Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey (31 page)

Many of the friendships that appear on screen exist off camera, too, fostered by long hours working together. Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael play sisters who have a prickly relationship, but they have a much easier friendship in real life.

‘We all get on really well, but Michelle and I are very close,’ says Carmichael. ‘We’ve bought flats near to each other! Whenever there’s a scene together, we get the giggles as we walk into the house as it’s such a treat. It was the same with Jess [Brown Findlay, who played Sybil]. We started together and went through a very similar experience. Michelle, for Jess and me, was like a big sister. It was my first job and Michelle was the one who had the experience. We really did look to her for advice and comfort.’

It is a similar story with rival footmen Ed Speleers (Jimmy) and Matt Milne (Alfred). They compete for status when the cameras are rolling, but off set they plan holidays together. ‘Everyone’s lovely, but Matt and I are particularly close. We both love our football – and we’re together a lot, serving together,’ says Speleers. Lesley Nicol and Phyllis Logan – otherwise known as Mrs Patmore and Mrs Hughes – have become rather a double act. ‘We do have a laugh,’ says Nicol. ‘She remembers the words of every song ever written. I bop around in the background.’

The house’s dividing lines do not hold off screen. ‘I have friends above and below stairs,’ says Penelope Wilton. ‘It’s a unique group, because we get on extremely well without getting in each other’s pockets.’

For actors, filming can involve a lot of waiting for their moment in front of the cameras. For Matt Milne, ‘up at Highclere, it’s very chilled, and it’s mostly downtime. There might be one scene to do at the end of the day, and there might not be a huge amount of preparation for it. So while you are waiting you can just hang out, watch films, read or do whatever you want to do.’

‘There is a lot of sitting around, and we do a lot of chatting,’ says Laura Carmichael. ‘Often, I will bring in a book or newspaper but will barely look at it as someone’s always telling a funny story. The other day I was showing lots of silly pictures to Maggie Smith on my iPhone, of cats doing ridiculous things. So that’s quite fun.’

The above-stairs cast are particularly fond of games to pass the time. ‘We started playing Bananagrams, which is a bit like Scrabble, but without the board,’ says Michelle Dockery. ‘It’s really good fun, and it kind of keeps your brain active between set-ups.’

‘We really do have a wonderful group of actors,’ says Julian Fellowes, ‘from a wide variety of backgrounds, often in complete contrast to the part they are playing, and that can be illuminating for me. We also represent every kind of career, from the highly respected and long established to the beginner. Laura Carmichael, for example, had only just left drama school and was working as a doctor’s receptionist when she was cast as Edith. Weeks later, she was playing scenes with Maggie Smith. Really it’s a sort of fairy tale.’

Carmichael is not the only fresh-faced actress in the show; Cara Theobold (Ivy) was also lucky enough to start her acting career on
Downton Abbey
. ‘I left drama school early to do this – my first TV job,’ she says. ‘It’s a brilliant environment for me to learn my craft.’

Also among the cast are experienced actors who had not yet achieved the global fame that
Downton
has given them. ‘There are actors who have slaved before the master for many a year,’ notes Fellowes. ‘Like Lesley Nicol, who I think is one of the best characters in the show. She had been in hits like
East Is East,
but finally she’s rung the bell and now has jobs in Hollywood and guests on American television.’

The show has been fortunate in casting some well-known names but, as Fellowes explains, a balance must be maintained. ‘If you have too many stars, you can compromise the credibility of the characters. Shirley MacLaine is returning in series four. For that character [Martha Levinson] to work, we needed someone of the calibre of Maggie [Smith], a heavyweight in screen terms.’