‘YOUTH ISN’T EVERYTHING’
The part of Judy Haussman – a reckless, feckless veteran of the hippy trail in the new play The Last Of The Haussmans, was apparently written with Julie Walters in mind. Certainly the bohemian matriarch who ran away with her university lecturer might have something in common with Susan ‘Rita’ White from Educating Rita.
There could be echoes too of dotty fantasist Petula Gardeno from Dinnerladies. However, those roles are but nylon housecoats that Julia Mary Walters, CBE has slipped on for a few months here or there.
Walters herself could never be characterised as someone who has wasted even a moment. After failing to fit in at her local Grammar school, she worked as a nurse before studying for a degree in English and Drama at Manchester Polytechnic. That led to a fruitful partnership with comedienne, songwriter, actress and director Victoria Wood.
Wood and Walters first met in a show called At The Death, which played at the Bush Theatre in west London in 1978. They have worked together on and off in sketch shows, sitcoms and comedy dramas, ever since. That might have been enough for many performers. But, in the same year that Wood And Walters debuted on the BBC (1982), Walters also appeared in Boys From The Blackstuff, Alan Bleasdale’s bleakly funny look at the early 1980s sea change in working-class life.
That year has set the pattern for Walters’s career ever since. For every fluffy confection such as Rosie in Mamma Mia!, there’s a meaty role to follow – Mistress Quickly in the BBC Shakespeare cycle The Hollow Crown – for example. ‘I never wanted to become an actress because I’d read great literature or seen great Shakespeare,’ she has said. ‘It was more just wanting to understand what the people were really like; why they said all the strange things they did.’
It’s that restless curiosity of mind that has built one of the most varied CVs in modern entertainment. She has certainly fitted a lot in. It always comes as a surprise that Walters, who played ancient Mrs Overall from Acorn Antiques, with her dowager’s hump and permanent discomposure, is still only 62.
She has often chosen to play characters much older than herself. The antediluvian waitress bringing ‘Two Soups’ for Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston became, in one five-minute sketch, one of the most memorable characters in TV comedy. Perhaps she always envied old age: ‘My grandmother lived with us for a short time while I was a child. Old people tend to be slightly more eccentric – they can behave the way they want.’
Walters isn’t going gently into that good night, though. Hers is a lively approach to later life. ‘There is this idea that appealing to youth is the only way forward. But that is no longer the case. Youth is not everything. Now we have all the baby boomers in their 60s, like me, who are actively engaged in life – we’re not retiring, we’re not just going to be put out to grass once we hit 60.’
Walters shows no sign of retiring. With a recurring role in the Harry Potter films fresh in the minds of audiences, she’s popping up as a voice in animated films (Gnomeo & Juliet, the witch in Brave) and is increasingly evident on our TV screens. Although she may seem tireless – almost ageless, Julie is aware of the toll acting has taken on her wellbeing. She told The Guardian: ‘I didn’t realise how stressful acting is until I did [BBC film] A Short Stay In Switzerland. There was a collage of my character having all these health tests. A real nurse was doing them, and she said, “Ooh, your blood pressure’s really high.” It was because she had taken it during filming.’
In some senses, Walters was a late bloomer. More than once she has spoken of acting out her teenage years in her 30s. Perhaps it’s that still-fresh wildness that informs her approach to the Judy Haussman role. Certainly there’s a mixture of mischief and loopiness there that is more than just the words on the page. You can make your own judgement: The Last Of The Haussmans will be broadcast in cinemas across the UK and around the world on 11 October 2012 as part of National Theatre Live.
There’s a small danger that this could be the last chance you get to see this British screen great in cinemas. She has mentioned in interviews that offers of film roles are becoming increasingly rare: ‘I’d love to be in another film, but they haven’t asked me. I think it’s a shame, but the prospects of me doing another one now are remote. Please do campaign on my behalf.’
We doubt it’s necessary, but we will anyway.
The Last Of The Haussmans is at the National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1: 020-7452 3000, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk and Brave is on general release in cinemas from 13 August 2012.