Miriam Margolyes says Steve Martin was ‘horrid’ to work with

The British actress has revealed which Hollywood A-lister she did not enjoy working with, labelling the funnyman a “c**t”.

Legendary British actress Miriam Margolyes has let rip at one of the world’s most famous actors, describing him as a “c**t” who was “rather horrid” to work with.

In her new book, Oh Miriam! (due out September 12), Margolyes shares wild stories from her personal life and her six-decades long showbiz career.

One of those stories is the “vile experience” she had acting alongside Steve Martin in the 1986 film, Little Shop of Horrors.

Speaking in more detail about the incident to news.com.au, Margolyes explained: “Steve was and is brilliant, this is not about his talent, just about his kindness at that time in his life.”

In the film, Martin plays a dentist and Margolyes plays his dental receptionist.

Steve Martin and Miriam Margolyes in Little Shop of Horrors. Picture: Alamy

One particular scene in the film required Martin to punch Margolyes in the face and pretend to knock her out, and according to Margolyes, the scene took several attempts to get right.

“I didn’t enjoy it and I had a splitting headache at the end of the day,” she told news.com.au

“He (Steve Martin) was incredibly unfriendly, because he was a perfectionist.

“He was an artist and all he was interested in was getting the comic moment right, and he was correct to do that, but he should have included me,” Margolyes said.

“I would have included the person I was working with. He wasn’t interested in that.”

“I just thought he was rather horrid,” the 82-year old added. “He was a c**t, that’s all I can tell you.”

Margolyes added that although the experience was miserable, she did think Martin was “gifted”.

“When I saw the scene afterwards I thought, ‘oh, he’s good, he really is good’,” she told news.com.au.

Maggie Smith with Miriam in Harry Potter.

Miriam has a new book due out September 12.

Miriam disses Mick Jagger

Another star who gets a negative review in Oh Miriam! is Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

Margolyes encountered the singer when she was performing The Vagina Monologues alongside Sophie Dahl, who Jagger was dating at the time.

“I just didn’t like him,” she said.

“He wasn’t interested in anybody else. 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.”

Mick Jagger performing in Paris last year. Picture: Bertrand Guay / AFP

Miriam turned down Marvel

In Oh Miriam!, Margolyes briefly mentions that she recently turned down a role in a Marvel film.

She went into more detail during her interview with news.com.au, explaining: “They contacted me and said, ‘we’re doing a story about witches’. I thought, ‘oh god, not witches again, because I’ve done that with Harry Potter’.”

Margolyes was even more put off by the fact the movie was being filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I don’t like America and I didn’t want to be in Georgia for four months,” she said.

“So I just said, ‘well, I want a million pounds (A$1.9 million)’ and they said, ‘you can have half a million’, and I said, ‘no, I don’t want to do it’, so it just stopped.”

“Really it’s a story about my own greed rather than anything else,” Margolyes laughed.

‘Oh Miriam! - Stories from an Extraordinary Life’ will be available in all good bookstores from September 12