Miriam Margolyes said she was horrified by the 'brutality' of Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Miriam Margolyes said she was horrified by the 'brutality' of Australia. Photo / Getty Images
There's been a furious response to comments made by Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes, who branded parts of Australia "brutal" and "greedy" in a new interview.
The outspoken British actress, 78, made the controversial comments after travelling around the country for ABC documentary series Almost Australian, a process which she claimed left her feeling slightly disenchanted with the country.
Margolyes' admission sparked a furious reaction on social media.
"Why is this person continually featured on the ABC? Why does her opinion matter so much?" one frustrated viewer asked, while another called for her citizenship to be "revoked".
"If you don't like it here, go back to Britain," one user suggested, as others branded her the "ultimate whingeing Pom".
Margolyes, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the magical franchise, reaffirmed the blunt review of her adopted home in an interview with The New Daily, despite admitting she knew Australians were "tired" of being criticised by British expats.
Margolyes appeared in ABC documentary, Almost Australian. Photo / ABC
"I knew that I was doing something quite risky by, you know, having an opinion," Margolyes told the publication of her recent interview with TV Tonight. "Because I think Australians are a bit tired of Brits mouthing off about Australia, and I don't blame them.
"I hope people will not be too annoyed about the things I have to say, but in the end, to be honest, f**k 'em if they are. That's tough. I'm telling it like I see it," she said.
Speaking to TV Tonight about her time filming the ABC show, Margolyes singled out popular tourism destination Surfer's Paradise as being particularly confronting.
"There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don't like," she told TV Tonight of her visit to the highly developed Queensland stretch of coastline.
"You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in Surfers Paradise. It's disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don't go there. It's not my world and I don't want to go there."
In a bid to learn more about the country she now calls home and understand what it means to be Australian, the actress travelled 10,000km around the nation, revealing the two-month trip led her to the realisation the country was "much more complicated" than she initially though.
"We think we know what (Australia is) like, but we don't. It's quite complicated. It's layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it's harsher than it was. Maybe that's true in the world," she said.
"There's a harshness about it, which I didn't expect."
Miriam Margolyes is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series.
Margolyes recently sparked outrage after commenting that she wanted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to die from coronavirus in a rant on The Last Leg Locked Down Under.
Her tirade against the British PM kicked off after she was asked what she thought about the government's handling of the pandemic.
Speaking from her home via video link, she replied: "I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die. I wanted him to die. Then I thought that will reflect badly on me and I don't want to be the sort of person that wants people to die.
