There are few franchises as beloved as the eight Harry Potter films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Along with propelling the trio of young actors into stardom, the franchise featured tons of veteran actors as famed characters from J.K. Rowling's imaginative Wizarding World.
One of these actors include Miriam Margolyes' appearance as Professor Pomona Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Deathly Hallows Part 2. The 77-year-old actress is also well known for her voice work in family films as Fly in 1995's Babe, the Matchmaker in Disney's Mulan and Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach. So, her following opinions on kids might confuse you:
I don't like children. I don't want to be with children. I wish them well. I genuinely do. I'd kill anyone who hurt a child, but I just don't want them near me!
Miriam Margolyes was asked about her dislike of children on the Australian talk show The Project (via Daily Mail). The show's host Lisa Wilkinson prodded as to why, she responded jokingly with "they make noise and take attention from me."
It's a surprising bit of information to learn about the family-friendly actress, but not all talents' work aligns directly with their specific interests.
The actress is however no stranger to offering peculiar quotes that quickly go viral. When asked in 2017 if she was planning to see the London stage play by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, she fired back with "of course not!", expressing her lack of interest in the franchise anymore, and asking the interviewer what the matter was with them.
So, even though the talented actress was involved in the franchise as the Head of Hufflepuff and the Herbology department at Hogwarts, don't count in Miriam Margolyes to geek out about much related to the franchise.
If you need a bit of a refresher of the actresses' appearance in the Harry Potter films, here's a scene of Professor Sprout conducting a class on Mandrakes in 2002's Chamber of Secrets from the Wizarding World:
What's ironic about Miriam Margolyes' character in the franchise is that she's rather pleasant and cheerful to the children, especially compared to say Snape or McGonagall. The character didn't get too much screen time in comparison to the other professors much because she aligns with Hufflepuff, a house largely underrepresented in the films to bring focus on Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Since the Harry Potter films have come and gone, the current focus is on how the Fantastic Beasts will play out. Since the films have started to tell of the roots of Hogwarts, with Jude Law as Dumbledore for example, Miriam Margolyes' character of Professor Sprout could potentially show up as a young woman? Don't expect the actress to be happy about it though.
