Juggling family life and my role as Hermione is really hard.. but I do get help from my mum, in-laws and our manny
Hattie Tavernier in EastEnders, she was part of the BBC soap’s first black family. And she was the first black woman to be Belle in the stage show Beauty and the Beast. She says: “Of all the characters I’ve played I’m most like Hermione. I loved school and was always studious. I also have that sense of justice, of doing the right thing. “I worked hard at school because my parents always drilled into me since the age of seven that I’d have fewer opportunities than anyone else. “They said I’d need everything in my locker that I could possibly get.” Michelle’s social worker mum was against her daughter going into the entertainment industry, telling her: “Look at the TV screen, look at you. Do you see anyone like you on screen? No.” But her factory engineer dad told her to go for it. Michelle adds: “They are so proud.
“My parents had told me the chances of my success were slim. That’s why at theatre school I couldn’t afford not to work hard. I didn’t get drunk until I was 35. I just thought, any false move and I’m out.”
Michelle says she is now more relaxed, even enjoying the odd glass of wine and going out dancing with friends.
She likes to stay healthy but avoids “mad diets”. The actor adds: “I’m not one of these clean-eating people. I’d never starve myself, I cannot bear to be hungry. I just try to eat sensibly. Hitting 50 doesn’t bother me at the moment.
“Being 48 is tricky with casting. I think the industry has improved. I think it used to be that you had to be under 30 as a woman to be a lead.
Now there are so many kick-ass women over 40 on TV and the audience loves them.” Michelle is turned off by the idea of plastic surgery. Asked if she would ever consider it, she replies: “No way. My younger friends are having Botox and it cracks me up. No one needs Botox. It’s a social condition.
“Everyone has insecurities. I hate my legs, they are huge. I look in the mirror and go, ‘Woah.’ But I don’t care enough to make it an issue. I don’t make the way I look the most important part of my life.” But Michelle admits she will decline invitations to events because of the pressure to look good. She says: “It gives me anxiety enough to say I’m not going.” When Michelle is not working or with family she likes to write. She says: “I want to work on a drama I’ve created. It’s a show that reflects people like me, people who don’t quite fit the mould but are out there surviving.” Michelle admits she never watches EastEnders these days, but does not rule out a return, saying: “Never say never.”
■ Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continues at the Palace Theatre. HarryPotterthePlay.com.