Published: October 06, 2009

Maggie Smith's 'hideous' Cancer Battle

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Cancer-stricken Dame Maggie Smith has vowed to "stagger through" the final 'Harry Potter' film.

The Oscar-winning actress - who plays Professor McGonagall in the hit boy wizard series - has vowed to complete her scenes in the big screen adaptation of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' despite her "hideous" illness.

The 74-year-old star told Britain's The Times newspaper: "If there's work to do I'll do it. I've still got to stagger through the last 'Harry Potter'. The cancer was hideous. It takes the wind out of your sails and I don't know what the future holds, if anything.

"You feel so ghastly, you wouldn't mind dying a lot of the time. The last couple of years have been a write-off, though I'm beginning to feel like a person now. My energy is coming back. S**t happens. I ought to pull myself together a bit."

Maggie Smith's 'hideous' cancer battle

Maggie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

She had chemotherapy immediately, leaving her struggling to cope with the filming schedule for 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'.

She explained: "I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on. I was like a boiled egg. The chemotherapy made me feel horribly sick. I was holding onto railings, thinking, 'I can't do this.' "

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' - the seventh and final book in the series written by J.K. Rowling - is being made into two movies.