Miriam Margolyes has revealed she makes a significant amount of money on the personalised video service Cameo.
The Harry Potter actor, 83, said she charges £100 to send a video message to one of her fans and has been inundated with requests.
Speaking at Hay Festival, where she revealed the identity of the one Graham Norton Show guest she didn’t enjoy meeting, Margolyes admitted she’s even been tasked with proposing on a fan’s behalf via video recording for cash.
“There is a website called Cameo and people pay you to say happy birthday to people they love,” she explained.
“Sometimes, I’m asked to cheer up someone with terminal cancer. This is not easy. Sometimes I’m asked to propose to somebody on behalf of the person who’s paying me.”
Margoyles continued: “I enjoy it. I do as many as I can. And I charge £100 and I’ve made an enormous amount of money.
“I’m not ashamed of that. I think that’s perfectly fair.”
The actor, who claims she is a socialist, added: “Don’t think I don’t like money – I love money. I love it and I want as much of it as I can get.”
When asked if she needed to continue her lucrative Cameo career, Margolyes said: “Of course. I want it all.”
It comes after Margoyles recently told Harry Potter fans to “grow up” and “get over” the film series.
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The actor, who played Professor Pomona Sprout, said 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”.
