I Adore This Sweet Story About Giving Maggie Smith Her ‘Favorite Day On a Set’ Ever While Filming Downton Abbey
Matthew Goode got here aboard Downton Abbey in its fifth season to play Henry Talbot, who would grow to be the second husband of Michelle Dockery’s Woman Mary Crawley. Nonetheless, following a transient look within the first Downton Abbey film, Goode was absent from Downton Abbey: A New Period and won’t be current in Downton: Abbey: The Grand Finale when it’s launched on the 2025 films schedule. While it’s a disgrace Henry received’t be a part of this closing chapter for the historic drama saga that’s been going since 2010, I do adore the reminiscence he just lately shared about his involvement in giving the late Maggie Smith her “favourite day on a set” on the unique collection.
Goode has been making the press rounds to advertise his new TV present Dept. Q, which might be streamed now with a Netflix subscription. In an interview with Deadline, the actor talked about how he has “nice tales” from the units of Downton Abbey, together with the aforementioned second with Smith, who performed Woman Violet Crawley. Goode began by saying:
It was the marriage of our characters, and we shot it out very secretively someplace out within the countryside. I suppose in Oxford someplace. And our inexperienced room for 20 actors was the backyard of an ex-Concorde pilot. This goes to sound jolly unprofessional, and it’s a bit unprofessional, however it’s fucking humorous. He got here out with a bottle of rosé and simply put it on the desk, a bottle of Minuty, which was a good Aix-en-Province rosé. And clearly all the opposite actors, they checked out it and so they’re like, ‘No. Nicely, clearly we are able to’t try this.’ I’m simply a bit naughty. I don’t know if it’s coming throughout or not. And it was actually scorching, and it was taking a look at me and the perspiration was rolling down the bottle and I stated, ‘I’ll have a glass, thanks a lot.’
Okay, consuming on the job usually isn’t a good concept, significantly when you’re an actor having to spout off a lot of strains. Nonetheless, given the recent climate and that Matthew Goode presumably didn’t need to get in entrance of the cameras anytime quickly, I additionally get why he requested for the glass of the rosé. He continued:
And I sat and I quaffed it bloody rapidly. And I stated, ‘Is it OK if I have one other one?’ And then you definately began to see all the opposite actors, significantly those that didn’t have any strains that day, simply a massive ensemble piece, none of us had that a lot to do, actually. So all of us began consuming. We went via 22 bottles of rosé. Nobody was drunk. However my god, had been we merry. And when you’ve made Maggie Smith completely satisfied, then it could possibly’t be fallacious.
I’m glad Maggie Smith bought a kick out of the alcohol-fueled shenanigans that day, so I guess kudos to Matthew Goode for deciding to imbibe a little bit. Had all these actors and extras wanted to be accessible for scenes quickly after, then it had the potential to be a catastrophe. As an alternative, Maggie Smith ended the day with a cherished reminiscence, and clearly it nonetheless means a lot to Goode. He concluded by saying this in regards to the aforementioned pilot who had the backyard:
He was a gentleman and it was a beautiful home and lovely backyard as properly. And likewise we gave them good tales as a result of then immediately they’ve bought a ton of half-cut, fairly well-known individuals of their backyard having nice enjoyable. So, they’ve bought anecdotes for the remainder of their life. I wouldn’t do it once more although for any future producers listening.
That’s clever of him to supply assurances that this isn’t common habits for him. Not less than Downton Abbey followers now have one other great second from Maggie Smith’s life to consider. Smith’s time within the franchise got here to an finish in Downton Abbey: A New Period, when she handed away in 1928 surrounded by her family members. A New Period was launched in Could 2022, and in September 2024, Smith died on the age of 89.
While each the actress and her character are gone, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale pays tribute to Maggie Smith, and Michelle Dockery described the film as a “actual tribute” to her. We’ll see how that is completed when The Grand Finale is launched on September 12. Use your Peacock subscription to stream the unique collection.
