While she adores the franchise's leading man Daniel Radcliffe, the 'Downton Abbey' star claims her Professor McGonagall role constantly prompts kids to ask 'her to turn them into cats.'
- August 15, 2019
AceShowbiz - Dame Maggie Smith sometimes struggles with the fame the "Harry Potter" films have brought her.
The 84-year-old actress is a veteran of film and television productions, with credits including "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", "Gosford Park", "Sister Act" and, more recently, "Downton Abbey". But she's less happy about the fame she garnered from her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" film series.
"These films made me very famous, which I'm not so happy about," she told the Daily Mail's Sebastian Shakespeare. "I constantly have kids asking me to turn them into cats."
However, she is happy to take some personal credit for the casting of the franchise's lead actor.
"I adore Daniel Radcliffe, who I had worked with before, and spent a long time telling all the producers they had to see him because I thought he was so terrific."
The actress is set to reprise her role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the "Downton Abbey" movie, which also stars Michelle Dockery, Allen Leech, Elizabeth McGovern. The movie hits theatres in September (2019).
