Get your hankies ready, Downton Abbey fans. The Crawleys and their staff are returning to the big screen this spring, and according to one of the stars of Downton Abbey: A New Era, the sequel not only makes you laugh, but also makes "you cry".
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Lesley Nicol, who plays Downton Abbey's beloved cook, Mrs Patmore, served up new details about the forthcoming film in a new interview with Hello!. "It made me laugh. It made me cry. There's quite a lot of romance," Lesley teased. "It looks gorgeous. All the characters, all your favorite people are there.'
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The Crawleys head to the South of France in the “very glamorous” sequel after the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) inherits a villa...however, not everyone from Downton made the trip. "I didn't go. Boo! But then I wouldn't, would I? I'm the cook," Lesley laughed. "But we have our own bit of excitement going on back at Downton Abbey, so that's good."
Lesley is set to star in an autobiographical musical
As for what’s in store for Mrs. Patmore this time around? Lesley revealed that there is a "nice little direction" for her character. "A couple of really crazy things happen to her as well. And I mean crazy. Crazy,” the actress shared. “You will not see this coming. Can't tell you what it is. It would be a shame if I did because it would ruin it.”
“You will not expect what you're going to see from some of us downstairs,” she added.
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While Lesley has company downstairs at Downtown Abbey, she is gearing up for a “totally different experience” starring in her one-woman show, How the Hell Did I Get Here?.
Lesley will be sharing her journey in the autobiographical musical, which opens 12 March in Chicago. “It's called How the Hell Did I Get Here? because it's kind of based on my particular journey, but it's never meant to be exclusively about me, and it isn't. It's about all of us,” she noted. “It's meant to amuse you, entertain you, but also make you think about your journey.”
Lesley plays the beloved Mrs Patmore in the hit show
Aside from featuring original songs by Mark Mueller, audience goers can expect plenty of tales from the Downton Abbey star. "I’m telling lots of stories, and I'm being other characters, and stuff, but I am being me, which is very different from playing. Mrs Patmore the cook," she shared.
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Lesley described the musical as a "kind of a hug". "I want [the audience] to feel like they've had a really special time. That's what I want them to feel because that's what it's designed to do," she said. "I want it to make them [feel] special and entertained and moved and interested and just have a really good diversion from what's been a grim old time in the real world. Just a good old escape into something that actually they will relate to on many levels."
Downton Abbey: A New Era opens in theaters 29 April in the UK, and 20 May in the US