A famous Harry Potter actress has revealed she feels she should be ‘put down’ after telling her fans she ‘doesn’t have long left to live’.
The 84-year-old beloved UK actress, known for her role as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, has openly shared her current struggles.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Miriam Margolyes disclosed that she is contending with several health issues and admitted to feeling as though she’s ‘let [her] body down’.
“I haven’t taken care of it. I have to walk with a walker now. I wish I’d done exercise. It’s the most ghastly waste of time, except that it keeps you going. So, I’m foolish,” she joked.
This isn’t the first occasion The Age of Innocence actress has spoken about her health, having long discussed her spinal stenosis and osteoporosis diagnoses, which have impacted her mobility.
In July 2024, Margolyes informed Closer Magazine: “I can’t walk very well, and I’m registered disabled.
“I use all kinds of assistance. I’ve got two sticks and a walker and they’re such a bore, but I’ve just got a mobility scooter, which is a lot of fun.”
She also revealed to The Telegraph last year that she believes she hasn’t ‘got long to live’, grimly predicting she might pass away ‘within the next five or six years, if not before’.
The actress, who also holds Australian citizenship and wishes to eventually move to the Italian residence she shares with her partner of nearly 60 years, Heather Sunderland, has now shared with Weekend Magazine her openness to assisted dying should she lose her independence due to health issues.
“I don’t want to go through a slowly diminishing period of pain and embarrassment. If a stroke meant I couldn’t speak, or I was doubly incontinent, or I lost my mind completely, I would ask to be put down. That’s because I want to be who I am. I don’t want to be less than I can be,” she expressed.
Assisted dying is currently available in over 10 states in the US but remains illegal in the UK, where Margolyes resides.
The British government has debated the issue and voted in favor of a bill that seeks to legalize this option for terminally ill adults aged 18 and over.
If enacted, the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ would allow only those who are mentally competent and have six months or less to live to end their lives with medical support, requiring approval from doctors and a panel that includes a social worker, a legal expert, and a psychiatrist.
This differs from euthanasia as patients can self-administer the medication, rather than having a doctor do so.
Nevertheless, despite her candid remarks, Margolyes maintains her trademark humor about the situation, often joking about her unique lifestyle and dietary choices over the years.
“I’ve limited my life because of my longing for fudge or chopped liver, cheesecake,” she previously admitted on the How to Fail podcast. “All these absurdities. I shouldn’t have been so greedy. I should have been stronger.”