New Set Photos Prove the Dowager Countess Is Alive and Well in the Downton Abbey Film
This week, photos from the set of the Downton Abbey reveal that not only does Dame Maggie Smith appear the film, but her character, the Dowager Countess, is alive and well.
When the project was first announced, there was some question as to whether Smith would return in the part of Lord Grantham's witty mother. People quickly confirmed that she was reprising her role, but the news came as something of a surprise given Smith's previous comments about a potential movie.
For example, during a 2015 appearance on the Graham Norton Show, Smith was asked if she was glad her time as the Crawley matriarch was over. She responded, "Oh yeah, no I really am."
"By the time we finished, [The Dowager Countess] must have been about 110. It couldn’t go on and on. It couldn't. It just didn’t make sense," she continued.
She also questioned how the story could continue during an interview with the British Film Institute in 2017.
"I just think [a film adaptation is] squeezing it dry, do you know what I mean?" she said. "I don't know what it could possibly be. It was so meandering, what would you [do]? Anyway that's not my problem."
Smith also suggested the movie might start with her character's wake.
"I was firmly convinced it would start with the funeral,” she said. “I could croak it. It would just start with the body. But I don’t know. They talk about there being a film, but who knows? Who knows."
It's unclear what happened between 2017 and this week on set to change her mind, but the Dowager Countess is definitely back, and there are photos to prove it. But fans of the series will have to wait a while to see her portrayal. The film won't premiere until September of 2019.
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