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Downton Abbey fans furious after spotting major photoshop change to Maggie Smith

What do you think?

TV & Film Editor
June 6, 2022

An eagle-eyed Downton Abbey fan has revealed how post-production edited Dame Maggie Smith’s eyes in the original film - and it’s fair to say that viewers aren’t best pleased!

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In the TikTok video, the fan, who uses the moniker @swiftieholic, shared footage of Maggie from the original movie while comparing it to the film trailer, pointing out the clear differences - as in the trailer her eyes are unedited, while in the movie version, they have clearly been photoshopped.

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The voiceover in the clip can be heard saying: "I was watching Downton Abbey the movie and I noticed something… there was something off about this shot of the Dowager. So I compared it with the trailer. Then I screenshot the same frame from the movie and the trailer. You can see they edited her left eye for the final movie."

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Replying to the video, one person wrote: "Why mess with Maggie’s face? She’s beautiful." Another person added: "How dare they honestly." A third posted: "That’s so sad. Maggie Smith is perfect! And that’s part of her look and charm and who she is."

Maggie's eyes appeared to have been edited 

Another simply wrote: "That’s so bizarre!" To which the original creator replied: "Right? They just copy and pasted her right eye onto her left."

Maggie has previously opened up about her role in Downton to ES magazine, explaining: "I am deeply grateful for the work in Potter and indeed Downton but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying. I didn't really feel I was acting in those things.

She also previously admitted that she didn't think she'd be making an appearance in the movies at all, telling Graham Norton: "No, because honestly, she was about - by the time we're through - she must've been 110. So, I couldn't go on and on and on. I couldn't. It just didn't make sense."

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