Stage Actor & HARRY POTTER Star Dame Julie Walters Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Dame Julie Walters. best known to film fans for her memorable performance as Weasley matriarch, Molly, in the Harry Potter film series, has revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer eighteen months ago.

Walters confirmed the news to the BBC, explaining that doctors had found two tumors in her large intestine, leading to a diagnosis of stage three bowel cancer.

The actress says she was diagnosed just weeks before the premiere of her film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. As a result, some scenes involving Walters were cut in her upcoming project, The Secret Garden, co-starring Colin Firth.

Thankfully, the actress also revealed that she has since entered remission and is currently cancer-free, adding, "I've just had a scan, and I know that [I'm] clear."

Despite the positive progress she has made, Walters has also expressed that the experience has changed her perspective on acting and the way she will approach accepting roles from now on.

"I'm not saying I'll never act again." she said, "But I certainly don't think I can go back to [a film that requires working] six days a week, five in the morning till seven o'clock at night."

Julie Walters is a multi-award winning actress who came to international recognition through her performance in the film Educating Rita. Subsequent film credits include Paddington 2, Harry Potter (seven of the eight films), Brave, Mamma Mia!; Paddington, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot, Buster and Personal Services. Upcoming film work includes Country Music, Mary Poppins and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. For television, her recent work includes National Treasure, Indian Summer, The Hollow Crown, The Jury, Victoria Wood's Mid-life Christmas, Mo Mowlan, A Short Stay in Switzerland, Ahead of the Class, The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath, Murder, Strange Relations and Dinnerladies.

Her theatre credits include: Last of the Haussmans (National Theatre), Acorn Antiques the musical (Theatre Royal Haymarket), All My Sons (National Theatre) for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Fool for Love (National Theatre / Lyric Theatre), Macbeth (Leicester Haymarket) and Educating Rita (RSC Donmar Warehouse / Piccadilly Theatre). Julie has won two BAFTA Film Awards, four BAFTA TV Awards and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2014.