She once said Australia had an ‘optimism’ and ‘vitality’ not seen in her native England, but Miriam Margolyes has changed her tune in the seven years since becoming a naturalised citizen.
The 78-year-old actress, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, said on Monday she was horrified by the ‘brutality’ and ‘greed’ of her adopted home country.
She recently travelled from coast to coast filming ABC documentary series Almost Australian, and came to the realisation the country was ‘much more complicated’ than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s.
Whingeing Pom: British expat and Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes has described Australia as ‘brutal’ and ‘greedy’ – and says that people should be ashamed to live in Surfers Paradise
‘We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don’t. It’s quite complicated. It’s layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it’s harsher than it was. Maybe that’s true in the world,’ she told TV Tonight.
‘There’s a harshness about it, which I didn’t expect.’
Margolyes lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales with her longtime partner, Heather Sutherland, a retired Australian professor of Indonesian studies.
Adopted Aussie: The BAFTA-winning actress became a naturalised citizen in January 2013 after years of dividing her time between London and Australia
She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers.
‘There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don’t like,’ she said.
‘You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it’s disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don’t go there. It’s not my world and I don’t want to go there.’
‘Those horrible structures along the coast’: She said the most confronting part of filming ABC documentary series Almost Australian was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland’s Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers (pictured)
The BAFTA-winning actress became a citizen in January 2013 after years of dividing her time between London and Australia.
‘I don’t like class distinction and there is far too much of that in England,’ she said after her citizenship ceremony.
‘There’s an energy here – an optimism, a vitality. I think England doesn’t have that any more. There’s an irony and not accepting bulls**t [in Australia] and I love that, that straight-talking stuff.’
Famous role: Margolyes, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, lives in the NSW Southern Highlands with her partner. Pictured with (L-R) Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
It comes after Margolyes sparked outrage in Britain last month when she said on Channel 4 show The Last Leg that she had wanted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to die from coronavirus.
Presenter Adam Hills had asked her how she felt the UK government had handled the pandemic so far.
Speaking from her home via video link, she replied: ‘Appallingly, of course, appallingly. It’s a disgrace, it’s a scandal. I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die. I wanted him to die.
‘Then I thought that will reflect badly on me… so then I wanted him to get better.’
Shocking: It comes after Margolyes sparked outrage in Britain last month when she said on The Last Leg that she had wanted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to die from coronavirus
Johnson had been hospitalised with COVID-19 on April 5 and was admitted to intensive care the following day. He has since made a full recovery.
Britain’s television watchdog, Ofcom, has received more than 400 complaints since the outburst, and politicians have urged Channel 4 to apologise for allowing the remark to air unchallenged.
Good Morning Britain anchor Piers Morgan blasted Margolyes last week, describing her comments as shameful.
Ordeal: Johnson (pictured) had been hospitalised with COVID-19 on April 5 and was admitted to intensive care the following day. He has since made a full recovery
‘Shame on you, Miriam Margolyes. Shame on you,’ Morgan said.
‘If someone said on this show, “I wished he’d died”, I’d have ripped him, but no one said anything [on The Last Leg].
‘It’s not funny what Boris went through personally on that ICU.’
‘Shame on you, Miriam Margolyes’: Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan (pictured) blasted Margolyes last week, describing her comments as shameful