Shirley’s Downton daughter shows her devotion
AS Lady Grantham’s feisty mother, Shirley Maclaine is about to divide loyalties at Downton as she clashes with the Dowager Countess.
But off screen, it seems the other residents of the Abbey are keen to show nothing but respect for the new arrival.
As members of the cast gathered in Los Angeles, Elizabeth Mcgovern – who plays Lady Grantham in the ITV drama – displayed her devotion to her on-screen mother, bowing down at her feet.
The stars, along with Hugh Bonneville, Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt, were promoting the upcoming third series of the show, due to air in September. Previews suggest the arrival of Miss Maclaine’s character will send sparks flying. The 78-year-old, whose hits include The Trouble With Harry and Steel Magnolias, plays American Martha Lev- inson. In what insiders have dubbed a ‘battle of the matriarchs’, she is to clash with Dame Maggie Smith’s character Violet, the Dowager Countess.
Their disagreement comes against a backdrop of further setbacks for the Crawley family in the 1920s, including the threat of financial ruin.
Creator Julian Fellowes said the series focused on ‘the recovery from the war’, with ‘some laughs, some tears’.
The show has been a huge success in the US, with nominations for 16 prestigious Emmy Awards.
Miss MacLaine, though, confessed at Saturday’s event that she had only heard about it recently – at the hairdresser.
She said she soon became a fan, adding: ‘I saw it and oh man ... I was just as addicted as everybody else.’