Miriam Margolyes hits out at 'rubbish' Harry Potter wage and being known for Professor Sprout
Almost a quarter of a century on, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets favourite Miriam Margolyes is still fuming over her pay packet.
Released in 2002 under the direction of Chris Columbus, the second instalment of the Wizarding World franchise unleashed Margolyes - best known for her role in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence by that point - as Harry Potter's herbology teacher, and head of House Hufflepuff, Professor Pomona Sprout.
Amidst the horrors of the basilisk and Aragog the acromantula's hollow, Chamber of Secrets allows moments of levity to break through, and Professor Sprout is front and centre in one of them.
As she educates her young students on the healing properties of the mandrake (screaming sentient plants), the witch is loathed to discover Neville Longbottom passed out.
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Low and behold, he'd forgotten to wear earmuffs in class, despite fair warning from his teacher that the mandrake's cry could do some serious damage.
Margolyes wasn't offered much screen time across the next six films; in fact, she only appeared briefly again in the curtain-closing Deathly Hallows – Part 2, but the shadow of the character seems to have followed her ever since.
Per The Sun, the 85-year-old recently took umbrage (wink wink, nudge nudge) with her undying connection to Potter.
Speaking on a panel, Margolyes told the audience: "I'm not thrilled that everybody thinks of me as Professor Sprout. Because I have done other, better things.
"Want to know how much I got? £60k – it's f**king rubbish!" she spat.
"I mean I don't mind that everybody else got more, I don't mind... it's just the way the business works. It's like that."
£60,000 for a couple of day's work, plus residuals? You can't be turning your nose up at that!
Elsewhere on her decent CV is an uncredited role in Paul Thomas Anderson's acclaimed Magnolia, as well as the voice of Fly in Babe, Aunt Sponge/Glowworm in James and the Giant Peach, and The Nurse in Romeo + Juliet.
This comes after the star admitted via a Cameo video that she wasn't into the whole Potter thing.
"I understand you and Chris are huge Harry Potter fans. Here's the thing, I'm not," she told a fan of hers.
"I'm not against it, I'm just not interested. I've never seen a film. I've never seen the books, I've never read them. I just pocket the money when it comes and I'm very grateful for it.
"I think that JK Rowling is a terrific writer and I'm sure Harry Potter's world is a good world. But it's not my world."
Topics: Celebrity, Harry Potter, Film, Entertainment
Dan Seddon