Downton Abbey actress Elizabeth McGovern has said she is ‘ready to move on’ and leave the manor house behind, ahead of its final movie.
Elizabeth, 64, stars as Lady Cora, the Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, has said she is ‘over’ the hit ITV series which has run for six seasons and three films.
Despite a new movie titled Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale out next month, its writer Julian Fellowes has not ruled out a future installment saying ‘never say never’.
But Elizabeth told Tatler magazine: ‘Well… as far as I’m concerned it’s done. I loved making this film, but I’m now over it. I’m ready to move on.’
Posing for the magazine in a zebra-print gown designed by Pamella Roland, the actress had reservations of returning to Downton, after the death of Dame Maggie Smith, who played the Dowager Countess of Grantham in the period drama.
She said: ‘Everybody definitely had mixed feelings about doing Downton again, especially without Maggie.’
Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern has admitted she is ‘over’ the hit ITV series and confessed how she felt filming without the late Maggie Smith
Speaking about the upcoming final film, Elizabeth told Tatler magazine: ‘Well… as far as I’m concerned it’s done. I loved making this film, but I’m now over it. I’m ready to move on’
Elizabeth said that working with the Miss Jean Brodie actress, who died last year aged 89, was ‘absolutely wonderful, hell on earth’.
She added: ‘But it all added up to being so worth it. Maybe the audience will see it differently, but to us, during filming she was still there and all she represented. I didn’t expect that, and I was so proud.’
Her director husband, Simon Curtis, worked on the series and she made a dig at her castmates which includes Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery.
She said: ‘When he [Simon] came on board it really helped, because getting the cast together was like herding cats.’
The American actress said that the historical drama had a ‘profound impact’ on all of the cast’s lives which made her weepy when she saw its final installment.
Elizabeth said: ‘Watching this film’s first screening with everyone was quite emotional. There’s definitely a bond between us you cannot fake, because we’ve all gone through this thing together that has had a profound impact on our lives.’
The star also touched on how the cast and the audience feel equally nostalgic about the show.
She explained: ‘It’s not just for the era it depicts, but for the time they first saw it.
The actress also confessed she had reservations of returning to Downton, after the death of Dame Maggie Smith, who played the Dowager Countess of Grantham (pictured)
The American actress said that the historical drama had a ‘profound impact’ on all of the cast’s lives which made her weepy when she saw its final installment
Elizabeth said: ‘There’s definitely a bond between us you cannot fake, because we’ve all gone through this thing together that has had a profound impact on our lives’
Elizabeth pictured with her co-star Hugh Bonneville in a scene from the upcoming film titled Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
‘It was a much simpler world then, when we all sat down on a Sunday night to watch together and everybody would talk about it the next day.
‘That just doesn’t happen any more. And we definitely all need something like this now, when reading the papers is so darn depressing and scary, so I’m proud we can offer up this thing.’
Elizabeth also admitted that despite the rollercoaster ride her career has taken her on, she is grateful for it.
‘I feel really lucky because I’ve had a career which has been up and down, but consistently offered up challenges.
‘I haven’t had absolute fame, which is [something that can be] really crippling. Sometimes I wish I had, but I’m better off this way.
‘That kind of fame hurts when it goes. And I have never been more excited about wanting to do things than at this point in my life.’
Read the full feature in the October Issue available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 4th September.
