Paul Giamatti not too long ago opened up concerning the manufacturing of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale within the wake of Maggie Smith‘s loss of life, reflecting on how the movie carries her spirit and serves to honor her.
Talking to People forward of his forthcoming Black Mirror episode this week, the two-time Oscar nominee opened up about reprising his role from the wildly well-liked mothership present, through which he appeared throughout the Season 4 Christmas particular as Cora’s (Elizabeth McGovern) brother Harold Levinson.
“It was not the identical with out her, but it surely felt very very similar to in her honor ultimately. She definitely nonetheless feels current by way of the entire thing. Not having her there’s clearly an enormous loss, however everyone was nonetheless performing in her spirit,” The Holdovers star mentioned.
He added, “Working together with her the primary time round was among the finest issues ever and I didn’t even actually get to do this a lot together with her.”
Giamatti’s casting in Downton Abbey 3 is a bit shocking, even to the actor himself. Given his authentic one-episode arc, the actor was initially shocked at being approached to reenter the world of the British interval drama.
“The attention-grabbing factor for me was that they even requested me in any respect as a result of I used to be like, ‘I don’t have an vital character on this story.’ However what’s humorous is my character has a really important position. He does one thing very important within the film,” he teased.
Becoming a member of Giamatti are new additions Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan, in addition to solid mainstays McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Robert James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Penelope Wilton, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera and Douglas Reith.
Giamatti’s phrases echo sentiments shared by govt producer Gareth Neame final 12 months, who mentioned that the film will characteristic a “significant” tribute to the late Smith, who died in late September 2024.
“The truth that Dame Maggie herself has now handed away since that point, I do suppose, has given an actual added poignancy to a narrative that we might have deliberate anyway,” he said on the time. “The lack of the Dowager, it now feels way more important that you just see actors enjoying characters mourning the household matriarch. However I additionally see actors mourning the matriarch of the present, and it feels extra real and extra significant.” (Smith’s character — Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, for which she acquired three Emmy Awards — died in 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Period.)
Downton Abbey 3 is ready for theatrical launch Sept. 12.
