Actress Miriam Margolyes is getting candid about her health.
In an interview with the Daily Mail’s “Weekend Magazine” published on Friday, Aug. 22, the 84-year-old actress best known for her role as Professor Sprout in the “Harry Potter” films, discussed her ongoing health struggles.
Margolyes explained that her health is compromised mostly due to her weight. That said, when asked if she would consider taking a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic, she responded, “absolutely not,” arguing that it’s “for diabetics. ”You shouldn’t take medicine meant for people who are really sick,“ she said, adding that she thinks the real problem is “food advertising on television.”
Margolyes also revealed she is considering assisted death if her health takes a turn for the worse.
“I don’t want to go through a slowly diminishing period of pain and embarrassment,” she told the outlet. “If a stroke meant I couldn’t speak, or I was doubly incontinent, or I lost my mind completely, I would ask to be put down. That’s because I want to be who I am. I don’t want to be less than I can be.”
Margoyles’ heartbreaking remarks come three months after she told The Mirror that she doesn’t have long to live.
“When you know that you haven’t got long to live – and I’m probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before, I’m loath to leave behind performing,” she told the outlet this past May. “It’s such a joy. I yearn to play roles that don’t confine me to wheelchairs, but I’m just not strong enough.”
In 2023, Margolyes underwent heart surgery to replace an aortic valve, with the intention of avoiding a more invasive open-heart surgery. She’s also dealt with spinal stenosis, arthritis, and rheumatism.
Born in the U.K. but now living in Australia, Margolyes has been working professionally as an actress since the ‘60s. In addition to starring in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‚” where she played the herbology teacher and head of the Hufflepuff, Margoyles has over 200 acting credits.
Some of her most notable roles include her BAFTA-awarded performance as Mrs. Mingott in “The Age of Innocence,” her role as a nurse in “Romeo and Juliet,” and as Grandma Rosy in “Balto.” She has also appeared in television series such as “Doctor Who” and “Call the Midwife.”
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