Dame Julie Walters talks about role in The Abominable Snow Baby after health battle

Dame Julie Walters has been reluctant to take on acting jobs since recovering from stage three bowel cancer.

It was in an interview with Victoria Derbyshire in February 2020 that the beloved Brummie, 71, first opened up about the battle with her health.

The mum-of-one, who’s married to Grant Roffey, was diagnosed in 2018, but following surgery and chemotherapy, was given the all-clear.

And it’s certainly made the Mamma Mia! star more selective with what roles she says yes to.

“Very kindly, people still send me scripts,” notes the Bafta award winner, who’s also known for Billy Elliot, Educating Rita, and the Harry Potter films.

“But I don’t want to get up at five o’clock in the morning, get home at seven at night, learn my lines, wash my hair, have something to eat, try and sleep sometime. Nothing yet has made me want to do that.”

What Dame Julie does like doing is voiceover work, as “it’s not stressful, generally speaking, and it’s nice to be able to do it from home”.

Indeed, that’s what she did for her latest project – Channel 4’s Christmas animation, Terry Pratchett’s The Abominable Snow Baby, in which she voices fearless Granny.

Based on a best-selling short story by the late British author Sir Terry, it’s a heart-warming, humorous, half-hour special perfect for all the family, and narrated by Homeland actor David Harewood, 55.

It follows what happens when snow covers a lovely, small English town, and an enormous Abominable Snow Baby turns up, frightening locals and sending the town into disarray.

Ready to save the day is 98-year-old Granny – whom Dame Julie quips has “the energy of a 30-year-old” – and her grandson, Albert (played by David Copperfield star, Hugh Dancy, 46).

Ignoring what other people fear, the pair show love and affection to the 14-foot tall Snow Baby. They welcome him into their home, and it’s an “anti-prejudice” message for viewers about “understanding”.

“It’s about inclusivity, it’s about community,” continues the iconic and charismatic star. “It’s about friendship, love, wisdom, kindness, and empathy.”

As for why the character felt right for her to play, she muses: “First of all, she’s 98; she is the oldest character I’ve ever been asked to play. And the fact that she is indomitable, that she has huge optimism and energy.

“And she’s a woman, and she’s the centre of this piece, and she’s the hero of it, so that, in itself, is fantastic.”

She continues avidly: “She has this lovely relationship with a boy, Albert, and that’s unusual as well.

“I loved the message that it was giving out, acceptance and caring. We’ve been through such a divisive time and this actually is bringing people together, and it’s a lovely piece for people to watch at Christmas.”

Discussing the themes in the show further, Dame Julie agrees that it feels like a particularly resonant time for this programme, what with the Covid-19 pandemic and how the idea of community was brought to the forefront for many of us.

“Before the pandemic, community is something that seemed to be disappearing, and it’s really important.

“I think the pandemic, in many ways, has made people value connection more than they did.

“I’ve noticed people want to talk more than they did. When I go for a walk and meet someone, they’re wanting connection. We need it as human beings. We’re not meant to be hermits; we’re not meant to be isolated.

“That sense of community is very important – it has always been important to me.”

The process of making The Abominable Snow Baby sounds extraordinary. Dame Julie reveals how Massimo Fenati, the director, was in Rome, the producer was in London, and the engineer was in Plymouth, while she was recording from her house in Sussex, which she’s been doing for the last three years.

The voice is always the first thing she wants to find in a character “because it says everything about the person”, she says.

“From that comes the way they stand and everything else. So the voice has always been really important. And what’s lovely with the animation is that someone else draws you, someone else does all of that, and that’s really fascinating.”

Dame Julie will definitely be watching the animation at Christmas with her family. But she confides that she didn’t like to see her work on screen.

“You’re not used to seeing yourself like that, animated and talking unguarded, up to a point. Obviously, there’s a camera there – but you’re still unguarded in many ways. So, at first, I thought, ‘I don’t like this very much’. But you get used to it.

“I can be very critical and go, ‘Oh dear, I don’t like the way I did that,’ ‘Oh God, what are you doing there?’ But obviously, with an animation, that’s not the same. You’re watching someone else’s depiction.”

The celebrated performer says she currently has no plans when it comes to future roles.

When she went to doctors about symptoms such as stomach pain, heartburn and vomiting, she was working on the film The Secret Garden alongside Colin Firth, and some of her scenes later had to be cut because of her cancer diagnosis.

She had been referred to a gastric surgeon and a CT scan found two primary tumours in her large intestine. Nearly 12 inches of her colon was removed.

She was told she had stage three cancer, which is one level below the most serious categorisation and means it had spread into nearby lymph nodes.

According to Bowel Cancer UK, the disease is the fourth most common cancer and second biggest cancer killer in the country. However, it is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.

What Dame Julie has been through in the last few years definitely seems to have made her think differently about life.

“I had a big series lined up when I was diagnosed, and the first feeling I felt, which was really odd, was relief that I didn’t have to do it,” she confides candidly.

“I obviously wasn’t well. So, it gave me an excuse to get off the treadmill, and that’s been great, really.”

Terry Pratchett’s The Abominable Snow Baby airs at 7:30pm on Christmas Day.