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| Miriam Margolyes: ‘I do say things possibly other people don’t say' | Miriam Margolyes: ‘I do say things possibly other people don’t say' |
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| It’s not every 73-year-old who can share a sofa with two celebrities less than half her age with more than 5 million Twitter followers between then and monopolise the conversation. But when actor Miriam Margolyes appeared on the Graham Norton Show earlier this year, admitting she knew neither Lily Allen nor Dominic Cooper’s work, before regaling them both with tales of her periods, Twitter could talk of little else. | It’s not every 73-year-old who can share a sofa with two celebrities less than half her age with more than 5 million Twitter followers between then and monopolise the conversation. But when actor Miriam Margolyes appeared on the Graham Norton Show earlier this year, admitting she knew neither Lily Allen nor Dominic Cooper’s work, before regaling them both with tales of her periods, Twitter could talk of little else. |
| Granted, many of those tweeting probably felt like they’ve known Margolyes forever. Before she starred in the Harry Potter franchise and Wicked the musical, she was reading The Worst Witch books to us at bedtime and playing the Spanish Infanta on Blackadder. And while, as teenagers, some of us lusted after a curtain-haired Leonardo Dicaprio in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, others simply longed to claim Claire Danes’s roly-poly Latino nurse as our confidante. | Granted, many of those tweeting probably felt like they’ve known Margolyes forever. Before she starred in the Harry Potter franchise and Wicked the musical, she was reading The Worst Witch books to us at bedtime and playing the Spanish Infanta on Blackadder. And while, as teenagers, some of us lusted after a curtain-haired Leonardo Dicaprio in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, others simply longed to claim Claire Danes’s roly-poly Latino nurse as our confidante. |
| “As I get older, people do come up to me just to give me a hug,” admits Margolyes from rehearsals for Melbourne Theatre Company’s new show, I’ll Eat You Last. “People seem comfortable with me. And maybe that’s got a lot to do with shows like Graham Norton. You just tell it like it is on those programs.” | “As I get older, people do come up to me just to give me a hug,” admits Margolyes from rehearsals for Melbourne Theatre Company’s new show, I’ll Eat You Last. “People seem comfortable with me. And maybe that’s got a lot to do with shows like Graham Norton. You just tell it like it is on those programs.” |
| Except that most celebrities really don’t. Another problem with telling it like it is comes when people don’t like what they hear. A recent interview Margolyes gave to the mild-mannered Radio Times magazine to promote her TV sitcom, Trollied, sparked outrage over her comments about Israel and Jewish people. “I don’t think people like Jews,” she told the interviewer. “They never have.” | Except that most celebrities really don’t. Another problem with telling it like it is comes when people don’t like what they hear. A recent interview Margolyes gave to the mild-mannered Radio Times magazine to promote her TV sitcom, Trollied, sparked outrage over her comments about Israel and Jewish people. “I don’t think people like Jews,” she told the interviewer. “They never have.” |
| From the Daily Mail to Haaretz, the media jumped on Margolyes, who is still somewhat baffled a week later. “I’m astonished, absolutely astonished at the result,” she says. “But I suppose, in fairness, I would have to admit that I’m daring in my comments. I do say things possibly other people don’t say. So I shouldn’t be too surprised when they are picked up.” | From the Daily Mail to Haaretz, the media jumped on Margolyes, who is still somewhat baffled a week later. “I’m astonished, absolutely astonished at the result,” she says. “But I suppose, in fairness, I would have to admit that I’m daring in my comments. I do say things possibly other people don’t say. So I shouldn’t be too surprised when they are picked up.” |
| Is this naivety on her part or is Margolyes more knowing than she lets on? Because if anyone should understand the power of rhetoric, it’s her. As she boasted to the Guardian “my vocabulary is vast and expert and I don’t think I overuse any word.” | Is this naivety on her part or is Margolyes more knowing than she lets on? Because if anyone should understand the power of rhetoric, it’s her. As she boasted to the Guardian “my vocabulary is vast and expert and I don’t think I overuse any word.” |
| Born into a Jewish family in Oxford, she never went to drama school, serving her apprenticeship in the BBC’s radio rep company instead where she worked alongside, variously, John Osborne, Maggie Smith and Elaine Stritch. Even now, she remembers the first lesson of voice-work: “vowels carry emotion and consonants carry the sense”. | Born into a Jewish family in Oxford, she never went to drama school, serving her apprenticeship in the BBC’s radio rep company instead where she worked alongside, variously, John Osborne, Maggie Smith and Elaine Stritch. Even now, she remembers the first lesson of voice-work: “vowels carry emotion and consonants carry the sense”. |
| You have to make words your friend, she advises. “And I’m one of those lucky people for whom words are. I enjoy finding the right word and giving each its full measure, its full space in a sentence.” Even now, she is working with a voice coach to nail the American accent she needs for I’ll Eat You Last. | You have to make words your friend, she advises. “And I’m one of those lucky people for whom words are. I enjoy finding the right word and giving each its full measure, its full space in a sentence.” Even now, she is working with a voice coach to nail the American accent she needs for I’ll Eat You Last. |
| John Logan’s one-woman show sees Margolyes play Hollywood talent agent, Sue Mengers, the women who “discovered” Barbra Streisand before being sacked by the very star she’d made. Bette Midler originated the role on Broadway and in Los Angeles but Margolyes, while a fan, is more interested in talking about Mengers. “She was an extraordinary, sometimes toxic, vibrant, witty, rude, angry and, ultimately, possibly defeated women,” she says of her character. Logan also implies that the agent wanted to be an actor. Had things worked out differently, would Margolyes have been satisfied with a life behind the scenes? | John Logan’s one-woman show sees Margolyes play Hollywood talent agent, Sue Mengers, the women who “discovered” Barbra Streisand before being sacked by the very star she’d made. Bette Midler originated the role on Broadway and in Los Angeles but Margolyes, while a fan, is more interested in talking about Mengers. “She was an extraordinary, sometimes toxic, vibrant, witty, rude, angry and, ultimately, possibly defeated women,” she says of her character. Logan also implies that the agent wanted to be an actor. Had things worked out differently, would Margolyes have been satisfied with a life behind the scenes? |
| “I don’t honestly know,” she ponders. “I think I would have been happy as long as I could have behaved badly in a public way.” That sounds like a no. “Well, I love an audience. If I hadn’t been a professional actress, I would have been a terrible show-off. I love contact. I love action and reaction. It’s the thing I relish most.” And one of the biggest challenges of doing a one-woman show, she adds. | “I don’t honestly know,” she ponders. “I think I would have been happy as long as I could have behaved badly in a public way.” That sounds like a no. “Well, I love an audience. If I hadn’t been a professional actress, I would have been a terrible show-off. I love contact. I love action and reaction. It’s the thing I relish most.” And one of the biggest challenges of doing a one-woman show, she adds. |
| This is only her second after the long-running Dickens’ Women, which she calls “her greatest achievement” after touring it around the world for the author’s bicentenary. Since then, life has shifted. In 2013, Margolyes finally took Australian citizenship after four decades commuting between London, Tuscany and New South Wales with her long-term partner Heather. “In case anyone didn’t know, I’m a dyke and I’m very happy,” she announced on live TV when handed her citizenship certificate by Julia Gillard on Australia Day. | This is only her second after the long-running Dickens’ Women, which she calls “her greatest achievement” after touring it around the world for the author’s bicentenary. Since then, life has shifted. In 2013, Margolyes finally took Australian citizenship after four decades commuting between London, Tuscany and New South Wales with her long-term partner Heather. “In case anyone didn’t know, I’m a dyke and I’m very happy,” she announced on live TV when handed her citizenship certificate by Julia Gillard on Australia Day. |
| “Yes,” remembers Margolyes, “and, sadly, just after I became an Australian – one of the happiest and proudest moments of my life – blow me but it’s all changed round and now we’ve got that awful man in Lycra!” She sighs audibly. “It’s greatly saddened me. I don’t like Tony Abbott or anything he stands for.” | “Yes,” remembers Margolyes, “and, sadly, just after I became an Australian – one of the happiest and proudest moments of my life – blow me but it’s all changed round and now we’ve got that awful man in Lycra!” She sighs audibly. “It’s greatly saddened me. I don’t like Tony Abbott or anything he stands for.” |
| Not as much as she dislikes Tony Blair, though, or “that frightening grinning man” Nigel Farage. Ukip winning its first seat in British parliament scares her. “I don’t know why everybody isn’t scared. I think it is a fascist party. It has taken over from the National Front. Keeping people out of England – what a disgraceful thing to want! Coming from what was originally an immigrant family, I do feel very sore about that.” | Not as much as she dislikes Tony Blair, though, or “that frightening grinning man” Nigel Farage. Ukip winning its first seat in British parliament scares her. “I don’t know why everybody isn’t scared. I think it is a fascist party. It has taken over from the National Front. Keeping people out of England – what a disgraceful thing to want! Coming from what was originally an immigrant family, I do feel very sore about that.” |
| And it’s one of the downsides of dual citizenship, says Margolyes. Now she has two countries to worry about. “I think the future is with Australia. It’s an optimistic and fruitful place where good things will happen. But there’s a very nasty side of Australia that’s come out, which I think comes from the English attitude of: ‘we don’t want these people; we’re here’.” | And it’s one of the downsides of dual citizenship, says Margolyes. Now she has two countries to worry about. “I think the future is with Australia. It’s an optimistic and fruitful place where good things will happen. But there’s a very nasty side of Australia that’s come out, which I think comes from the English attitude of: ‘we don’t want these people; we’re here’.” |
| Margolyes for Q&A or Question Time? Who wouldn’t want to see her go face-to-face with Farage? “Well, he’s a slippery operator and I’m sure a very formidable opponent,” she says gravely. What she longs for is politicians to answer a question truthfully. “They prevaricate and obfuscate. If somebody says to me, ‘what do you think about this or that?’ I want to be able to tell them.” Pause. “Without pretending.” | Margolyes for Q&A or Question Time? Who wouldn’t want to see her go face-to-face with Farage? “Well, he’s a slippery operator and I’m sure a very formidable opponent,” she says gravely. What she longs for is politicians to answer a question truthfully. “They prevaricate and obfuscate. If somebody says to me, ‘what do you think about this or that?’ I want to be able to tell them.” Pause. “Without pretending.” |
| So about those Radio Times comments ... “I’m not happy about having to say these things,” she interjects. “It’s very painful.” And not just because people whisper her name at parties or turn their heads away in the street (those who aren’t going in for the hug, anyway). “What I want to try to do is to get Jewish people to understand what’s really going on,” she says, “and they don’t want to hear it. If you speak to most Jews and say ‘Can Israel ever be in the wrong?’ they say ‘No. Our duty as Jews is to support Israel whatever happens.’ And I don’t believe that. It is our duty as human beings to report the truth as we see it.” | |
| Many actors say they love the second skin of their trade – of not having to be themselves. But at 73, Margolyes seems as comfortable playing Miriam Margolyes as she is Sue Mengers. The knees are starting to go, she admits, alongside her memory for learning lines. “And age is there. It’s absolutely there. And so is death and all that.” | Many actors say they love the second skin of their trade – of not having to be themselves. But at 73, Margolyes seems as comfortable playing Miriam Margolyes as she is Sue Mengers. The knees are starting to go, she admits, alongside her memory for learning lines. “And age is there. It’s absolutely there. And so is death and all that.” |
| Is she scared? Spoken with glee: “Terrified! Absolutely fucking shit scared most of the time. I think that’s why I’m so rude and noisy and naughty. I’m trying to keep the grim reaper away.” Ultimately, though, Margolyes considers herself fortunate. “I do like being me. I think I’ve been very lucky to have been allowed to be me. And I’m pleased I like myself as much as I do.” | Is she scared? Spoken with glee: “Terrified! Absolutely fucking shit scared most of the time. I think that’s why I’m so rude and noisy and naughty. I’m trying to keep the grim reaper away.” Ultimately, though, Margolyes considers herself fortunate. “I do like being me. I think I’ve been very lucky to have been allowed to be me. And I’m pleased I like myself as much as I do.” |
| • I’ll Eat You Last is at the Arts Centre Melbourne until 20 December. Trollied airs on Sky1 in the UK on Mondays | • I’ll Eat You Last is at the Arts Centre Melbourne until 20 December. Trollied airs on Sky1 in the UK on Mondays |