Downton actress says hit period drama may be revived as a movie
SCOTS actress Phyllis Logan has good news for Downton Abbey fans, saying the cast are all eager to bring the period drama to the big screen.
The hit ITV show came to a close on Christmas Day in 2015, but has since sparked speculation about returning as a film.
Logan, 61, who played housekeeper Mrs Hughes in Downton, told Good Morning Britain: “The will is definitely there with everybody involved. Fingers crossed that we can make it all come about at some stage. We’d all love to get back together again for one last hurrah.”
But the actress, who is currently starring in The Good Karma Hospital, said it would not be easy to reunite all the cast and crew in one place.
She added: “There are so many of us. In normal film situations you might have a core cast of half a dozen or whatever. But this is a core cast of thousands, it feels like at times.”
Her comments come after Jim Carter, who played butler Carson, hinted that a movie spin-off of the drama, created by Julian Fellowes, could be close. Carter, whose alter-ego married Mrs Hughes in the show, previously said “nobody’s seen the script”, but that the cast had been asked to keep dates free for the big-screen version.
“There’s a place in the West Country called Julian Fellowes’ head and it’s in there somewhere. I’m sure it will emerge,” he said.
Actress Joanne Froggatt, who played maid Anna Smith, said she had heard rumours that Downton’s creator had already penned the script. Fellowes has also spoken of the possibility of a film, saying the difficulty was getting all of the cast members – such as Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery and Dame Maggie Smith – free.
He said: “It’s very unlikely there won’t be a film because there’s an audience for it.”