Miriam Margolyes said Harry Potter fans should be ‘over it’ by now (Picture: Warner Bros)
Harry Potter fans weren’t impressed when Miriam Margolyes said they should be ‘over it’ and now another star of the franchise has hit back in defence of adult Potterheads.
‘I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now,’ Miriam, 82, told New Zealand public broadcaster 1News.
‘It was 25 years ago and it’s for children. I think it’s for children, but they get stuck in it,’ she said.
Giving an example, Miriam – who appeared as Professor Sprout in the films – added: ‘I do Cameos and people say, “Oh, we’re having 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!’
‘Harry Potter is wonderful, I’m very grateful to it. It’s over – that’s what I think,’ the Blackadder and Call the Midwife star finished.
Naturally, Potter fans exploded with rage online (there are a lot of adult ones still kicking around…).
She is always outspoken – and fans of the series weren’t happy (Picture: PA)
Miriam played Professor Sprout in the films (Picture: Warner Bros)
But it wasn’t just fans who feel protective over the obsession surrounding the series, which does indeed seem to waft into adulthood, especially for those who grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical adventures.
Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown in the films and was Ron’s first girlfriend in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has slammed Miriam’s comments as ‘terrible’.
At a Harry Potter fan convention in Paris at the weekend, when asked about Miriam’s sentiments, Jessie replied, ‘It’s such a shame that happened,’ before explaining to the audience how Miriam is naturally funny, and she hoped the comedian didn’t mean for her words to be taken too seriously.
‘Obviously, it’s terrible,’ she continued. ‘I really don’t like that she said that. It’s such an amazing thing that Harry Potter has done.
‘It’s created a fan base that has aged and is still bonded through it and it’s passed on to younger generations and that’s what is so amazing,’ she added.
‘She probably just doesn’t understand that or get that. Just let her be. I think this situation is very unusual.’
Her comments were met with applause as she sat alongside Devon Murray, who played fellow Gryffindor student Seamus Finnigan in the films.
Now Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown, has spoken out against Miriam’s comments branding her opinion ‘terrible’ (Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures)
The convention was also attended by Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom).
Miriam’s big moment in the films came in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when she taught students how to re-pot a screeching plant called a mandrake without passing out from the noise.
Naturally, class disaster-turned-hero Neville did indeed faint, and Miriam’s Herbology teacher character Professor Sprout casually waved it off, telling students to just leave him on the floor.
She only appeared again briefly in the final installment of the film franchise for Deathly Hallows: Part 2 when all the characters came together for the Battle Of Hogwarts – the final showdown between Harry and antagonist Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Last year Miriam was delighted to have graced the front cover of Vogue in an iconic nude photo with cherry Bakewell tarts covering her nipples.
In the cover interview, Mariam said Harry Potter means much less to her than it does her fans, perhaps because she wasn’t in an awful lot of it despite her memorable appearance.
‘It doesn’t mean as much to me as it does to them,’ she said.
‘For me, Harry Potter wasn’t important. I was very glad I got the part and I enjoyed being in it and meeting all the people, but it’s not Charles Dickens.’
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