Miriam Margolyes and Steve Martin David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images; Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
Steve Martin might be one of Hollywood’s funniest stars, but actress Miriam Margolyes did not have a fun experience working with him on the 1986 movie musical Little Shop of Horrors.
Margolyes, 82, opened up about her “vile experience” working with Martin, 78, in her new memoir, Oh Miriam!: Stories From An Extraordinary Life — which hit shelves earlier this month — alleging that the Only Murders in the Building star was “rather horrid” to film with.
“Steve was and is brilliant, this is not about his talent, just about his kindness at that time in his life,” she told Australian news site news.com.au about her remarks.
Margolyes — well known for her role as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series — played a dental receptionist to Martin’s villainous Orin Scrivello in Little Shop of Horrors. While filming the musical number “Dentist!,” Margolyes’ said it took her and Martin several tries to nail a scene in which he knocks out her character with a punch.
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“I didn’t enjoy it and I had a splitting headache at the end of the day,” she told the outlet. “He was incredibly unfriendly, because he was a perfectionist. He was an artist and all he was interested in was getting it right, getting the comic moment right, and he was correct to do that, but he should have included me.”
Despite recognizing Martin’s talents as a “gifted” comedic actor, she concluded her thoughts by calling him a “c—t,” adding, “That’s all I can tell you.”
Martin, for his part, has not publicly addressed Margolyes’ comments. Us Weekly reached out to Martin’s reps for comment.
Steve Martin and Miriam Margolyes in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ Courtesy of Warner Bros/YouTube
Martin is not the only celebrity Margolyes calls out in her new book —writing that she “just didn’t like” Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger. She met the rocker, 80, in 2001 following a West End performance of The Vagina Monologues, in which she starred alongside Jagger’s girlfriend at the time, Sophie Dahl.
“He wasn’t interested in anybody else,” she noted. “He didn’t say ‘Good evening,’ or, ‘How’s the show going?’ He thought he was important, and he is important, but important people should never think they’re important and should never show it if they think it. I just thought he was a tiresome old git.”
