NIt’sot every day, you hear about people turning down roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but veteran character actor Miriam Margolyes did just that. Her reasons? Well, it boiled down to two reasons, and they make sense.

Comicbook.com found a snippet from the actress’s Book on Australia’s News.com, where she admitted to why she rejected a spot in the MCU. That’s a good catch, considering the news appeared last September and flew under the radar for us Americans. 

Her memoir, Oh Miriam!, recounts decades of stories from her time in the entertainment industry, including a diss at Steve Martin. However, what we’re going to focus on is why she turned down Marvel:

“They contacted me and said, ‘we’re doing a story about witches’. I thought, ‘oh god, not witches again, because I’ve done that with Harry Potter’.“

“I don’t like America and I didn’t want to be in Georgia for four months. So I just said, ‘well, I want a million pounds (A$1.9 million)’ and they said, ‘you can have half a million’, and I said, ‘no, I don’t want to do it’, so it just stopped.“

I can understand the money, but Georgia? I’ve been on set for several productions filmed in Georgia, and they’ve all been superb. OK, being on set for Hellfest at 1 AM in the Winter wearing only my Florida Man jean shorts and FSU T-shirt sucked, but those things happen. 

I’d like to know more about why Margolyes dislikes America, which is probably North America. Maybe she has never encountered our famous Southern hospitality? That would change her mind. It’s what I love most about traveling through Georgia. 

Fans of Blackadder will instantly recognize her, as she had almost as many incarnations throughout the centuries as Edmund did. Including a turn as Queen Victoria in the Christmas special!

American audiences will recognize her from productions like Little Shop of Horrors, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. More recently, she had voice roles in Doctor Who and the excellent VR game Gallace & Gromit in The Grade Getaway. Pick that up if you have a headset; it’s worth it. 

Miriam Margolyes is always a joy to watch, and it was unfortunate that she was underutilized in the Harry Potter franchise. If you can, check out her body of work, especially Blackadder. As New Zealand’s 1News points out below, she leaves a lasting impression:

[Source: Comicbook.com]

[Source: News.com.au]

[Source: 1News]