‘Downton’ creator talks ‘A New Era’
Julian Fellowes discusses new movie’s storyline.
“I was looking for an invasion of Downton by the 20th century in a fairly indigestible way — not just some character turning up for lunch, but something that overturned order.”
Julian Fellowes, the creator of the beloved TV series “Downton Abbey” and the writer of the film of the same name released in theaters in 2019, says this during a recent video interview to promote its new sequel, “Downton Abbey: A New Era” — released today in movie theaters.
He’s been asked what inspired the storyline in which a Hollywood film crew in the late 1920s comes to Downton Abbey — the Yorkshire estate home to the fictional Crawley family and their servants — to film a silent movie.
Early on in the production of “The Gambler,” the decision is made to turn it into a “talkie,” meaning dialogue will need to be recorded not only for scenes yet to be filmed but also for those that have been. This leads to numerous challenges, including a leading lady — Laura Haddock’s Myrna Dalgleish — whose stardom has come from being seen but not heard.
Fellowes says the idea came after a conversation with a colleague, who told Fellowes of his grandfather’s experience working on the 1929 Alfred Hitchcock film “Blackmail,” originally intended to be a silent picture.
“In the middle (of production, the crew) got this message from the studios that they had to change it to sound, and they had the invasion of the sound man,”
Fellowes says.
Among the ramifications was the need to dub the dialogue of the film’s leading lady, Anny Ondra, who was said to have a strong Czech accent.
“Because they didn’t (yet have) looping and dubbing, they had to have another actress standing on the set saying the lines while (Ondra) moved her mouth,” says Fellowes, who in “A New Era” gives that task to Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary, who by now is in charge of the estate.
“I was telling this story of Mary adjusting to the 20th century and finding she could fit in and the fact that she could, you know, do the job to keep this thing going,” he says. “She is learning to live with the 20th century without being too inhibited by it.”
In this conversation — which has been edited for length and clarity — Fellows speaks about “Downton Abbey,” as well as his new series “The Gilded Age,” set in the cutthroat social scene of 1880s New York City. Initially slated to air on NBC, the show debuted in February on HBO and has just gone into production on its sophomore season.
Q: Congratulations on both the movie and “The Gilded Age” finally coming to TV after a delay. Were you working on both of them simultaneously or were you able to get “The Gilded Age” completed for that first season and get back into “Downton Abbey”? A:
You probably know that when you write a script, you never stop, writing different bits of it until the last edit is looped and the last thing is in the can. You know, you’re still fiddling with this and that at the beginning of every week’s filming.
But I enjoyed both shows. I think they’re quite different in tone and different in sort of texture, which I enjoy. I think I’m a lucky boy.
Q: Moving to “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” what did you learn from making the first “Downton Abbey” movie that you were able to apply to this sequel? A:
I don’t know, really. We were nervous with the first film because you never know when you take something and turn it into a different medium. You take a TV show, turn it into a film; you take a film, turn it into a play; you take a film and turn it into a ballet — whatever it is, there’s always a fear that that won’t work, that transition, And sometimes it doesn’t, so it’s not a fear based on nothing. We’ve all seen moments where it didn’t quite work. And so when we realized there was an audience for “Downton” in film form, that was a very happy moment.
I enjoyed (making it). I enjoyed this one. It’s funny to be working on something for so long. … It’s extraordinary that here we still are, calling each other by the same names and going on with the same story. It’s been extraordinary.
Q: Lastly, I assume if it’s up to you, we won’t have seen the last of the family Crawley? A:
I don’t know. I never know the answer to this. Although as you can imagine, I get asked a lot. Well, I keep thinking it’s probably the end, and I like to write it (in a way allowing) that if it is the end, that’s OK. But if they want more, then I’m sure we’d be delighted to give it to them.
So, you know, that’s not really an answer. Anyway, that’s the best I can give.