• Elizabeth McGovern mentioned that Maggie Smith's loss of life has "freed up" the story of the brand new Downton Abbey film.
• The actress acknowledged that her late costar's presence is "nonetheless very a lot within the ambiance" of the film.
• McGovern additionally mentioned that she wished higher for her character: "I want at instances she may have had extra fascinating tales."

Elizabeth McGovern doesn't really feel like Maggie Smith is lacking from the brand new Downton Abbey installment.

The Odd Individuals actress, who performed Cora Crawley on the hit English drama, believes that her late costar's presence "permeates" the forthcoming film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale regardless of her loss of life in September 2024.

"She's nonetheless very a lot within the ambiance," McGovern mentioned of Smith, who performed her mother-in-law, the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, throughout an interview with The Guardian. "I don't really feel there's an enormous gap. The truth is, in some methods, it form of freed up the remainder of the narrative to have a movement, as a result of it's not stopping for her moments."

Smith's character died close to the conclusion of the franchise's earlier installment, 2022's Downton Abbey: A New Period, which suggests The Grand Finale wasn't adversely affected by Smith's passing.

"Every thing she represents is there," McGovern mentioned of Smith. "She's in each room, in each interplay, so it's not like she's not there. It's a bizarre factor."

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McGovern additionally mentioned that it has generally been difficult to place herself within the sneakers of a personality dwelling within the early twentieth century. "I feel as a recent lady, it’s exhausting to really feel the straitjacket of that interval." she mentioned. "I want at instances she may have had extra fascinating tales."

Nevertheless, she additionally famous that her character in all probability couldn't have realistically loved "any extra political or social energy, as a result of it simply wouldn't be correct to the time."

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale will see nearly the entire authentic sequence' solid return to their roles, together with Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, and Robert James-Collier. Additionally returning: Paul Giamatti, who performed Cora's brother, Harold Levinson, on the unique sequence.

"I'm actually shocked that I returned in any respect," Giamatti told Entertainment Weekly of his function in March. "I had a really form of marginal character, and any individual thought it was a good suggestion to make me crucial on this [movie]."

Giamatti highlighted his character's important function within the third (and supposedly remaining) Downton film. "I used to be like, wow, that is random, I’ve quite a bit to do with the tip of this complete sequence," the actor mentioned. "I do one thing of actual significance — good or unhealthy, I'm not going to say! However, I do one thing that makes an enormous distinction to how every little thing ends."

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Downton government producer Gareth Neame beforehand mentioned that Smith's loss of life has enhanced the robust feelings of the upcoming movie. "The truth that Dame Maggie herself has now handed away since that point, I do assume, has given an actual added poignancy to a narrative that we’d have deliberate anyway," he informed TVLine. "The lack of the Dowager, it now feels much more important that you simply see actors taking part in characters mourning the household matriarch. However I additionally see actors mourning…and it feels extra real and extra significant."

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale hits theaters on Sept. 12.

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