Miriam Margolyes has said her new film Holy Days 'ticks all the boxes' as she continues to work harder than ever at 85. The veteran actress stars as Sister Luke in a road-trip comedy about three nuns saving their nunnery from developers.
A film about 'nice people winning'
Holy Days, set in New Zealand and directed by Riverdale star Nat Boltt, follows Sister Luke, Sister Agnes (Judy Davies) and Sister Mary Clare (Jacki Weaver) on a mission to prevent their nunnery from being flattened. Margolyes praised the film's message: 'Everybody is struggling one way or another, and this was a film about nice people winning, and all the s**ts are winning at the moment, so that's why I like the film.'
She described the filming process as a constant surprise, particularly working with young actor Elijah Tamati, who plays Brian, a boy dealing with his mother's loss. 'It's surprising because I'm not particularly fans [of] children. I mean, I like them up to a point, but I'm very glad to say goodbye to them. I thought he was a terrific kid [and] his mother was a terrific mum. It was a very happy movie, and you don't always get that, but I did.'
Keeping the nipples out of it
In one memorable scene, Sister Luke runs into the ocean. Margolyes recalled: 'I wasn't quite sure what that scene was going to turn out like because my body is ugly, and I didn't want to be on show as a fat old tart who'd taken off a habit and was revealing all. And it was cold, and I was a little bit nervous in case I fell over, which I wouldn't have done very well [with]. But you know, there was a bottom cheek visible, but there were no nipples, and that's the essential thing: keep the nipples out of it.'
She dubbed the final scene 'rather charming' and praised Boltt's direction: 'We were lucky to have her.'
Faith and love
Margolyes, who previously played Mother Mildred in Call the Midwife, said the two roles share the 'same simple faith' despite their differences. She admitted: 'I've never quite fathomed how people can live so altruistically, because I certainly couldn't. I could never be a nun, quite definitely, and I could never be a midwife as well.'
She added: 'It's not just a feel-good movie. It is about choosing a way of life and fighting for what you believe in, and that I passionately believe in.' On the film's message, she said: 'I hope it provides a sense of comfort and a knowledge that love conquers all, which is what Chaucer wrote in the 14th century, and it's reiterated here. Love is important. Love is something that can conquer things. Love is a tower, and it's higher, let us hope, than the tower of Babel.'
Working harder than ever
Reflecting on her career, Margolyes mentioned her Oscar-nominated short A Friend of Dorothy: 'That was a film that I hardly got any money for. I would say almost none, but that didn't matter and look where it got me. Got me to the Oscars.' She hopes to reprise her role in a full-length version being written by filmmaker Lee Knight.
She also recalled working with Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons on Being Julia, calling Bening 'a class act' and sharing a compliment from Warren Beatty: 'He said: "Oh, she was a powerhouse". So that was rather flattering, and I was quite pleased about that.'
On her current workload, she said: 'I know it's extraordinary. I'm 85, and I'm working harder than I've ever worked in my life. [I feel] pretty tired most of the time, but I manage, and I get great joy from people I meet and doing a show to an audience.' She added she will keep going 'as long as I keep my health.'
Margolyes, whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Belarus, has an upcoming memoir titled Miriam's Full English. She concluded: 'Our film is about goodness and kindness and decency and honour and love, and that goes a long way.' Holy Days is available to watch in UK and Irish cinemas now.
