I don't wish to be morbid but the grim reaper really needs a year off. He was working over time this year, at least with the celebrity set. So when I read this interview with Dame Maggie Smith, in which she brings up the dread topic several times in relation to her ongoing battle with cancer, it was upsetting. Smith must see some kind of future for herself? “I don’t think there’s a lot of it, because of my age — there just isn’t. It’s all been. I’ve no idea what there will be.”Maybe it's due to that through line of delicious self-assured imperiousness that runs through her work, but I never think of Maggie Smith as being young, or old or anywhere inbetween. Like Miss Jean Brodie, she's just always in her prime. Maggie is still filming the last "Part" of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but if she's going to retire soon --and who could blame her after 50+ years in the movies and on stage and her 75th birthday coming up in December -- I pray she ditches the witch hat for one last dramatic lead or one final Gosford Park-level juicy supporting triumph.
Is that selfish? You just don't want the greats to stick around, you know.
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13 comments:
While I agree abou wanting to see her give one last lead dramatic role, I am just imagining how flippin' cool it is going to be to see Maggie leading the charge in Hogwarts during the big Apocalyptic battle.
well hopefully they WILL show her doing that. I feel like the Potter movies are really let downs when it comes to the battle sequences. it's like they run out of time and rush through.
hopefully she'll get plenty of screentime.
I read this in The Australian today, and i almost teared up when it read that she starred in Harry Potter 6 mid-treatment. I'd love to see a last stand, whether in the theatre or in a film.
GayAsXmas: will the final battle scene be that spectacular knwoing that Maggie is frail and unwell when she was portaying it.
I've always loved Maggie, and when she was in her prime, she shone on the screen. A wonderful career that will hopefully end with a beautiful climax.
"Hook" & "Sister Act" were my first Maggie Smith movies before my interest in film peeked during adolescence. She's a wonderful actress and there's a lot to cherish about her roles despite the fact the Harry Potter films might possibly be her last.
I would like an AFI tribute to Maggie. Let's celebrate what she has done and not be sad that there will be no more. Is the fact that she's British a problem? Perhaps it is, I don't know. Well, a Bafta tribute would be fine.
I concur with the first poster, although it was only a few pages I was loving Minverna in the final part on the last novel. And I don't think you're selfish Nathaniel. Maggie should go out in style. Is Return to Gosford Park too predictable. I mean with Transformers and Twilight and other crap getting sequel why not have a sequel to one of the best films of the last ten years?
Holy crap. A triple. I believe my computer has outdone itself with its dysfunctional ways.
I just love her and it made me sad to think about not being able to see her act anymore. What a life though!
As far as I'm concerned maggie shines in everything that she does. I do agree that she shines espcially bright in Gosford Park.
I hope she's leading the charge, gayAsXmas. It's a heavily CGI movie, they should be able to take her and plug her in somehow, even if she isn't doing to well at the time. Though Chemo does take a lot out of you.
I can honestly see Maggie doing something Alan Bennett-esque, possibly even for BBC as her final swan song. I know she has done Bennett's Lady in the Van and that could make a hilarious final role for her.
As for the final battle for Potter, I know a lot of people seemed disappointed in the last film's lower key battle. I loved how they stripped it back and assumed that it was largely about not stepping on the toes of the big finale which is to come. If Sir Ian can convincingly face down a Balrog than I think Maggie can help lead the charge in defence of Hogwarts
I got so worried when this post started with celebrity death and a picture of Maggie.
Don't do that! :(
I've loved her in so many movies that I can't even name a favorite. I'll always remember that scream of "assasin" from The Prime of MIss Jean Brodie. Probably my favorite Best Actress win along with Liz Taylor for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
I love that she's a triple crowner (Oscar, Emmy, Tony). I always hope these ladies of old get one last big part, but I know it's increasingly unlikely with each passing day.
Love Maggie Smith in 'California Hotel' and 'Gosfork Park'. I this days they show a lot of Movies of her in German television.
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