Miriam Margolyes, a British performer best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, divulges her salary from the movies. It was only a matter of time before the Harry Potter books were adapted for the big screen as their popularity among readers across the world grew significantly in the late 1990s. Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry Potter in The Sorcerer's Stone, his feature film debut, brought this idea to fulfilment in 2001. The films' success led to the creation of another Wizarding World series, Fantastic Beasts, and they went on to gross nearly $6 billion.
Margolyes initially joined the Harry Potter ensemble in The Chamber of Secrets as Professor Pomona Sprout. Professor Sprout is the Head of Hufflepuff House in addition to teaching Herbology at Hogwarts. Both the books and the films demonstrate the Herbology teacher's prowess in growing miraculous plants. Harry Potter fans will remember that one of the more hilarious situations in The Chamber of Secrets resulted from Professor Sprout's crop of mandrakes, which also, more importantly, helped those who were petrified of the Basilisk.
The Harry Potter movies had a significant role in boosting the popularity of the series and its commercial success, although not all of the performers were happy with their pay while filming. Margolyes acknowledged in a recent interview with Metro that she had previously grumbled about her pay while filming. See how much the Harry Potter actress earned below and discover why she stopped griping about it:
"I never earned millions like Harry Potter. The other three of the four main characters, in my opinion, merited it, but my character did not. I only participated in two, and my salary as Professor Sprout was just £60,000, but I'm not complaining anymore. Then, despite my complaints, I became very well-known."
Margolyes' salary for playing Professor Sprout, excluding any additional pay received after filming, was about $69,000. This number may not seem like much when compared to Radcliffe's, who made over $100 million for his time playing Harry, but when screen time is taken into account, it is not a tiny sum. Even though Margolyes' performance of Professor Sprout is famous, she only makes an appearance in two films and gets a meagre two minutes of screen time overall. Margolyes may not have made millions of dollars from the movies, but they did provide him a good wage and something almost as valuable: renown.
Margolyes' brief tenure as Professor Sprout opened the door to a variety of potential future career paths and made her a well-recognized public figure. Unfortunately, celebrity did have its negative aspects. Margolyes has said that she "doesn't like children very much," particularly babies and children who are "silly." For someone known for playing a leading role in a franchise that draws in younger viewers, this might be a problem. The Sorting Hat may want to move Margolyes to Slytherin after her discoveries concerning children, even if Professor Sprout was a Hufflepuff in Harry Potter.
