DOWNTON DAME

LAURA CARMICHAEL

Laura Carmichael is shimmying like a flapper. ‘I had a gorgeous green dress in the first series of Downton that was cleavage-y with dangling beads around the chest. I had fun doing a bit of tit-dancing on set,’ she says.

It’s a refreshing departure from Carmichael’s on-screen persona as uptight Lady Edith in ITV’s Downton Abbey. But Carmichael, 27, has other ideas: ‘I still feel she is the most interesting character; she’s had her heart broken, she’s self-interested and at times watching her is just cringey. From an acting perspective, it’s really fun.’

Away from filming, Southampton-raised Carmichael prefers simpler pleasures. She is at her happiest having a pint of cider at her local in North London. ‘I missed the BAFTA nominees party because I had a friend’s boozy birthday,’ she admits. And she doesn’t know the first thing about toff pastimes like polo: ‘I can’t even ride a horse.’ Ostensibly single, she has no shortage of walkers when she’s out on the town, her favourites being the fashion designers Christopher Kane and Erdem (she is wearing a forest-green design by the latter for the BAFTAs, right).

She fell into acting after hearing that Winchester College was looking for girls for its school plays: ‘I fell in love with all the boys.’ After studying at the Bristol Old Vic, she was working as a receptionist when the Downton audition came up. The drama went on to pull in 9m viewers in its first season and has bagged six Emmys and 13 BAFTAs.

She’s just finished shooting an adaptation of Madame Bovary, playing Henriette alongside Mia Wasikowska and Paul Giamatti (‘a serious dude’), and is keen to tread the boards again following a blinding debut in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya last year opposite Anna Friel. Is there a particular role she has her eye on? ‘Something modern. It would be nice, for once, to play a role in jeans.’ Lancôme and Charles Worthington are the official style partners for the EE BAFTAs