Julie Walters

Julie Walters

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Biography

Julie Walters (born Julia Mary Walters, 22.02.1950)
Julie Walters is a English actress best known internationally for playing Molly Weasley in the 'Harry Potter' film series.

Julie Walters: Childhood
Julie Walters was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire. Her parents were Mary Bridget, a postal clerk, and Thomas Walters, a builder.
She attended a convent school before going to Holly Lodge Grammar School for Girls. She was asked to leave Grammar School in lower sixth form for her poor behaviour.
She worked in insurance at the age of 15 before beginning nurse training at 18. She later left nursing to study English and Drama at Manchester Polytechnic which led to her joining the Everyman Theatre Company in Liverpool.

Julie Walters: Acting career
Julie Walters began her career partnering with comedienne Victoria Wood with whom she starred on 1982 TV series 'Wood and Walters' and appeared in the follow-up 'Victoria Wood As Seen On TV'.
In 1983, she made her breakthrough performance in the film adaptation of 'Educating Rita' opposite Michael Caine which earned her a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.
In 1989, she played the wife of Phil Collins' character in 'Buster'.
1991 saw her opposite Liza Minnelli in 'Stepping Out' and in 1998 she appeared in the repeatedly televised pantomime of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' with Neil Morrissey, Adrian Edmondson, Paul Merton, Denise van Outen and Julian Clary.
1998 was also the year she began appearing in Victoria Wood's comedy show 'Dinnerladies' in which she played Petula opposite Shobna Gulati, Anne Reid and Celia Imrie.
In 1999, her services to acting landed her with an OBE before it was raised to CBE in 2008. 2001 saw her land a Laurence Olivier Award for Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' and she won a BAFTA award and an Oscar nomination for portraying the ballet teacher in 'Billy Elliot' opposite Jamie Bell.
2001 also saw her portray Molly Weasley in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', reprising the role in the seven subsequent sequels alongside Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
In 2003, she appeared alongside Helen Mirren and Ciaran Hinds in the Golden Globe nominated 'Calendar Girls'.
In 2005, she played Lady Marie Stubbs in ITV1 movie 'Ahead of the Class'.
The following year, she starred with her 'Harry Potter' co-star Rupert Grint in 'Driving Lessons' alongside Tamsin Egerton, and appeared with Billie Piper and Matt Smith in the TV adaptation of 'The Ruby in the Smoke'.
In 2008, she was in 'Mamma Mia!' with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried and Colin Firth. She also played Mary Whitehouse in the BBC movie 'Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story' which also starred Hugh Bonneville.
In 2009 she received a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars.

Julie Walters: Other career ventures
Julie Walters Published her first novel 'Maggie's Tree' in 2006.
She has appeared in several television adverts including for Asda during Christmas 2007, Nintendo DS Brain Training with Patrick Stewart, for a Public Information Film about smoke alarms and for LV Insurance.

Julie Walters: Personal life
Julie Walters married Grant Roffey in 1997 after an 11 year relationship. They have a daughter called Maisie Mae.
She currently lives on an organic farm in West Sussex.


Biography by Contactmusic.com

Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool Review

Very Good

Based on a true story, this stylishly produced British drama centres around two superbly involving characters whose real-life journey doesn't fit neatly into the usual formula. So the film continually surprises us with little details as it recounts a series of events over the course of about three years. Director Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) and writer Matt Greenhalgh (Nowhere Boy) cleverly keep the tone light with big emotional moments all along the way. And it's also a fascinating look at one of Hollywood's more uncomfortable truths.

It opens in 1981 Liverpool, when Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) collapses while preparing to perform in a play. In need of a place to recuperate, she reaches out to her much younger ex Peter (Jamie Bell), and asks to move in with his parents (Julie Walters and Kenneth Cranham). Seeing Gloria again, Peter takes a trip through his memories of their romance over the previous three years. They met in London when he was an aspiring actor, and he followed her to New York and Los Angeles before their relationship hit the rocks. He always wondered why she dumped him, but now he's starting to understand.

The way the flashbacks are woven into the main narrative is ingenious, as Peter literally walks into the past. This offers some powerful glimpses of the interconnections between them. It's not quite so necessary to eventually cut to Gloria's side of the story, although at least that offers a strikingly emotional final piece to the puzzle. Bening enjoyably makes Gloria a vain diva whose underlying insecurity makes her very likeable. Since she refuses to act her age, the gap between her and Peter never feels like an issue. And Bening develops terrific chemistry with Bell, who brings a beautifully understated rawness to Peter that's strikingly truthful. Bell gives a riveting performance that's never remotely obvious. And it's also terrific to see him reunite with Walters 17 years after Billy Elliot.

Continue reading: Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool Review

Paddington 2 Review

Extraordinary

The first Paddington movie in 2014 is already such a beloved classic that it's hard to believe that this sequel actually tops it. Writer-director Paul King and his cast are back with their whimsical approach, combining silly comedy with surreally deranged touches that bring these people to life in ways that are both hilarious and deeply endearing. And this time, the plot feels more developed and the humour even funnier.

 

We catch up with Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) as he's now a fixture in his Notting Hill neighbourhood. With his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday approaching, he wants to give her the hand-made pop-up book of London landmarks he discovers in Gruber's (Jim Broadbent) second-hand shop and starts working odd jobs to save up to buy it. What he doesn't know is that a neighbour, washed-up actor Phoenix (Hugh Grant), knows that the book is a map to a hidden treasure. When Phoenix steals it and frames him, Paddington's adoptive family (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin and Julie Walters) launch a plan to clear his name.

Continue reading: Paddington 2 Review

Brooklyn - Clips


Eilis Lacey's life in Ireland has drawn to a standstill, there's no work and her life is quickly stagnating. It's the 1950's and the lure of the US is too strong to ignore. Landing in an entirely different country, New York is a vast site to behold but her future looks brighter now she's stateside. One of Eilis' biggest problems will be adjusting to life away from her family but there are a few people living in her new home who might be there to help.

After finally feeling like Brooklyn might be a place Eilis could find a new home, her past life catches up with her and she must pick a path to follow.

These new clips from Brooklyn give you a feeling of what to expect from the movie which is out now.

Continue: Brooklyn - Clips

Brooklyn Review

Very Good

Director John Crowley and writer Nick Hornby never even try to temper the flood of emotions that this story elicits, instead wading straight in. Thankfully, they manage to resist sentimentality at every step, although perhaps some more offhanded, edgy humour would have helped balance it better. Because as is, this film can be rather overwhelming at times, thanks to the sensitive, honest performances from the cast and a subject most people can identify with: how it feels to leave home.

It opens in 1950, as Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is reluctantly preparing to leave her home and family in rural Ireland for a new life in New York City, arranged with the help of an Irish priest, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent). As she settles into the boarding house run by Mrs Kehoe (Julie Walters), she gets a department store job and starts studying bookkeeping, all of which helps take her mind off her homesickness. She also meets the persistent, charming Italian-American Tony (Emory Cohen), and they fall lustily in love. Just as life doesn't seem so bad after all, Eilis gets bad news and has to travel home to see her family. There, she meets the eligible bachelor Jim (Domhnall Gleeson). And now she will have to make a decision about where her home is.

The film's tone is open and emotive from the very start, with warmly glowing cinematography, a surging musical score and lots of over-serious conversations. The hills of Ireland have never looked so green, the bustling streets of Brooklyn never seemed quite so exciting. There are some comedic touches here and there, but the main tone here can be summed up in the word "yearning". This is a film that's easy to identify with for anyone who has ever moved away from home, especially as it explores conflicting loyalties and unexpected opportunities. These themes are much stronger than the romantic triangle that drives the film forward.

Continue reading: Brooklyn Review

Brooklyn Trailer


Taking your first steps into adulthood is never easy, but for a young Irish woman named Eilis Lacey it's about to get more complicated than she ever could have imagined. She is encouraged to travel across the Atlantic to Brooklyn, New York by her local priest Father Flood, seeking opportunities and a promising career. Once there she settles into a job and a place of residence, but becomes overcome by homesickness when she starts to receive letters from home. Confused about whether or not she wants to continue her life in Brooklyn, the question is answered for her when she meets a handsome bachelor named Tony at a dance who is everything she could want in a partner. However, after tragedy strikes at home, she is forced to return, and she really can't be sure if she'll make it back to Brooklyn - especially when a former flame catches her eye once again.

Continue: Brooklyn Trailer

Jimmy McGovern, "Only The Posh Ones Can Afford To Go Into Acting"


Jimmy McGovern Julie Walters

Multi-award winning screenwriter Jimmy McGovern says he struggles to find actors to play working class roles because "only the posh ones who can afford to go into acting." The Brookside writer added his voice to the debate on the privately educated dominating the arts, following contributions from Julie Walters, Michael Gambon, Labour MP Chris Bryant and singer James Blunt.

Jimmy McGovern
Julie Walters' comments have been echoed by Jimmy McGovern

"I'm constantly looking round for actors who can convincingly portray working-class men," McGovern told the Radio Times. "They're getting fewer and fewer because it's only the posh ones who can afford to go into acting."

Continue reading: Jimmy McGovern, "Only The Posh Ones Can Afford To Go Into Acting"

Julie Walters Fears Working Class Actors Are A Dying Breed


Julie Walters

British acting legend Julie Walters has spoken out about the state of the British scene. In an interview with The Mirror, she said she was worried that opportunities to break through to the entertainment industry for aspiring working class actors are now pretty much non-existent.

Birmingham-raised Walters reckons that the fees for drama schools now effectively preclude them from being accessed by children from lower-income families. “Now the theatre is dying out, where do kids start out? They have to pay a lot to go to drama school, then hope they get straight into television or film. But working-class kids can’t afford that.”

Julie Walters
Julie Walters fears for the prospects of up-and-coming working class actors in Britain

Continue reading: Julie Walters Fears Working Class Actors Are A Dying Breed

Paddington Review


Excellent

It's difficult not to go into a movie like this with a sense of dread, as the beloved children's book becomes a live-action movie with a digitally animated, eerily realistic-looking bear. Thankfully, the task of filmmaking was given to the inventive Paul King (of Mighty Boosh fame), who made the charmingly surreal 2009 comedy Bunny and the Bull and brings a refreshingly unexpected comical sensibility to liven up this film's family-friendly formula.

It starts in darkest Peru, where a young bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) has been raised by his aunt and uncle (Imelda Staunton and Michael Gambon), who learned about London from a British explorer. Now in need of a new home, the youngster heads across the sea and takes the name of Paddington Station when he meets the Brown family: over-cautious dad (Hugh Bonneville), over-curious mum (Sally Hawkins), sulking teen Judy (Madeleine Harris), inventive pre-teen Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) and feisty relative Mrs Bird (Julie Walters). As they help him find the explorer, he has a series of adventures, unaware that the taxidermist Millicent (Nicole Kidman) is on his trail, determined to add him to the species on exhibition at the Natural History Museum.

This Cruella De Vil-style subplot would be seriously annoying if King ever let it take over the movie, but it always remains secondary to Paddington's mayhem-causing behaviour and his bonding with the Browns. It also provides some genuine tension in a climactic action sequence in the museum. But most of the film is dedicated to Paddington's comically ridiculous antics, and Whishaw voices him with just the right mixture of curiosity and hapless mischief to make him irresistible.

Continue reading: Paddington Review

Effie Gray Review


Very Good

Based on a notorious true story, this film takes a muted approach that matches the Victorian period and attitudes, which somewhat undermines the vivid emotions of the characters. It's a fascinating story about a woman caught in her society's harshly restrictive rules about women, and the script by Emma Thompson captures some strong observations, interaction and personal feelings, but the film is so dark and repressed that it ultimately feels a bit dull.

In the mid 19th century, Effie Gray (Dakota Fanning) has been courted by noted art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise) since she was only 12 years old, and he has waited for her to come of age to marry her. But as she moves in with his suffocating parents (Julie Walters and David Suchet) in London, Effie soon realises that she's trapped in a hopeless situation. While he's loving, John simply refuses to touch her, which makes her doubt her own intellect and femininity. She's befriended by Lady Eastlake (Thompson), who knows a thing or two about cold marriages and helps her make a plan. Then Effie and John travel to Scotland with John's protege, the painter Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), and Effie begins to understand that there might be other possibilities out there.

Since the film is made in Victorian style, it leaves all of the heaving passion far beneath the surface. It's obvious that Effie (and the audience) are craving a bit of lusty bodice-ripping, but any action remains behind closed doors, only hinted at in the clever dialogue. This makes the film realistic and intriguing, but difficult to get a grip on. And instead of the scandalous love triangle of historical record, the film plays out more as a drama about a young woman working out a complex escape from male-dominated society. Even so, it's a compelling journey, with some remarkable twists and turns along the way, and the complex characters add plenty of detail.

Continue reading: Effie Gray Review

Effie Gray Trailer


When young Effie Grey (Dakota Fanning) is married to John Ruskin (Greg Wise), a man ten years older than her, she feels no pleasure whatsoever. She is soon whisked away from her native Scotland and follows her husband as he travels to Venice in order to work on his book, 'The Stones of Venice'. People often notice that there is no love between the pair, and they drift apart during their time in Italy, with Effie spending her time walking the streets of Venice and spending more and more time with her husband's protégée John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge). With the two steadily falling in love, the struggle between right and wrong rages within Effie, as she is forced to make the choice between what she is told, and what she wants. 

Continue: Effie Gray Trailer

Harry Hill and Julie Walters - Harry Hill and Julie Walters film scenes for the movie 'Whatever Happened to Harry Hill?' in London - London, United Kingdom - Wednesday 15th May 2013

Harry Hill and Julie Walters
Julie Walters

Julie Walters Quick Links

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Julie Walters

Date of birth

22nd February, 1950

Occupation

Actor

Sex

Female

Height

1.60


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Julie Walters Movies

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool Movie Review

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool Movie Review

Based on a true story, this stylishly produced British drama centres around two superbly involving...

Paddington 2 Movie Review

Paddington 2 Movie Review

The first Paddington movie in 2014 is already such a beloved classic that it's hard...

Paddington 2 Trailer

Paddington 2 Trailer

Since being adopted into the Brown family, Paddington bear is now a big part of...

Brooklyn - Clips Trailer

Brooklyn - Clips Trailer

Eilis Lacey's life in Ireland has drawn to a standstill, there's no work and her...

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Brooklyn Movie Review

Brooklyn Movie Review

Director John Crowley and writer Nick Hornby never even try to temper the flood of...

Brooklyn Trailer

Brooklyn Trailer

Taking your first steps into adulthood is never easy, but for a young Irish woman...

Paddington Movie Review

Paddington Movie Review

It's difficult not to go into a movie like this with a sense of dread,...

Paddington Trailer

Paddington Trailer

In the jungles of Peru, a young bear learns about and becomes obsessed with Great...

Effie Gray Movie Review

Effie Gray Movie Review

Based on a notorious true story, this film takes a muted approach that matches the...

Effie Gray Trailer

Effie Gray Trailer

When young Effie Grey (Dakota Fanning) is married to John Ruskin (Greg Wise), a man...

Paddington Trailer

Paddington Trailer

Paddington is a young Peruvian bear who has always held a curiosity for the city...

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