She's the centre of Simla gin-soaked social scene and likes to meddle in the lives of those around her - particularly in the life of Ralph Whelan, a man she sees as a surrogate son who she hopes will rise from his position as the Private Secretary to the Viceroy of India to the top job itself.
The series starts its 10-episode run tomorrow night and after its success on British screens earlier this year it's been renewed for another season.
As well as a juicy role, Indian Summers is a big commitment for Walters with the six-month production filming on the Malaysian island of Penang. There, the locations are doubling for Shimla, the city which became the summer capital for India's British rulers. The Shimla of today is too developed to replicate the period on screen.
Still, Malaysia at sea level meant Walters and her castmates baked in the sort of heat their characters were supposedly escaping ...
"At times it was hot, but I must admit I quite liked it really," says Walters from England.
"I like that steamy heat. Yes, the first time I went out, I remember having to sing in the club with a massive arc lamp as well as the heat because you've obviously got to keep the lighting the same, you can't let the sun go down while you're doing a scene because the shots have got to match.
So yes, it was hot at times but rather wonderful"
Cynthia Coffin, we discover in the opening episode is the widow of a British army captain. Her accent suggests that in India she's been able to transcend her working class roots to rub shoulders with the ruling elite.
"I think Cynthia is a real survivor. She's manipulative, but she's had to be. She runs a social club, which she used to do with her husband, but he died so she now wields a lot of power and holds a position that she could not possibly have in England.
She's also bit of a meddler and unsurprisingly, given her position and the period, a racist.
"Her morals do come into question at times but they're based, basically, on practicalities for her. There are times when she does things she shouldn't do really but she sees it as for the best. So she is Machiavellian. She's been described as a scheming racist, but given 99 per cent of people out there were racist and saw the Indians as second-class, basically, that wasn't unusual. Most of them were racist. Cynthia just voices it."
Walters is heading back to Malaysia soon to film a second season with possible future seasons taking the story from 1932 though the last days to of the Raj towards Indian's independence in 1947.
"Initially I signed on for one series but, yes, I thought it could be five and I did say to them, "well is Cynthia in all of the five?", and Paul [Rutman, writer] said 'if she wants to be'".
"I so enjoyed it, it was such a fantastic job. It was really good fun and it was wonderful being out there and being with all those young people. I loved that, being surrounded by young people."
Who: Julie Walters
What: Indian Summers
When and where: TV One, tomorrow night, 8.30pm
- TimeOut
