Trivia

Julie's strong-minded mother, who wished a nursing career for her daughter, was openly upset by Julie's switch of professions to acting. When her mother died in 1989, Walters found among her possessions a box stuffed with newspaper clippings that had recorded Julie's many successes.

Julie's child Maisie was stricken with leukemia at the age of two. The girl miraculously recovered and inspired Walters to write the book "Baby Talk" (1990).

Wished to keep her wand from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), but left it behind when several people told her that keeping the props was not allowed. However, by the time of the film's release, she discovered that many of her co-stars kept several props from the production.

Mother, with husband Grant Roffey, of daughter Maisie Mae Roffey (b. April 26, 1988).

Julie's birth was complicated, the umbilical cord was wrapped round her neck and a priest was actually called to give both mother and baby the Last Rites. Miraculously, she was delivered safely and survived.

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours List and the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2008 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama.

She appears in three of the five highest grossing British films at the UK box office: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), Mamma Mia! (2008) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). She is the only performer to achieve this feat.

Her daughter's illness drew a lot of media attention. Several fabricated stories were created and photographers camped out on their private property. Eventually, Walters decided to go public about Maisie's illness and auctioned an exclusive interview for which a London newspaper paid $30,000 the fee went straight to the Royal Marsden's children's unit. The interview gained Walters a lot of sympathy and she was even approached by Princess Diana who asked about her daughter's wellbeing.

Has turned down Hollywood several times. After her breakout role in Educating Rita (1983), she was given an agent in the United States and offered several scripts. However, she disliked most of them and decided on a career in the United Kingdom, which focused on stage plays and television projects. It was not until the new millennium that she began pursuing film roles and appeared in several movies that were box office hits in her native Britain, such as Billy Elliot (2000), Calendar Girls (2003) and Mamma Mia! (2008).

Before she played the main character in Educating Rita (1983), she originated the role in Royal Shakespeare Company's West End stage production in 1980. However, when the film adaptation began production, she was not considered bankable enough for the role and the producers considered replacing her with Dolly Parton. Walters was eventually given the role after Michael Caine was cast and she went on to receive her first Oscar nomination for the role.

Has portrayed two witches: Molly Weasley in seven 'Harry Potter' films and the Witch in Brave (2012).

Featured in all the Harry Potter films, but one; The fourth entry, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), in which her character was cut from the script, due to a script of excessive length. Walters was admittedly hurt by the exclusion but delighted to returned for the fifth installment.

Injured herself whilst filming the "Dancing Queen" musical sequence in Mamma Mia! (2008), by tripping over some rocks on a cobbled street. According to Meryl Streep, Walters "soldiered on" and completed the scene.

With her husband, she owns an organic farm in West Sussex.

Had no previous experience with ballet before she performed the teacher in Billy Elliot (2000). Admittedly, while filming, she went through menopause and hereby struggled with the moves and hot sweats. She even compared herself with the hippopotamus from Fantasia (1940).

Based her eccentric performance in Paddington (2014) on her make-up artist from the production.

A former boyfriend of Julie's noticed her acting ability and encouraged her to pursue an acting career. He later proposed marriage to her but she turned him down, having finally discovered her vocation in life and realising that marriage at that point would have held her back.

Shaved her head for her role in Mo (2010). She never went out in public with a shaven head: the costume department made her a wig so that she could look like herself again.

Started playing the ukulele when she was three years old.

Had minor qualms before filming her nude scene for Calendar Girls (2003), because it highlights her least favorite part of her body; Her shoulders.

She ranked first in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of Greatest British Films actresses.

Former girlfriend of Pete Postlethwaite.

In 2010, she achieved the rare feat of being nominated against herself in the Bafta Best Actress category, when she was double nominated for both Mo (2010) and A Short Stay in Switzerland (2009).

Spent seven years developing her novel "Maggie's Tree".

She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Drama in West Sussex, England.

She was awarded the 2001 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award (2001 season) for Best Actress for her performance in "All My Sons" at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe.

Has worked with two of her on-screen sons from the Harry Potter series, outside of the franchise: She portrayed Rupert Grint's mother in Driving Lessons (2006) and co-starred with Domhnall Gleeson in Brooklyn (2015).

Was expelled from Holly Lodge Grammar School, at a young age, due to misbehavior.

She was awarded a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars on Birmingham's Golden Mile, Broad Street on October 27, 2009.

Burt Reynolds personally offered her Candice Bergen's role in Stick (1985), which she turned down because she disliked the script.

Suffers from yeast allergy.

Had praised her mentor Michael Caine for her humble beginnings as an actor.

Confessed in a British magazine interview that the worst job she ever had was testing sick people's stools.

Married her husband Grant Roffey after an 11-year long relationship.

In her first year at Holly Lodge Grammar School, she made her stage debut in a school production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1962).

Ranked amongst the 30 most powerful women in British TV and radio, in a 2014 list drawn up by the Radio Times.

Hosted the opening of the new breast unit at Birmingham's Women's Hospital. (December 2002)

In January 2016, she presented the tomosynthesis machine at Royal Surrey County Hospital during a special ceremony. The tool is new 3D breast screening equipment, which is better at detecting cancerous tumours than traditional breast imaging.

In 2014, she was the subject of an hour-long in-depth TV special commissioned by BBC Two, Julie Walters: A Life on Screen (2014). It aired Christmas Eve and was seen by 1.74 million people.

Has worked with Colin Firth on four films, making him her most frequent collaborator outside the Harry Potter franchise and her works with Victoria Wood.

Beat out Lesley Nicol for the role of Molly Weasley in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).

The "Waterloo" sequence in Mamma Mia! (2008) was her favorite scene to film during the production.

Took a day of from filming Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) in order to be named Dame Commander of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace in London. When she returned to the set, the cast surprised her with a lip-synced rendition of "There Is Nothing Like a Dame", which moved her to tears.

Had a near-death experience on a vacation in Corfu, when she was swimming to a rock off the coast where a lot of people were sunbathing. A storm whipped up and in the midst of the ocean she felt too exhausted to finalize her swim to the rock. She thought it was her final moments until a man nearby man pulled her out.

Her husband Grant Roffey has worked variously as an AA man, a long-distance lorry driver and as a sociology student.

Despite playing her mother on dinnerladies (1998), Walters was only three years older than Victoria Wood.

Took a seven year long break from acting in theatre, mostly in order to offer time to her sick daughter.

Her acting mentor is Michael Caine, whom she credits as her favorite mentor/best friend.

She auditioned for a role in Dance with a Stranger (1985), but Miranda Richardson was cast instead.

Her most important performing college was Liverpool's Everyman Theatre in the mid-1970s, where she met Willy Russell, who created Educating Rita (1983) for her, and Alan Bleasdale, who wrote her a role in his television series Boys from the Blackstuff (1982).