'I'm glad to be here. In my family people don't live very long': Inside the head of... Julie Walters

The star of the new Harry Hill Movie on reaching the age when her father died, why she owes her career to a bad-tempered nun... and why she’ll never have a dinner party again

What has been your biggest achievement? 'Getting to 63,' said Julie Walters

What is your earliest memory?

I distinctly remember lying in a pram. I remember my mother leaning in to look at me and I recall a damp cloth being wiped around the hood. If I close my eyes I can
remember the smell. I was probably less than a year old, people say you can’t remember that far back but I can picture the whole thing in my mind.

What sort of child were you?

Very nervy, incredibly competitive, the only girl among two brothers. I wasn’t a girly girl and the nerviness was influenced by the nuns at my primary school, who were pretty terrifying. I liked to perform from very young. A very strict, bad-tempered nun called Sister Patrick did a lot of shouting. I don’t know what I did but I made her laugh; she bent down and said: ‘You should go on the stage’. I’d never been to the theatre but I knew what she meant. I felt that incredible power of being able to make someone laugh.

When did you last cry?

This morning. It’s 28 years to the day since I met my husband, Grant, and I was feeling very emotional. Shane Filan from Westlife was on Daybreak singing this song about being away from his  loved one and wanting to be back with them [Coming Home]. I was on my own and about to leave the house for the day. That boy just has the most angelically beautiful voice. It made me cry because it made me realise all I wanted was to be at home.

What sort of child were you? 'I liked to perform from very young,' said Julie (pictured age 4)

How do you relax?

I watch every single soap from Emmerdale to EastEnders and I’ve been watching Coronation Street faithfully since I was ten and Annie Walker was behind the bar. It’s completely relaxing as you can empty your brain of everything and just fill it up with other people’s dramas. I don’t do X Factor but I watch Strictly and I can’t miss I’m A Celebrity… I wanted David Emanuel to win because he’s a lovely guy and he made my dress for the Oscars.

What has been your biggest achievement?

Getting to 63. I’m the age my father died; that registered when I hit this birthday. In my family people don’t live very long. My mother died at 74, which doesn’t seem far away. I’m very glad to be here.

And your biggest regret?

The day my mother died – I never told her I loved her. She was in a coma for days. I remember being with her and thinking that I should go and call my brother to get him to the hospital. At the moment I went out of the room to make that phone call she died.

What are you best at? And what would you like to be better at?

I was a very fast runner. I was the 200m champion in 1967 and I loved it. I was very sporty, very competitive, but although I was very good at the running, I was terrible at the rest of it. I’d get so nervous I’d throw up before a race and I’d throw up afterwards. Strangely enough, I didn’t get nervous on a stage. I’d like to be better at cooking. I watch all those shows like Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off but I am appalling. I can’t cook so I can’t do dinner parties. I once did both and made a quiche for my guests. No one could get their knife through my pastry. It was mortifying. I’ve never had a dinner party since.

'I loved working on The Harry Hill Movie as Harry was so hilarious and made everything so easy,' said Julie

What is your best character trait?

I love being around people and I love the job I do. I’m good on a film set. I love meeting everyone, I love walking around the set although I’m so old now and have been doing this so long I always know the sparks and the prop men whatever set I’m on. I loved working on The Harry Hill Movie as Harry was so hilarious and made everything so easy. The Harry Potter sets are unbelievable. I used to walk around with my mouth wide open. In the Weasleys’ house, there were no special effects, the pans stirred automatically and the knitting needles knitted themselves. It was just amazing.

What is your worst character trait?

Impatience. I’m terrible. If I’m on an escalator I rush to the end and in an airport I’m the person barging down the travelators. It drives me nuts when people stand on them. I have to get past everyone.

Who would your dream dinner date be?

Just me and my dad, Tom. He died when I was 21 and my mum couldn’t get hold of me because I was out with a boyfriend. My dad was very kind and gentle but he had an incredible sense of humour. My mum was the tough one and my dad – who was a builder and decorator – was the soft one. He died of a heart attack sitting in bed. In many ways I’d like to go like he did. He’d had a great day – he’d won a bet on the horses – and when he went it was over in a flash.

On Victoria Wood: 'I admire her hugely for her talent but she's also the most organised person I know'

What is your biggest fear?

Anything bad happening to my family. And I’m not that keen on spiders, though years of living in the country has made me better.

What or who do you dream about?

I used to have a recurring dream about being in a bed on stage and not knowing what my lines were or what was going to happen next. It was a half-waking, half-sleeping sort of dream like the stage was the bed I was actually in. I also used to get dreams about being on stage naked but they seem to have gone away.

Who do you most admire?

The words ‘talent’ and ‘genius’ are bandied about too much but when it comes to Victoria Wood they mean something. I admire her hugely for her talent but she’s also the most organised person I know and I am so deeply disorganised I think that’s wonderful.

Julie Walters is on Graham Norton’s Chat Show, Dec 20, BBC1.
‘The Harry Hill Movie’ is in cinemas the same day