry Potter star has shared her thoughts on the comments.

Speaking at the Dream It convention in Paris last week, Jessie Cave, who played Gryffindor student Lavender Brown in the final three films, said “obviously, that’s terrible” when discussing Margolyes’ remarks.

“It’s such a shame that that happened,” she said. “You know how she is, she’s just a bit funny. She didn’t mean for it to be taken like that, I hope. [But] I really don’t like that she said that.

“It’s amazing what Harry Potter has done. It’s created a community, it’s created a fan base that has aged and is still bonded through this thing, and it’s passed on to young generations,” Cave, now 36, added.

“[Margolyes] probably doesn’t understand that, and she probably doesn’t get that, so that’s OK, just let her be.”

Margoyles has never made any bones about sharing her true feelings. She’s taken on acting titans including John Cleese, and politicians such as former prime minister Boris Johnson and current chancellor Jeremy Hunt.