MAGNIFICENT MAGGIE
Dame Maggie Smith’s place as a British drama institution is unquestionable, and yet her return as Violet Crawley in this year’s Downton Abbey movie, at 84, may offer her public recognition at a level she has never before experienced.
Away from the red carpets, the flashbulbs and the seemingly endless press junkets, Smith is someone ill at ease with the demands of fame.
“I really don’t like to watch myself – I hate it. You are helpless to do anything to stop it once it’s out there, and that has always terrified me,” she says.
“In the theatre, things are a little different because you can say to yourself, ‘I’ll have another go at that tomorrow night … I’ll change that, alter that…’, but with cinema it is there forever.
“Sometimes you are forced to see yourself at a premiere, and you think, ‘Why on Earth did I do it like that?’ You would suppose that after all this time I might have got used to it, but I haven’t!”
Twice-married Smith’s career has had a longevity beyond that of most of her generation. First stepping into the spotlight in 1952 under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, she appeared as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse.
Switching between theatre and film – from her first Oscar nomination in 1965 for her role opposite Laurence Olivier in Othello, to an Academy Award for Best Actress for the title role in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – her work has only ever disappointed one person… herself! “People have said I am too hard on myself, but it just goes with the territory. The truth is I’m critical of everything because I care and worry too much. I’d love to be more relaxed, but after all this time I don’t think I’m going to change now.”
From intense drama to rich comedy, Smith has navigated a cross-section of work that diversifies from Hook and Sister Act in the 1990s through to the Harry Potter movies. And while many saw her place in Downton Abbey as being perhaps a gentle sojourn into retirement every bit as decorated as the lady herself, the popularity of Highclere Castle and all those who reside in and around it has seen her star glide higher than ever before.
“It’s ridiculous – I was able to live a somewhat normal life until I started doing Downton Abbey,” she says. “I know that sounds funny, but I’m serious. Before that I could go to all the places I wanted and see all of the things that I like, but now I can’t, which I find incredibly awful… flattering, but awful.”
Smith admits she has never watched a single episode of Downton Abbey – “and I don’t plan on starting now” – but she is thrilled something as traditional as a period drama has engaged an audience that might otherwise be distracted by the CGI, green screens and special effects so readily used by today’s studios. “It’s very easy to get carried away by the technology that’s available these days – but when people can invest in the honesty and simplicity of great scriptwriting, it restores your faith in what it is we do.”
1926. Part grand drama, which spanned both the upstairs and downstairs personnel, and part sudsy soap opera – replete with intrigue, betrayal and tragedy, it was hopelessly addictive for many who mourned the series’ seemingly premature end.
And then of course there’s the jewel in the show’s crown – Dame Maggie Smith’s iconic Dowager Countess, whose constant stream of effortless zingers, superbly executed with a deliberate tilt of the head and one raised brow, could be relied upon to evoke admiration and terror in almost equal measure.
And in no-one more so than Hugh Bonneville – who plays her son, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, the occasionally bumbling but lovable patriarch of the family. “Maggie doesn’t suffer fools, as anyone knows,” he laughs. “And she’s probably one of the greatest actors of her generation alive today, and the fact that she can turn material into gold, and can have you literally laughing one minute and a lump in your throat the next is a skill. She can be very funny, very lacerating, very demanding of herself – and therefore you jolly well better raise your end game.”
MODERN HISTORY
The cast has been educated about the precise etiquette the Crawleys and their below-stairs staff should adhere to in every situation and social occasion by the show’s historical expert, Alastair Bruce – who has also consulted on such movies as The Young Victoria and The King’s Speech. Bruce is also a longtime advisor on Downton Abbey, and has been on hand since the very beginning of the show’s journey, nine years ago.
Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, took delight in regaling me several months ago on all she’d gleaned about etiquette. She told me, “One of the most surprising things I learned about that time from Alastair was that asparagus is eaten with your fingers. That was a real takeaway for me that I didn’t realise before. You dip it in butter.”
Bonneville muses, “In high society, the hostess must lead the conversation by talking to the person on her left – and then at a certain point, when she turns to talk to the person on her right, everybody else follows, so that they don’t get someone stuck on their own talking to no-one.”
Bonneville and McGovern enjoy an easy banter. He looks over at his on-screen wife and whispers audibly, “Is it a spoiler if we say that we have a new dog, now?” She nods, responding, “No, I think that’s fine.” He turns to me. “Her name is Tiaa and she’s a puppy.” He leans in. “So, now I look younger than I did in the series.”
For those who dismissively rank the show as appealing to a limited demographic, it must be noted the finale of Season Six raked in 9.6 million US viewers. When you consider mainstream dramas such as Breaking Bad, whose feverishly anticipated finale boasted 10.3 million, or the final episode of Mad Men, which brought in 4.6 million, more people watched Downton Abbey than perhaps care to admit it. Additionally, it’s been incorporated into the contemporary zeitgeist – with references to Downton in Iron Man 3 and Amy Schumer’s comedy, Trainwreck.
The fashion world has also taken inspiration. Dockery says, “Ralph Lauren had a show [the Fall/Winter 2012 collection – during Fashion Week in New York] with models walking the catwalk looking like characters from Downton Abbey. It was fantastic.”
Despite the ostentation, pomp and grandeur of the Crawleys’ privileged lifestyle, the characters are regarded with great affection. We see that they’re not exempt from illness, tragedy and bad luck, much like the folk downstairs. And in stark contrast to today’s entitled families – such as the Kardashians, for whom it’s hard to feel either empathy or happiness – watching the Crawleys’ triumphs, trials and tribulations doesn’t leave us with a bitter aftertaste. And despite Lady Mary’s entitled
“It’s safe to say that there’s a strong romantic element in the film.”
and often petulant behaviour, the audience wants her to find love again after the tragic death of her husband (Dan Stevens) at the end of Season Three. We hope too for better things to come for her sister, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael).
Dockery shares, “When we meet Mary again, she’s at a good point in her life. She’s finally content – which was a relief for me. She’s married to Henry Talbot [Matthew Goode], the racing car driver, and their little girl, Caroline, has arrived. But she feels a great responsibility for Downton now that she’s taken over for her father, and she’s running the estate with Tom Branson [Allen Leech].”
“Everything people love about Downton is on the screen. What Julian has done is remarkable.”
With such an auspicious occasion as a royal visit to pull off, Mary deemed it necessary to bring her old friend and confidant Mr Carson – played by Jim Carter – out of retirement.
A clearly thrilled Carter says, “The costume still fitted. That was nice. And I was still married to Mrs Hughes [the head housekeeper – played by Phyllis Logan]. And, actually, my real wife is in the film [Imelda Staunton], but she plays someone very aristocratic, and I’m Mr Carson, so we never actually speak to each other although we were in two scenes together. She sat at the end of the dining table but I refused to serve her wine in case she started expecting that at home,” he jokes.
“She always said to me that if she ever landed a role in the show it would be somebody downstairs with a fondness for the bottle,” he laughs.
A TALE OF ROMANCE
Without giving much away, it’s safe to say that there’s a strong romantic element in the film. Director Michael Engler, an American who directed various episodes over the years, says, “There’s a lot of romance, yes. There’s a lot of everything,” he laughs. “And with the king and queen visiting, we had Alastair Bruce helping, of course, but also a gentlemen who had been butler to the Queen for many years and an equerry to Prince Philip. So we needed a lot of technical help.”
For this Downton fan, watching the long-awaited, two-hour spectacle was a little like revisiting old friends. With Julian Fellowes’ inspired casting and brilliant writing as critical as ever, I’m not ashamed to say it left me more than a little emotional.
Recalling the 2009 auditioning process, Fellowes reveals, “It was a potent combination. Michelle was very composed in her audition. Very definite, very strong. I knew in a way that Mary was really the strongest character in the family, and she’s also beautiful which is a big plus – but it was Michelle’s intelligence that I felt was right for Mary.”
The Crawley siblings represented well-known archetypes. The rebellious youngest daughter, Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) left her upper-class life for love with an outsider, the Irishman Tom Branson – who was employed by the Crawleys as their chauffeur, and who carried a distaste for his wealthy English employers. The unlikely couple married, before Sybil’s tragic death during the birth of their first child.
The middle daughter, Lady Edith, also endured much misery throughout the years, though at the end of the last season, her luck had begun to change.
Fellowes offers, “I knew that Edith Crawley was going to be the unlucky one – the one that things didn’t work out for. In my life, I have experienced unlucky people, it doesn’t matter who they are, it doesn’t matter how much privilege they are born into, certain people are just unlucky. I wanted that in one of the characters in this spoiled family who led very privileged lives. I wanted the kind of reminder that that isn’t everything. You can have money, you can have position and still be frustrated and let down and get it wrong,” he says.
Fortunately, Laura Carmichael’s own story does not reflect Edith’s bad luck. “I have to tell you, Laura hadn’t worked much as an actress,” Fellowes marvels. “In fact, she’d been working in a doctor’s office when I cast her.
“There was something in Laura’s original readings that gave her a kind of sympathy where you felt sorry for her. She had a quality where you would easily sympathise with her.”
Speaking to Carmichael on the phone a few weeks later, she sounds thrilled to share her character’s good news. “Happily, Edith is married which was a big change – and a big lifestyle change for her in many ways,” she tells me. Unsurprisingly, Carmichael couldn’t wait to ‘try on’ Lady Edith’s reversal of fortune. “As soon as you put the clothes on and have the hair styled, it completely transforms you. It felt very normal to be back.”
MAKING STARS
As with many of the cast, Downton proved to be Carmichael’s gateway to a fully-fledged acting career. “It was a training ground – like going to high school for six years – and to be in that position in your early twenties was very lucky. Even now, it’s hard to get my head around it,” Carmichael says with a laugh. She is currently in Sydney shooting the thriller, The Secrets She Keeps.
Other stars discovered by Fellowes during the series’ run include Joanne Froggatt (who plays Anna Bates), Lily James (Lady Rose) and Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley), all of whom have gone on to forge careers in Hollywood.
“We were the first job for Lily James,” Fellowes says, proudly. “She came to us straight from drama school. And I have to say, I do feel a sense of satisfaction when you set a young person on the road and they make their way up the mountainside – I love and enjoy that.”
Now that Fellowes has made his own trek up the mountain and come down the other side, he’s more than ready for the film to hit theatres.
“Look, people say, ‘Do you feel very pressured because the TV show was such a hit?’ But you see, the truth is, the only way to feel no pressure at all is if it were a flop,” he laughs. “So, on the whole, I would rather have a hit and the pressure – if that is the choice I have to make.”
Come 12 September when Downton Abbey is released, fans will most likely breathe a sigh of relief. “Everything that people love about Downton is on the screen,” explains Dockery. “What Julian has done is nothing short of remarkable.”