Five years after the Downton Abbey series finale aired, creator Julian Fellowes got the gang back together this year for the incredibly successful Downton Abbey movie. Since lighting up the box office, there has been talk of keeping the Crawley family saga going. In an interview with Elizabeth McGovern, the star confirmed there were “availability checks” to see if she would be available to play Cora again.
“There have been some availability checks from production,” McGovern told PopCulture.com when asked about the rumors of a sequel. “I won’t get excited until I see a script, though.”
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Nothing has been set in stone about a Downton Abbey 2, but a source previously told The Sun that Fellowes was “approached” about making another movie.
The biggest question hovering over a potential sequel would be the return of Dame Maggie Smith‘s Dowager Countess Violet Crawley. Smith returned for the movie, but a sequel could focus on her character’s death. McGovern seems confident that Smith, now 84, would never turn down an opportunity to play the unforgettable character again.
“Every single year during the run of the series Maggie would say ‘This is my last’… Then, back she’d come. I think she gets bored when she’s not working,” McGovern said.
After six seasons of Downton Abbey and a movie, the cast has become a “family,” as McGovern described them. McGovern said it was even “hilariously easy” to return to her role for the movie.
“Nothing seemed to have changed at Highclere Castle, where we shoot, at all,” she said, before joking, “And yet he world has changed profoundly. At one point in the series, our Labrador was named ‘Isis,’ after the Egyptian Goddess. We couldn’t really call the dog that now.”
McGovern enjoyed working with Fellowes on Downton Abbey so much that she worked with him again on The Chaperone. The film, released in March, is based on the Laura Moriarty book and was directed by Downton Abbey veteran Michael Engler. Fellowes wrote the script, which centers on a Kansas woman whose life is changed when she goes on a journey to New York City with a dancer. The 1920’s set drama paired McGovern with Haley Lu Richardson.
“I loved being part of the development process on that movie,” McGovern told PopCulture.com. “Julian was a dream to work with. Very strong and clear, but responsive as well. I’m really proud of the movie. We had less than no money. Everyone did it for love.”
While fans wait on news of a Downton Abbey 2, fans can check her out in a new upcoming miniseries based on War of the Worlds. She is also working on a new album with Modern English producer Ted Mason.
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