A Harry Potter Star Turned Down A Spooky Marvel Series

Miriam Margolyes, an actor famous among millennials for her performance as Professor Sprout in the "Harry Potter" movies, was asked to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2023. Had she signed on, she would've starred in the well-received 2024 miniseries "Agatha All Along," playing the role of the centuries-old, divination-powered witch Lilia Calderu. She declined the role (which ended up going to Patti LuPone instead) for two amusing reasons: she's sick of stories involving witches, and she doesn't like the U.S.

"They just contacted me and said we're doing a story about witches," Margolyes explained to News Corp Australia's News.com.au in 2024. "I thought, 'Oh God, not witches again,' because I've done that with 'Harry Potter.'"

After being told that "Agatha All Along" was about witchcraft, the project became even less appealing to Margolyes when she learned that filming would take place in Atlanta, Georgia. "That of course was a bit disappointing because I don't like America," she remarked. "And I didn't want to be in Georgia for four months, so I just said, 'Well I want a million pounds,' and they said, 'Well, you can have half a million,' and I said 'No, I don't want to do it.' [...] I mean, really, it's a story about my own greed."

She didn't elaborate much on why she doesn't like the U.S., but the flight time alone makes Margolyes' reluctance to visit Georgia pretty sympathetic. The actor may be British, but she's currently living in Australia (where she's now a citizen). A flight from Australia to Atlanta takes at least 20 hours, so it's the sort of trip you'd only make if you were truly excited about what you were planning to do when you landed. For "Agatha All Along," the excitement simply wasn't there for her.

In a separate 2024 interview with Australia's ABC News Breakfast, Margolyes made clear that her disdain for the "Harry Potter" franchise has less to do with the films themselves and more to do with the adult fandom that surrounds them. "I'm not unhappy about it. I just think that it's for children," she admitted. "If your balls have dropped, then it's time to forget about it. You know, go on to other things." She then clarified that she considers those movies to be a "wonderful set of films," but added, "It was 25 years ago. Grow up!"

In a July 2025 interview for the "Gay Old Time" podcast, Margolyes also expressed some discomfort with the anti-trans statements and activism of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling (although it's not clear if this discomfort has contributed to her general disdain for the grown-up "Potter" fandom). "I think her opinion is too harsh," Margolyes stated. The openly lesbian actor added, "I really just feel supportive about this tiny group of people who are trans, and if they want me to use pronouns, I think it's the right thing to do. [...] If you can make people happy, do it."

Margolyes' criticisms of Rowling are particularly notable because she'd previously seemed supportive of the author. In 2020, she openly sympathized with Rowling, and in 2022, she declared that "the vituperation that J.K. Rowling has received is misplaced." By 2024, however, she was defending her fellow "Harry Potter" stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe for publicly disagreeing with Rowling's stances. As Margolyes told The Telegraph that year:

"They're grown up, and they have opinions. So, why can't they give their opinions? [...] They shouldn't be trammelled because they once were in a film that somebody wrote. [...] There are so few trans people. People should be allowed to get on and be who they are, or be who they want to be, without all this nastiness."

"Agatha All Along" is streaming on Disney+.