Call the Midwife star Miriam Margolyes has revealed she is scared of Dame Judi Dench – who “doesn’t suffer fools” and probably found her a bit “silly”.
The actress, who plays Sister Mildred in the BBC hit, worked with 84-year-old Judi in the 2005 film Ladies in Lavender and admits she did not warm to the screen legend.
Miriam, 77, said: “I worked with Judi Dench and she is not a bit relaxing, she is terrifying.
“She is very direct and she doesn’t suffer fools.
“I was a bit foolish and it was when we were doing Ladies in Lavender, it was her and Maggie Smith and me, and let’s face it, that’s a bit scary.
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“I didn’t know what to do and I sat there in the room, and said: ‘Shall we talk about acting?’ And I think they thought that was a bit bloody stupid. Maggie Smith said, ‘No, lets not’. I think they think I might be a bit silly and they might be right there.”
Miriam is now set to appear in BBC show Miriam’s Dead Good Adventure, where she addresses her own mortality.
And speaking at the Churchill Awards, she insisted she is at peace with dying. She said: “I was very scared but I’m not now. I don’t want it but I can deal with it. Some people accept it and some people deny it.”
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Miriam started her career in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and TV, she won a BAFTA for her role in The Age of Innocence.
She then bagged the role of Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series.
Miriam said: “I think you tend to be invisible after the age of 50 and I wont allow that. I’ve been very lucky I’ve got more successful as I’ve got older. I think its because I’m friendly and talented and lucky.”
Earlier this week the star, in a relationship with Heather Sutherland for 50 years, revealed they do not have sex anymore.
Appearing in Channel 4’s Let’s Talk About Sex, Miriam said: “I love my partner but we don’t fiddle about.
“I don’t need to have sex anymore. I thought about it all the time when I was young. Especially in synagogue. On the Day of Atonement, that’s all I thought about.”
