1
Credit: Warner Bros.One Harry Potter actor is becoming increasingly candid about aging, mortality, and what comes next.
More than a decade after Warner Bros. concluded the original Harry Potter film series, the franchise remains one of the biggest entertainment brands in the world. Between theme parks, studio tours, stage productions, video games, and the upcoming HBO television reboot, the wizarding world has continued expanding long after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 left theaters in 2011.
RELATED: REPORT: Asbestos Discovery Throws New ‘Harry Potter’ Attraction Into Disarray
At the same time, the franchise has become increasingly complicated for some of the actors who helped define it. In recent years, several stars from the original films have publicly distanced themselves from either the series itself or creator J. K. Rowling following Rowling’s comments about the transgender community.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all publicly spoken against Rowling’s views over the years. Meanwhile, Warwick Davis currently remains the only original film cast member officially confirmed to appear in HBO’s rebooted adaptation.
Other actors associated with the franchise have taken issue with the culture surrounding Harry Potter itself, particularly the enduring obsession among adult fans.
Miriam Margolyes Opens Up About Mortality and Leaving the UK
Miriam Margolyes — best known to Harry Potter fans as Professor Pomona Sprout — has repeatedly argued that adult audiences should eventually “get over” the franchise, previously insisting that Harry Potter “is for children.”
However, during a recent appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, the conversation shifted beyond the franchise and toward Margolyes’ health, mortality, and future plans.
The 84-year-old actor confirmed that she now hopes to leave the UK and spend her later years living in Italy with her long-term partner, Heather Sutherland.
“[Brexit] has affected my life because I can’t go and live in the house that I bought,” Margolyes said. “[It’s the] first house I ever bought in Italy, which is where Heather and I wanted to end our lives together.”
Margolyes added that Brexit may force her to pursue another nationality in order to permanently relocate.
“I’m going to have to become Dutch or Italian,” she said. “I’m already Australian as well as English, so how many nationalities do you have to have before you can live in the house that’s yours?”
The comments arrive as Margolyes continues to speak openly about declining health and growing concerns surrounding mortality.
In 2023, the actor underwent a transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure in order to avoid open-heart surgery and later joked that she now has “a cow’s heart.” Margolyes has also discussed mobility struggles caused by spinal stenosis and admitted in previous interviews that she may eventually require a wheelchair, as well as noting, “I haven’t got long to live.”
Speaking to British Vogue in 2023, Margolyes reflected candidly on aging and death.
“When you’re young, you never think about death. You just think about your next f*** basically. I think about death a lot,” she said.
“You can’t help but be aware that the amount of time ahead is less than the time before you.”
‘Harry Potter’ Star Again Speaks Out About Franchise
Margolyes also revisited her long-running frustrations with adult Harry Potter fandom during her appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show.
“When people say on Cameo, ‘we’re having a ‘Harry Potter’ themed wedding,’ and I would say, ‘Well, I think it’s time you let that go,’” she said.
RELATED: JK Rowling Issues Scathing Response After Emma Watson Addresses ‘Harry Potter’ Rift
However, the actor acknowledged that she has become more understanding of the emotional connection many fans still have to the series, even if it doesn’t mean much to her.
“You can’t let go of bits of your childhood, and I didn’t realize that because it wasn’t my childhood,” she said. “I was in my 50s or 60s when I did that.”
