11/07/2014
A Mighty Girl
Dame Maggie Smith seemed like a natural fit to play the no-nonsense Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movie series. What many people don’t know is that, during the making of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," Smith was battling breast cancer while still keeping up with a rigorous filming schedule.
The two-time Oscar winner discovered the lump in her breast in 2008. Speaking to The Telegraph, she said, “I didn’t think it was anything serious because years ago I felt a lump and it was benign... I assumed this would be too. It kind of takes the wind out of your sails.” Chemotherapy, she says, “makes you feel much worse than the cancer itself... You feel horribly sick. I was holding on to railings, thinking ‘I can’t do this.’” Nevertheless, she vowed to her fans that she would complete the Harry Potter films if at all possible.
Throughout the experience, Smith kept a sense of humor about the situation. When speaking of filming in the midst of her treatment, she said, “I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on.” And as she began to recover in 2009, she said, “The last couple of years have been a write-off, though I’m beginning to feel like a person now.”
Smith completed the Harry Potter films and went on to star in Downton Abbey, playing the bristly Violet Crawley for the past four seasons. She’s also acted in several films, something she was fearful she wouldn’t be able to do again because of “the amount of energy one needs to be in a film or a play.” Now that she has recovered from her cancer treatment, she has no plans to retire, saying, “I think that the date for that [retiring] has gone by. I fear that I won’t work in the theatre again. I’m sad about that. But I won’t retire. I think I’ll keep going with Violet and whatever other old biddy comes along.”
For books for children and teens about overcoming many different forms of adversity, visit our "Resiliency" section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/personal-development/values?cat=220
For stories of Mighty Girls or their loved one grappling with illness, visit our "Life Challenges" section on “Illness/Disease” at http://bit.ly/1bkvKlB -- this section includes several stories focused on Mighty Girls fighting cancer: "The Lemonade Club" for ages 5 to 9 (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-lemonade-club), "Kira-Kira" for ages 10 to 14 (http://www.amightygirl.com/kira-kira), and "The Fault in Our Stars" for ages 13 and up (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-fault-in-our-stars).
And, if your child is a fan of the series' famous Mighty Girl, you can find Hermione-related toys, posters, and t-shirts in our "Hermione Granger Collection" at http://www.amightygirl.com/character-collection/book-characters?cat=572