Honestly, if you haven’t seen Stepping Out, you’re missing out on a very specific, very weird, and very wonderful slice of 1990s cinema. Most people look at the poster—Liza Minnelli’s face taking up half the frame, jazz hands practically vibrating off the paper—and assume it’s just another "let’s put on a show" musical. But they're wrong. It's actually a grit-meets-glitz ensemble piece that features a performance from Julie Walters that basically carries the heart of the movie on its back.
It’s 1991. The setting is Buffalo, New York, though it looks suspiciously like Toronto because, well, tax credits. We're in a drafty church basement. The floor is scuffed. The coffee is probably terrible. Into this room walks Vera, played by Walters. She’s posh. She’s abrasive. She’s wearing the kind of expensive athletic gear that screams "I don't belong here, but I'm going to judge you anyway."
The Vera Problem (And Why We Love It)
Julie Walters plays Vera as a woman who is "inadvertently abrasive." That’s a polite way of saying she’s a nightmare. She’s the person who tells you your hair looks thin just as you’re about to go on stage.
But here’s the thing: Walters is a genius at finding the cracks in a person's armor. She had already done Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine with director Lewis Gilbert. He knew exactly what he was doing when he cast her. In a movie that could have easily become a sugary Liza Minnelli vehicle, Walters adds a layer of sharp, British vinegar.
Vera is the newcomer to this ragtag tap class. You’ve got:
- Andi (Sheila McCarthy): An insecure woman dealing with a messy domestic situation.
- Dorothy (Andrea Martin): A naive housewife who’s basically a walking allergy.
- Lynne (Jane Krakowski): A young nurse (yes, a very young Jane Krakowski!).
- Geoffrey (Bill Irwin): The lone, shy man in the group.
Walters enters this dynamic like a wrecking ball. She’s "Mrs. Lionel Andrews," but she tells them to call her Vera. She brings a level of social pretension that should be annoying, yet you can’t look away. It’s the way she holds her head. It's the way she delivers a line about her husband’s wealth while clearly being the loneliest person in the room.
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The Reality of Learning to Tap
Let’s talk about the dancing. This isn't La La Land. This is a movie about people who are objectively bad at tap dancing trying to become mediocre.
Julie Walters actually had to learn to tap for the role. In an interview at the London premiere—where she met Princess Diana, no less—she admitted her feet ached just thinking about it. She called the experience "completely terrifying." She compared it to going back to school.
There’s a raw energy in the rehearsal scenes. You see the sweat. You see the frustration. When Stepping Out and Julie Walters are mentioned together, people often forget how much physical comedy she puts into the role. She’s not just "acting" like she can’t dance; she’s portraying the specific anxiety of a woman who is terrified of failing in front of strangers.
Why the Movie "Failed" (But Still Matters)
The film didn't exactly set the box office on fire. Paramount was going through a leadership change right as it was released. The "new guard" at the studio basically left it to die without much marketing.
Critics like Roger Ebert were harsh. He called it an "amateur night version of A Chorus Line." He wanted more Liza and less of the "angst-ridden class."
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But Ebert missed the point.
The angst is the movie. The subplot involving Andi’s husband being abusive or Vera’s own desperate need for validation—that’s where the meat is. The movie was based on a British play by Richard Harris (not the actor, the writer of A Touch of Frost). In the original play, the teacher (Mavis) isn't even the main focus. For the movie, they beefed up the role for Liza Minnelli, which kinda skewed the balance.
However, because Lewis Gilbert was at the helm, he made sure the ensemble felt like real people. He brought a British sensibility to an American setting. It creates this weird, beautiful tonal friction.
The Julie Walters Masterclass
Walters was actually nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Think about that for a second. In a movie that most people dismissed as a flop, the industry still recognized that she was doing something special.
She manages to make Vera sympathetic without ever making her "nice." Vera remains a bit of a pill until the very end. But when the group finally gets on stage at the charity benefit—decked out in those gold and black costumes—you see the payoff. It’s not about the quality of the dance. It’s about the fact that Vera, the woman who used her social status as a shield, is finally just one of the girls.
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Actionable Insights: Why You Should Watch It Now
If you’re a fan of Harry Potter or Mamma Mia!, you owe it to yourself to see where Julie Walters was in 1991.
- Watch it for the ensemble: Don’t just focus on Liza. Watch Jane Krakowski before she was Jenna Maroney. Watch the incredible Shelley Winters as the grumpy piano accompanist, Mrs. Fraser.
- Look for the "Vera-isms": Pay attention to Walters' facial expressions during the locker room scenes. The micro-expressions of judgment followed by flashes of insecurity are a masterclass in acting.
- Appreciate the "Misfit" Trope: If you like movies like The Full Monty or Calendar Girls, this is the spiritual ancestor. It’s about finding community in the most unlikely of places—a basement with a leaky ceiling.
Stepping Out is available on various streaming platforms and DVD. It’s a low-stakes, high-heart movie that reminds you that being "good" at something isn't nearly as important as showing up.
Next Steps for the Viewer
- Track down the 1991 soundtrack: It features original songs by Kander and Ebb (the legends behind Chicago and Cabaret).
- Compare it to the stage play: If you can find a local production of Richard Harris’s Stepping Out, go see it. The British setting often makes the "Vera" character even more biting.
- Watch it as a double feature with Shirley Valentine: See how Lewis Gilbert and Julie Walters collaborated to bring complicated women to the big screen during an era that didn't always value them.
The movie is a reminder that even when the world ignores a film, the performances within it can still be legendary. Julie Walters proved that in 1991, and she’s been proving it ever since.