‘I feel compelled to be disgraceful’: Miriam Margolyes interviewed

I meet Miriam Margolyes in her large Victorian house in Clapham. She is very small and round, with a shock of grey hair, and the clear and open gaze of a curious child. There is an innocence to her, like someone who has not quite grown up. She has a wonderful voice, which bought this house. When it rests it is low and serious; but when she is telling a good story it takes flight.

She is best known, now, for Harry Potter films and Blackadder; and for The Graham Norton Show which she dominates by speaking filth while looking delighted. This is deceptive though. When she wants, she can be very serious, although she struggles to be serious for long, which is why, I think, she does not have Janet Suzman’s career. When I say I find her serious she is delighted. ‘Most people who interview me don’t think that,’ she says.