Actor shares memories of making ‘Downton Abbey’
Carter was featured as guest speaker at Society of the Four Arts event.
One reason Jim Carter wanted to play Mr. Carson, the butler on television’s acclaimed period drama “Downton Abbey,” is that the character had a sense of humor.
The audience for his packed talk Tuesday at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach can testify that’s one quality both actor and character share.
Glamorous as life at the Crawley family estate appeared to be, filming the series wasn’t. The cameras rolled from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. A three-minute dining room scene could take all day to film.
The dish served “might be lobster in a curious sauce — at 8 a.m. — and you’re eating it all day long,” Carter said. “The actors became adept at putting their forks in their mouths without eating.”
For the servants, “it’s all about making life perfect” for the family,” Carter said.
That suited Carson but not Carter.
“Carson thought the right way to do things was the only way to behave,” Carter said. “I couldn’t live that way for a minute.”
An army of behind-the-scenes workers ensured that what viewers saw was perfect. An etiquette expert coached the cast on period manners. A home economist cooked the meals the family would have eaten for the dining room scenes.
The series was well-received when it debuted in 2010 in Britain. But “things really went crazy after it went to America” in January 2011, Carter said. When the final episode aired in the United States in March 2016, it was the most-watched drama in PBS’ 45-year history.
I t s f a n s i n c l u d e d n o t o n l y average viewers worldwide but also celebrities such as Shirley MacLaine, who played Lady Cora’s mother Martha Levinson; George
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