Harriet Walter has been acting for longer than some of her fans have been alive. The 69-year-old star made her acting debut in the early 70s and she’s been working consistent ever since. Although many actors her age have trouble finding work, Walter has managed to continue getting quality roles. Most recently, she was cast as Caroline, Countess of Brockenhurst in the new series Belgravia. The show, which aires in both the UK and the US, has helped introduce Walter’s talents to an even wider audience. Keep reading for 10 things you didn’t know about Harriet Walker.
1. She Would Love To Play A Villain
Harriet Walter loves a good challenge when it comes to her work. A challenge that she would be excited to take on is playing the role of a villain in a James Bond film. Harriet says, “I think it’s so rare that when you’re older you get to play somebody badly behaved,” Walter said. “And also, somebody who’s got a lot of energy, physical energy, and still can pack a punch…”
2. Rudolf Nureyev Was Her Biggest Influence
The late ballet dancer and choreographer, Rudolf Nureyev, was one of the people who inspired Harriet Walter the most. He was so influential in her life that she spent £600 ($740) on a pair of his ballet shoes after he died.
3. She Was Attracted To Belgravia Because Of The Powerful Female Characters
At this stage in her career, Harriet Walter has a lot of freedom over the roles she decides to take. For that reason, it’s especially important for her to like the work she’s doing. One of the things that led her to want to be part of Belgravia was the fact that the characters and writing were written with women in mind.
4. She Loves To Watch YouTube
We all probably spend way more time on the Internet than we’d care to admit. With that being said, you ever gotten stuck in an endless spiral of random videos on YouTube? Harriet Walter has too. In fact, she says that staying up late and watching videos on YouTube is her guilty pleasure.
5. She Knows Who She Would Want To Play Her In A Biopic
Let’s face it, we’ve all thought about who we’d like to play us if there was ever a movie made about our lives. For Harriet Walter, that person would be Charlotte Gainsbourg. Harriet feels that Gainsbourg resembles her from certain angles.
6. She Loves To Read
Reading is one of Harriet Walter’s favorite pastimes. Her greatest disappointment in life was actually due to the fact that by the time she turned 40, she hadn’t gotten a chance to read all the books she felt were supposed to teach her about life.
7. A Book Changed Her Life
One of the reasons Harriet Walter is probably so fond of reading is because of the book The Female Eunuch by Germain Greer. Harriet says that the book helped her accept herself for who she is and encouraged her not to feel “weird” for not conforming to the stereotypical definition of femininity.
8. She Was Friends With Winston Churchill’s Granddaughter
Harriet attended boarding school with Arabella Churchill and the two became friends. When she was a child, she got to meet Arabella’s grandmother, Clementine. Ironically enough, later in life Harriet got the chance to portray Clementine in the Netflix series, The Crown.
9. She’a Wanted To Act Since Childhood
Becoming an actress has always been Harriet’s dream. Even as a young child she knew that acting was the path she wanted to pursue. She believes her desire to act likely came as a result that her life was someone boring. During an interview, she said, “It was probably escapism. In the 1950s when I grew up, life was quite humdrum. They’d had he war and they wanted to have a calm, peaceful, regular, ordered life. Which after the Blitz and everything they’d been through was understandable. But as a kid you wanted cowboys and Indians and shootouts at the OK Corral. So I was just play-acting with other children and realised I could make it very real.”
10. She Didn’t Get Accepted Into Acting School Right Away
Harriet Walter had to get used to hearing the word ‘no’ before her career even started. When she began applying to acting school, she was met with lots of rejection and was turned away from several programs. She was finally accepted at age 19 after turning down the chance to enroll as a student at Oxford.
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