Miriam Margolyes intervenes after teen faces death threats from 'pathetic' bullies
Over the past three weeks, Miriam Margolyes has captivated audiences with her series A New Australian Adventure on BBC Two. In the concluding episode aired on Friday, the actress was left "appalled" upon hearing a distressing account.
While visiting the remote mining town of Broken Hill in the Australian outback, the Harry Potter star encountered a 14-year-old girl named Abbie who initiated 'The Rainbow Shoelace' project to support those affected by homophobia.
Abbie, who identifies as queer, shared with Margolyes that she faced severe bullying at school and even received death threats for her efforts.
She confided: "It made me feel terrified and every part of pride that I had inside myself quickly faded."
A deeply affected Miriam embraced Abbie in a comforting hug, expressing: "That's awful, I can't bear that," reports the Mirror.
In an effort to offer solace, Miriam added: "They're just pathetic and you will not give up your project, you are you and you are changing the world and you're magnificent."
Miriam concluded with words of encouragement: "What you have to face is that you have courage and in that courage, you've forged an idea which is going to give courage to other people."
As she departed from Abbie's residence, the comedian expressed her emotions directly to the camera, stating: "I feel great sadness actually and anger because Abbie told me something about this sweet town that I had not expected. She's been bullied so some things haven't changed. There are stupid little bullies here."
Miriam then revealed that she personally reached out to Abbie's school to discuss her ongoing issue.
She elaborated: "I was appalled by her story and made a personal decision to reach out to her school to stop this issue, I