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Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters has been a star of the stage and screen for over thirty years. Her roles in some of the most successful film and television productions
"Take my clothes off! I couldnââ¬â¢t let anyone see that. The idea is to draw people into the theatre not scare them away!"
The press never have a go at you, do they? How do you manage that?
I think some actors have a funny idea of the business and that’s what gets up people’s noses. They have this funny idea of celebrity and they believe it somewhere. It’s so pathetic. It’s naff, isn’t it? Naff beyond belief. The press want to say, ‘You idiot. What is it? Examine yourself. You’re doing a bit of acting, pretending to be someone else…’
Have you never done the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ thing?
No, never. I can’t bear that. It’s absolutely guaranteed that someone’s going to say, ‘No, who the f**k are you?’ There are times when you think please, please don’t recognise me. Like when I was having my dutch cap fitted. This woman looked up and said, ‘I know you, don’t I?’
Your husband Grant is seven years younger than you. Don’t you ever worry that he’ll trade you in for a younger model?
I’m too insecure to have gone off with someone who would do that. I’m not attracted to that. I like security. I wouldn’t go for someone I thought was going to give me a hellish time. I’m not saying I haven’t had relationships where I’ve had a hellish time… But we decided to have a child so I wouldn’t do that with someone I didn’t think was very grounded.
Did you always have a thing for younger men?
I’ve never thought about it. I’ve had brief flings with a couple of younger men. I mean very brief but of all the people I’ve gone out with Grant’s the only one younger than me. When we were in Edinburgh with Billy Elliot, Stephen Gately was there, ‘cause he does the song, and he was hanging around us so I said, ‘Do you fancy older women or something?’ And he said, ‘Oh, no, I lick the other side of the stamp.’ Which I knew of course. He was there with this really gorgeous bloke. Why are all the gorgeous ones gay?
You married eleven years into your relationship, were you tempted to get some cold hard cash out of the ceremony and do a deal with Hello! Or OK magazine
God, I hate the thought of that. To make a big show of it is just asking for trouble. The Beckhams, God love ‘em. I mean do they need the money? But everyone’s going to bloody photograph it anyway, so might as well make a million out of it, I suppose. It becomes not a wedding. You’d have to have another one with your friends later.
Mamma Mia!’s a very Hollywood production, but you’ve never really gone down that route, why not?
It’s not really me, is it? Jane Seymour has taken all my parts. What would I do up Hollywood? If little Lenny DiCaprio rang me and said do you want to play my mother, I’d probably say yes.
But you have worked with Liza Minnelli, how was that?
She’s lovely. I’d met her before Steppin’ Out. In the toilet at Tramp. I was wearing these white cowboy boots with no socks or anything – well, it was the 80s – and they’d cut my feet up. And she came in and said, ‘What’s the matter?’ When I showed her, she took her tights off and gave them to me.
You would wear another woman’s warm tights?
Well, my feet were bleeding! She’s very kind. When we were doing Steppin’ Out, my daughter Maisie was ill [with leukaemia] so it was an odd time for me and she was amazingly kind during it, and I was so scared about the papers finding out and she was the one who said, you’re only as sick as your secrets.
There have been a number of film stars doing the nude thing on stage recently - like your very own Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe in Equus, would you get your kit off on stage?
Take my clothes off! I couldn’t let anyone see that [pinching stomach fat]. Noooo! You have no idea what you’re saying my darling. The idea is to draw people into the theatre not scare them away.
But you’ve been naked in films in the past?
Oh, yeah, lots of times. Well, not lots of times, a few times. In She’ll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas you see everything. I don’t know if they saw front bottom. They might have seen flashes of pubes but I don’t think they saw anything.
Is there anyone you’d want to be in a film with just so you could snog him?
Ooh yeah. I know George Clooney’s probably gay but him. I’m pathetic, I’m just like everyone else, aren’t I?!
Mamma Mia! is out now in cinemas nationwide
