Interview with the cast of Downton Abbey

It’s here! DOWNTON ABBEY fans will be thrilled that the grand motion picture event is now playing in theaters! I am sure you will be reminded how much you’ve missed this family like so many other fans as you watch the beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that will leave the future of Downton hanging in the balance. Written by series creator Julian Fellowes and starring the original cast.

Last week I had the chance to interview some of the talented cast including Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, and Allen Leech. Hands down, it was one of my favorite moments of all-time since I started blogging nine years ago. Have you had a show that transported you to another time and life? One that helped you get through a tough time in your life? Perhaps, it was Downton Abbey for you as well? After my father passed a few years ago, my mother and I sat on my sofa and binge-watched the series. We were going through such a hard time and it really helped us during our grieving process. I was so thankful that I could tell some of the actors that their work and series helped us so much. As Hugh Bonneville said during the interview Downton Abbey helps transport people to another time and place where they feel safe and take care of. That is what this show did for my mother and I and I will always have special place in my heart for this wonderful show.

It is to escape from the hassles of our current world. It’s pretty nice and it’s a nice place to go. And you sort of know you’re going to be looked after, because I think the characters in Downton Abbey look out for each other in some way, shape, or form. And I don’t think we need to apologize for that. It’s just pure escapism. And so it’s a nice place to be for a couple of hours.
~ Hugh Bonneville

If you are a fan of the series, you are going to absolutely love the movie. It draws you in immediately and picks up where we last found them. It was as if they never left our lives! I do hope you will go check it out this week. I promise you are going to fall in love with them all over again!

Here is an excerpt from our interview:

CLARISSA CAMACHO: Hi. My name is Clarissa Camacho with Queen Bee Latina. And I wanted to ask you guys, how does it feel to revisit characters that were untouched for almost four years?

ALLEN LEECH: I think when we read the script, we all had a certain level of trepidation going in. As you say, can you go back and you revisit it and can you be as precise as you were originally? And the funny thing is, the minute you start reading the script and then when you start getting into your costume, you realize actually that it’s almost muscle memory. That it’s just sitting below the surface, because you play these characters for so long. And even when you weren’t playing them, you were probably talking about them. And then suddenly you had a little break and you got to go back. So it was a really happy discovery for me that it didn’t take a huge amount to get back to being Tom Branson at all.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: It’s a luxury in some ways, because the fact that you don’t have to think about all those things that you think about when you’re just creating the character to begin with. How do they talk? How do they walk? How do they sit? And since it’s so deeply in our bones, you can just play it. You can just be it. And perhaps go to a deeper more confident place for that reason. So it’s a luxury because it doesn’t happen very often that you get a chance to revisit a character that has just settled in your bones for years without you even thinking about it.

KAREN: Hi. My name is Karen. Thanks for joining us. The movie was fantastic. I wanted to find out, what was the atmosphere like when y’all reignited on the set?

HUGH BONNEVILLE: I think really the moment that sticks in my mind is when we joined together for the read through. Now obviously we had six of these events in the past. But there had been a gap of three years. And it was a small miracle that Gareth Neymar, executive producer, had managed to get all of us around the table again. Plus our new characters as well. But obviously the main challenge was to get the core of the cast back together. But I do remember looking around the table at this big square, this big old square table that was erected around the studio. And basically having sort of a wry grin on my face. Sort of I can’t believe that we’re here again. And also I can’t believe in a good way that we’re here again, that we’ve actually made this happen, we all linked arms and decided to jump in together. Because I think if we hadn’t done that, then it wouldn’t have happened. If four or five or six characters had said actually I’m done with it, which everyone had the right to do, so I think it’s a great testament to the audience really as much as anything. Because it was the audience who drove the enthusiasm and the constant questioning. Is there going to be a movie. And I think if they hadn’t been asking that, then we wouldn’t have done it. It’s as simple as that really. And again, a testament that we were a good band of friends over the six years and that we didn’t end up punching each other and we’re happy to spend another ten weeks together.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: Something just occurred to me this minute actually that I haven’t thought of before, of course, because that question has come up quite a bit. But I feel like we all quietly grew in confidence a little bit in the best way. Like when somebody is quietly more confident, they’re just more fun and more relaxed. I feel like across the board, you could apply that to every member of the cast. Maybe because of the experience of the show or the opportunities that it had brought people. And I think that pervaded the atmosphere when we were making the movie. There was a kind of quiet, peaceful confidence that wasn’t brash or arrogant. It was just kind of there.

MODERATOR: If each of you had the opportunity to play a different Downton Abbey character for an episode, who would you want to play?

ALLEN LEECH: I would start by saying I don’t think I could play it half as well. I think everyone is incredibly well cast in the show. But I would love just to be Thomas Barrow for a day. An early Thomas Barrow. Like evil, smoking, have the conniving Thomas Barrow.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: I think I would like to play Lady Mary. Because then you can shag a Turkish diplomat, have incredible sex, and then you don’t have to see them for breakfast.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: I cannot follow that answer.

MELISSA: Hi. My name is Melissa. I’m with Dandelion Women. And I actually wanted to thank you guys. A couple of years ago, I went through a tough time. My father passed and my mom and I binge watch for a couple of months. So you guys really helped us through a tough time.

ALLEN LEECH: Oh, thank you.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: We hear stories like that sometimes. And I can’t tell you genuinely how much it means to us. Because sometimes in the world of show business, you get just so sick of the bullshit. Sorry. But then when you’re reminded that you’re actually doing something that has helped somebody.

MELISSA: Oh yes. It helps a lot.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: It does really genuinely mean a lot.

MELISSA: Well, thank you guys.

ALLEN LEECH: Thank you for telling us.

MELISSA: I wanted to ask you guys if you had a favorite line or scene from this movie? The writing is so good. There were a couple like really amazing lines. But did you guys personally have one for your character?

HUGH BONNEVILLE: For my own character, that’s really interesting, because I think we all immediately go for one of Maggie’s lines.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: Yeah. We all want Maggie’s lines. Let’s not mince words. I like the way… we were talking about this the other day. I really like the way the arc was written after the death of Sybil I think it was series three. I think it was… Not for my character. And Robert’s character. It was beautiful writing in the sense that it really delineated the process of grieving and the impact that a trauma like that can have. And I just think that Julian did an especially good job for our characters in that episode.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: Did you ask for the movie though?

MELISSA: Just in the movie.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: Well, I think as a series, a line I’ve always loved where Tom Branson I think embodies Tom as he says I don’t believe in types, I believe in people.

SELENA HUGHES: Hi. I’m Selena Hughes. And I just wanted to know since everything is wrapping up, what will you take with you? What’s going to be in your Downton Abbey heart?

ALLEN LEECH: I had a very poignant moment with Hugh actually. We snuck in at the New York premier. And we stood at the back of the theater for the last 20 minutes of the movie. And for me, I’ll take this incredible journey that we had over ten years. And the amazing family I have.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: I agree.

ELIZABETH MCGOVERN: Me, too.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: Stop. It will clear up. It will clear up in a minute.

Be sure to take your best gal pals, sister, mom and anyone else who loves Downton Abbey as much as you do. You are going to love it!

Director: Michael Engler

Writer: Julian Fellowes

Producers: Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge, Julian Fellowes

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Matthew Goode, Harry Hadden-Paton, David Haig, Geraldine James, Robert James-Collier, Simon Jones, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lesley Nicol, Kate Phillips, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Penelope Wilton.