JULIE'S BOTTOM LINE

Mamma Mia! star Julie Walters has spoken candidly – and with humour – about her battle with bowel cancer

- SANDY COOK

WE KNOW her as irrepressible Rosie in Mamma Mia!, the ballet teacher with a heart of gold in Billy Elliot, the mouthy working-class sweetheart in Educating Rita and Ron Weasley’s no-nonsense mom in the Harry Potter films.

Through each movie runs a common thread: Julie Walters’ twinkly sense of humor, which always seems as if it’s about to bubble over in a froth of fun.

And this was evident again recently when she shared something that isn’t funny at all: the 69-year-old actress has been battling stage 3 bowel cancer.

The veteran British actress broke the news during a BBC interview, sharing intimate details of her journey and, with typical candor, saying no one should be embarrassed to be checked out for the disease.

“Bottoms are part of your digestive system,” she quips. “Doctors are used to bottoms – they’ve got one themselves.”

The Golden Globe winner endured her health battle in secret for 18 months and was recently given the all-clear. Now she’s eager to spread the message of the importance of regular screening.

“If you catch it early, bowel cancer is the best type of cancer you can have,” she says. “Just go and make sure you get checked.”

Julie first sought medical attention a year before her diagnosis because she had indigestion and slight discomfort – but then her symptoms worsened and she started experiencing stomach pain, heartburn, and vomiting.

She was referred to a gastric surgeon who ordered a CT scan.

One day, while on the set of her upcoming movie The Secret Garden, she received a call and she was asked to come in to see the specialist. The scan had revealed an abnormality in her intestine, which the doctor told her might be cancer.

“I was still thinking, ‘That’s ridiculous, he must have made a mistake’,” Julie says.