Dame Julie Walters has revealed she turned down the opportunity to forge a career in Hollywood because she loves British writing and never had the urge to take her work in a different direction.

The actor, who was made a dame this month, has appeared in some of the highest-grossing movies of recent years, including the Harry Potter series, Mamma Mia! and Billy Elliot.

However, Walters could have starred in high-profile films earlier in her career by moving to Hollywood after being nominated for the 1984 best actress Oscar for her role in Educating Rita.

Instead she remained in the UK, appearing in television shows alongside her long-time collaborator and friend Victoria Wood, who died last year.

“I did have plenty of offers then but I don’t ever regret not taking them,” Walters told the Radio Times in an interview. “Because I’m British, I guess, and I like British writing and British work, and I love it here. I think the way you look is much more important in Hollywood than possibly it is here.

“If something amazing came ... but nothing ever has, nothing really amazing. People go and move there to try to do something else with their careers, but I don’t want to do anything else with my career particularly.”

Walters played Mo Mowlam, the former Northern Ireland secretary, in a Channel 4 drama in 2010, for which she won a Bafta and an International Emmy. She has roles in some big new films, including Paddington 2 and Mary Poppins Returns.

The actor said the sexual assault and harassment allegations against the Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein had left her “very angry”.

“I only worked with him once and I wasn’t a young girl, either, so I didn’t see it. But the stories that have come out have made me very angry more than anything,” Walters said. “It was shocking – but also not shocking, somehow. The extent of it was so disgusting and awful.”