When TV director Simon Draper determined to supply a podcast with Miriam Margolyes, he kicked into movement a collection of encounters that ended up altering his life in an sudden approach.
In 2024, Draper, whose credit embody Rob & Rylan’s Grand Tour, had no work on the horizon and thought a undertaking with one in all his former collaborators – the 84-year-old nationwide treasure, former Harry Potter star and outrageous anecdote-teller Margolyes – can be an excellent inventive use of his time. (He beforehand labored with the comic and actor for 2016 documentary The Real Marigold on Tour, during which she visited a retirement house in Florida – and swiftly obtained booted out for getting in a row with a resident about Trump.)
Margolyes accepted Draper’s provide, and welcomed him and his digital camera into her house so he might monitor the podcast’s journey to fruition. A brand new one-off documentary movie, titled Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me, tracks his tireless efforts to create the audio collection, pitched as her “final act”, solely to be met with growing obstacles because of her free-wheeling lifestyle.
After finishing only one episode of the podcast, Margolyes dropped a bombshell – she was going to Australia to embark on a prolonged tour. Realising his documentary would endure as a consequence, Draper offered his guitar assortment to journey internationally to be with Margolyes.
Upon his arrival, issues aren’t as plain-sailing as he’d hoped – fairly than attending to work on the podcast, Margolyes retains kicking the can down the highway, with Draper basically changing into her errand boy. If he isn’t sitting round ready for her to summon him, he’s performing small duties for Margolyes, like serving to her along with her footwear or fetching her a espresso. (Her order? A decaf almond milk cappuccino, additional sizzling.) “She has the amazing power to draw the people-pleaser out of everyone, including me,” an obliging Draper says at one level as he hangs up her underwear on her resort room balcony.
But he’s additionally there at a pivotal second in Margolyes’ life, as her surge in reputation led to her performing sell-out exhibits at iconic venues like Sydney Opera House, and responding to droves of Cameo requests, from which she reveals she’s made greater than £320,000 thus far.
It quickly turns into clear that their companionship is extra vital than any podcast might be. One transferring scene exhibits Draper accompanying a anxious Margolyes to a hospital appointment the place she’s because of have a spinal injection. “I’m not chipper this morning, but I will be,” the unusually restrained star tells Draper. She’s clearly completely happy he’s along with her, even when she’s not solely certain why.
Draper is disarmed by his expertise with Margolyes in Australia, changing into impressed by “her honesty and bluntness and way of expressing affection”, which “seems to make people feel alive” – and he returns house one guitar assortment down however enriched by an expertise that kinds the idea of the documentary.
Speaking concerning the movie, Draper stated: “I thought getting Miriam Margolyes to make a podcast would be easy, after all, everyone’s doing them, but Miriam’s lifestyle is bonkers.
“In two years, we made just five episodes, but hanging out with her was life-changing. Mim’s a woman with strong opinions and a weak bladder, and I feel lucky to have been able to capture all the chaos and sparkle of the bravest, most honest person I know.”
Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me airs on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday (13 April).