Dame Julie Walters has no plans to act again - for now.
Dame Julie Walters says she is done with acting at the moment
The former 'Dinnerladies' star is one of Britain's most beloved comedy actresses but she has no intention of returning to the screen anytime soon even though she regularly gets scripts sent in the post and is offered roles.
She is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper's Hot TV column as saying: "People still very kindly send me scripts and I still read them and think ‘Do I want to get up at 5am and not get back until seven and then have to wash my hair, learn my lines, have something to eat?’
“Never say never: I’m not making a declaration that I am retiring. But at the moment it’s no to those things.”
Last year, 71-year-old Walters revealed that back in 2018 she was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer with two primary tumours in her large intestine. A doctor made the discovery after she had initially gone in a year earlier with symptoms of indigestion. It wasn’t until she was on set filming ‘The Secret Garden’ that she received a phone call from her doctor asking her to come in.
In a previous interview with The Times, Walters said when her oncologist asked her what had caused the cancer the first thing that came to mind was “acting” because of the stress her profession had caused her over the years.
The 'Mamma Mia!' star - who revealed last year that after an 18-month battle with the disease her cancer was in remission - said: “Acting caused it, because of the way I approach it - I have to be totally in it. It’s very stressful. You’re being judged. It’s a stressful job and I don’t sleep when I’m working. It’s not good for me."
Although she doesn't want to be on screen anymore, Walters - who was a long-time collaborator of the late Victoria Wood - has voiced the character of the 98-year-old Granny in festive animation 'The Abominable Snow Baby', which is an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s story of the same name.
‘The Abominable Snow Baby’ will air on Channel 4 at 7.30pm on Christmas Day (25.12.21).
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