lily james downton

Will Lily James be in the Downton Abbey sequel? 

The actress played Lady Rose MacClare in the show 

TV & Film Editor
May 13, 2021

Downton Abbey's highly anticipated sequel is finally coming to our screens in December 2021, but fans have been eager to know whether the follow-up will see the return of Lily James' character, Lady Rose MacClare. So will she be back for film number two? Find out here...

MORE: Downton Abbey actor set to star in exciting new movie - see the trailer

Unfortunately, it looks like Lily has no plans to be reprising her role for the upcoming film, and has a very busy filming schedule with the upcoming film What's Love Got to Do with It and the new TV series Pam and Tommy, where she will play Pamela Anderson. 

WATCH: Jim Carter announces huge Downton film sequel news

She previously opened up to People about being absent from the first movie, explaining: "My character Rose moved off to New York, so it would be farfetched to bring her back. I would have loved to have come back for a scene, but for a movie, it can’t be like a Christmas special and it needs to be a focused storyline. There was no space for Rose."

Lily played Lady Rose MacClare in the popular series

The Yesterday actress continued: "I'm so excited for it — I’m going to be front row. I spoke to Laura [Carmichael] not long ago and was texting Michelle [Dockery] about Love Island and it's going to be really exciting. And the whole gang is coming back." 

MORE: Everything we know so far about the Downton Abbey film sequel

MORE: Hugh Bonneville reveals one thing getting in the way of Downton Abbey film sequel

Although Lily won't be in the film, it was recently confirmed that her The Pursuit of Love co-star, Dominic West, has been cast in the upcoming project. 

The official Twitter account announced the very exciting news in a tweet back in April that read: "We're thrilled to announce that Julian Fellowes and the entire Downton cast are back for #DowntonAbbey2, with Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West joining! See the film in theatres this Christmas." 

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more