Julie Walters on why she didn’t become a Hollywood star

by ·

Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) recently spoke on why she chose to cultivate her fame in the UK rather than the United States. After looking at Hollywood jobs, she said that the directors didn’t know how to cast a “working-class girl from Birmingham” – not even after her Golden Globe win in 1983.

After winning the award for the movie Educating Rita, she was flown out to Hollywood to look for jobs, only to discover that the roles offered to her were “like seventies romcoms.”

According to Walters,

They tried to write working-class parts, but it just wasn’t right. I was taken around to meet a new agent, and they introduced me to lots of people, and I got a few scripts, but all the best writing was [in the UK], and the most interesting work was [in the UK].

As she’s said in previous interviews, plastic surgery and staying young is valued much more in Hollywood than it is in Britain’s movie and television industry. She said there are “more roles for women my age” (at 64) and added that she feels women will begin to start writing about themselves soon.

Walters was speaking at the first BAFTA A Life in Television event, which will be broadcast on Christmas Eve in the UK. Walters is currently starring as Mrs. Bird in Paddington.

We’re very happy she chose to stay in the UK! What would Harry Potter be without Molly Weasley?!

What do you think about Walters’s opinions? Do you think she has a point about Hollywood?