Skip to main contentSkip to footer
elizabeth mcgovern michelle dockery laura carmichael

Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern on watching on-screen daughters 'grow with confidence'

When Hollywood meets Downton!

Sharnaz Shahid
Deputy Online Editor
January 18, 2022
Share this:

Downton Abbey will soon be gracing the big screen, and while details on the upcoming sequel have been few and far between, fan favourite Elizabeth McGovern has teased fresh behind-the-scenes details.

MORE: Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes on the difficulties of killing off beloved characters

The second movie for the beloved period drama, titled Downton Abbey: A New Era, will see the likes of Dominic West, Laura Haddock and Hugh Dancy join the main cast as guest stars.

WATCH: Are you looking forward to Downton Abbey: A New Era?

And while it has been lovely to welcome new members, 60-year-old Elizabeth, who plays Lady Cora, revealed how much she has relished watching her on-screen daughters grow. Actresses Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael star as her eldest two daughters, Lady Mary and Lady Edith respectively.

MORE: The Downton Abbey children are all grown up! See the photos

READ: Jessica Brown Findlay gets nostalgic over friendship with Downton Abbey sisters

"I remember the innocence of when we started filming," she told Daily Mail. "I remember Laura being really blown away by this restaurant near where we used to shoot because, to her, it was a really fancy restaurant.

"And then to go from there to two years later when she was at the Met Ball in New York with Michelle chatting up Mick Jagger, Laura's grown up so beautifully and has so much confidence."

downton abbey stars© Photo: Getty Images

Elizabeth McGovern pictured with Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael

On being reunited over the years, Elizabeth added: "There are always jokes and you start to have sort of your own language which is often hard to translate.

"Penelope Wilton's character Isobel Crawley for example used to say all the time, 'Much cattle, much care', which means the more things you have, the more you have to worry about, and that was something we all started saying as a joke."

The follow-up to the hugely successful 2019 movie adaption of Downton Abbey was originally planned for Christmas 2021 - however, delays in production have forced the date to be set back by three months.

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

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