Miriam Margolyes urges adult Harry Potter fans to ‘grow up’

‘If your balls have dropped, then it’s time to forget about it,’ Professor Sprout actor said

Miriam Margolyes has told adult Harry Potter fans to “grow up” and “get over it”.

The actor, 82, who played Professor Pomona Sprout in the film series, has said in two recent interviews that she worries about adult fans of the 25-year-old franchise because “they should be over that by now”.

"It was 25 years ago, and I think it’s for children," Margolyes told New Zealand’s 1News.

“I do cameos [personalised video messages] and people say they are doing a Harry Potter-themed wedding, and I think, ‘Oh gosh what is their first night of fun going to be?’  I can’t even think about it. Harry Potter is wonderful, I’m very grateful to it. It’s over. That’s what I think.”

The Call the Midwife actor later told ABC News Australia that once teens are through puberty, “it’s time to forget about it and go on to other things”.

“If your balls have dropped, then it’s time to forget about it. You know, go on to other things,” she said.

“I just think that it’s for children. And then it’s time to move on.”

She insisted that she was proud of being in what she called a “great series” and a “wonderful set of films” but fans need to let go and “grow up”.

The Harry Potter books, written by JK Rowling, were released between 1997 and 2007, and the eight films between 2001 and 2011.

Miriam Margolyes in Harry Potter (Warner Bros.)

Speaking to British Vogue for its pride issue in June, Margolyes said that the Harry Potter franchise “wasn’t important” to her.

She told the publication: “For me, Harry Potter wasn’t important. I was very glad I got the part and I enjoyed being in it and meeting all the people, but it’s not Charles Dickens.”

That said, she admitted that she does enjoy the impact the role has had on her life: “People come up to me and say ‘I just love you’, and want to hug me. And that is dazzling.”

Margolyes played the herbology professor who was a witch who worked as Head of Hufflepuff House and Head of the Herbology department at Hogwarts.

Though her speaking parts in the movies are limited, and she only appeared in two out of the eight films – Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Margolyes’s role in the franchise is nonetheless a fan favourite.

Margolyes pictured in 2011 (Getty Images)

She has previously acknowledged that, despite her 60-year-long acting career, she will be remembered for her small part in the magical saga.

“It’s a very humbling thing actually,” Margolyes told the BBC’s Imagine programme last year, “to realise that the part for which I will be most known and most remembered is one scene really.”

She continued: “I’m just an infinitesimal part of a franchise.”