MICHELLE DOCKERY - DOWNTON ABBEY
BY SKYE HUNTINGTON
 
Michelle Dockery’s whirlwind elevation from British TV also-ran to arguably the global doyenne for period drama elegance looks set to reprise itself this year with the return of Downton Abbey.
After appearing in various budget productions in the UK, with mixed reviews, Dockery, in 2010, accepted the offer of joining the cast of a new period drama from creator Julian Fellowes. 
Based on the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early 20th century, the original “Downton” presented Dockery with one of the main characters, Lady Jane Crawley (later Talbot), alongside such accomplished actors as Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan and Jim Carter. 
After a solid first season, a second season was picked up along with a Christmas special. While period dramas and British television go hand in hand, Highclere Castle’s ability to shift further into the realms of intrigue, betrayal and lust saw its popularity soar way past any of its predecessors, with six series and 52 episodes screened in total.
While as a TV entity, it was felt in 2015 that “Downton” had run its course,  American audiences embracing the concept led to speculation that conceptualizing the production in a film would provide an exciting shift, and this September that idea becomes a reality.
While the plot has been kept strictly under wraps, the movie’s official trailer reveals that time has moved on to 1927, with Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham (Bonneville) preparing for a visit from the King and Queen.
Dockery’s involvement in the project was pivotal, and the actress has spoken about the lure of “Downton,” despite the negative publicity that sometimes comes with returning to a past project.
It would be fair to suppose that the 37-year-old actress hasn’t especially sought out roles since the cessation of the TV series, instead of taking time away from major projects. She has also successfully played Diana Christiansen in Network, in London’s West End.
Regardless, her return to Highclere Castle is undoubtedly the glue that should seal “Downton’s” ongoing status as the finest period drama ever made.

 

STRIPLV: So, we now know that there will be a Downton Abbey movie.
DOCKERY: (Laughs) Yes, these things do take time, and it seemed to be a challenge getting 18 actors together at the same time, in the same country. But I was always hopeful that something would come together, and it’s nice to be proved right and have that hope fulfilled. Almost right from the start, “Downton” struck a chord with people and we would never have expected it. It was a wonderful opportunity to do the show, and the movie gives me exactly the same great feeling. It was my first big television role, and what it has led to, well, I never imagined it would go that way.
STRIPLV: The film seems a logical progression.
DOCKERY: Well, I don’t think that there was a day that had gone by where someone was asking if there was going to be a film of the TV series made, whether it be in an interview or someone coming up to ask me on the street. I guess now that will stop, or at least the question will change.
STRIPLV: Do you ever think that you don’t want to be typecast and living in the period drama pigeon-hole of the industry?
DOCKERY: Yes, but it doesn’t seem to be that way, having done a couple of non-period drama projects. I think people just assumed that we would just be in a period drama, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that way. Producers have a good imagination, so it’s wonderful to know that they can see that we are able to do other genres. It is an amazing thing to be a part of but it doesn’t define us entirely, just as other seminal dramas and films don’t exclusively define other actors and actresses.
STRIPLV: What was this about Julianne Moore being a huge “Downton” fan?
DOCKERY: Working with Julianne on Non-Stop was superb, but also very funny because she is such a big “Downton” fan. Every time I came on set she was tapping me up for information. When she found out that Dan (Stevens) was leaving that was then the big gossip of the day. She was always on at me trying to get more. It was so lovely to meet her. I have always been in such awe of Julianne, and for her to be a fan of the show, it was just brilliant. It’s amazing and I will never get over it when someone like Julianne comes over to me and says how much she loves the show. We would never have imagined how huge a success it would become.
STRIPLV: You say that the show has become so huge and nothing says that more than Downton Abbey: “The Exhibition.”
DOCKERY: Yes, The Exhibition was amazing, and for us actors who were on the show, it was incredibly nostalgic walking through those doors and into what was our world for six years. I think that the fans have felt the same and it was just the attention to detail, everything is there.
From the telegrams which were written which we used as props, to the 56 costumes put together over the six years, it’s incredible. When I walked through the doors, it really did take me back to the time that I had there Mary’s bedroom, for me. It was very emotional walking into that because there was so much that happened for me in her bedroom, including an incident with a Turkish diplomat. I mean, everything is there, all of the props. The mirror, the brush that Anna used to brush Mary’s hair with, everything single thing is there, nothing has been replaced by something similar, it’s all just been shipped across from the UK to New York. It’s an incredible exhibition. For a second, I felt like I was back on the set. I then had to remind myself that I was in New York City!
STRIPLV: I believe you went there and shocked a few followers of the show.
DOCKERY: I did, indeed. I was asked to go there and surprise some fans of the show. It was great, and there were some people there having an old-fashioned photograph taken in a sort of sepia filter. For one particular set of fans, I actually snuck into the picture, and it actually took them a while to realize. I felt terrible because I gave them such a shock. When American fell in love with “Downton,” that’s when we realized just how big the whole thing had become. You can’t get any bigger than that. So much so that The Exhibition almost felt like it was at home, there.
STRIPLV: Did you expect to see an incredible fan base from America straight from the get-go?
DOCKERY: No, not at all. Your only hope if you are making a TV show in the UK that your country enjoys it and it is a success there. But it was pretty much overnight when the show started airing in America, and suddenly it was just huge, and we couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. Every now and then on my Instagram tags, like for instance at Halloween, something pops up, and someone is dressed as Mary. There is still such a love for the show, and which is why for The Exhibition, it’s only right that it is there.
STRIPLV: Did you ever think “Downton” had reached its end, and wouldn’t return?
DOCKERY: When we wrapped at Highclere Castle after the final series, that’s when the sad feelings started. It felt like we were giving the house back to the owners and from then on, it’s been, “The last time we do this, the last time we do that.” It’s been an emotional time, but we always hoped there might be something more.
STRIPLV: What was the highlight across those six years of the TV series?
DOCKERY: The highlight can only be the fact it totally changed my life; it’s changed all our lives. It’s opened up opportunities I never thought were possible. No one ever imagined it would be a success, so you just feel so fortunate to be part of that family. It’s once in a lifetime stuff, something that will never happen again.
STRIPLV: Why do you think it was such a phenomenon?
DOCKERY: I think, really it comes down to the writing, the soul of the writing and Julian Fellowes is such a remarkable scribe who can give 23 different characters full-bodied,
soulful profound funny storylines. It is all testament to his talent. He’s extraordinary. And I think people are comforted by it; they love the nostalgia for the show, the time, the period, a time when life seems much simpler. I think people enjoyed that. But everyone has their own answers; they watch it for this character, they watch it for Maggie’s one-liners, they watch it for the costumes. It’s whatever everyone feels.
STRIPLV: Who else has wowed you as celebrity fans?
DOCKERY: Gary Oldman, for me, was the other one. It was at an event in New York, and I was standing there with Laura Carmichael, and he strode over and just launched into how much he loved the show. That was amazing as I’m his biggest fan ever. And I remember being quite blind-sighted by Tom Ford before I even got to tell him how much I loved his clothes. He was like, “Great work on Downton!”
STRIPLV: Speaking of fashions, Mary really started to embrace a few new ideas towards the end of the TV series, didn’t she? 
DOCKERY: Absolutely. It felt like she was displaying as many of the new collections as she could! There were so many Chanel-type styles, and they really pulled out all the stops for the last series. Me and Laura, you know, the girl, we really had some numbers. It’s an interesting process, though. The costume is designed for the character, and you collaborate with the designers, Anna Scott Robbins and Caroline McCall. And yes, sometimes you put something on and it doesn’t quite feel your character. Sometimes, someone else tries it, but it’s all part of it. I love the costumes. I have missed them! A lot of what you saw in the show are original pieces which have either been repaired or elaborated on, but it was truly outstanding what they did and the level of detail. 
STRIPLV: And the jewelry?
DOCKERY: Ah, yes, you had to be very careful about not damaging the jewelry, and I had a habit of playing with the necklaces. There was this one incident when I was sat at the dining table doing one particular scene, and I was fiddling with the necklace, and it broke, and the beads just completely fell off. We then couldn’t carry on the scene because of the continuity, and then we had to wait about 15 minutes while they pieced it back together. Being at The Exhibition and seeing the costumes over the six years and realizing how the fashion had changed. We were in corsets in the first episode, and by the end, we were in the 1920s. 
STRIPLV: What about make-up and hair?
DOCKERY: Well, I actually wore a wig. That wasn’t my real hair in the show. I got my hair cut into a bob which coincided with the fourth series, I think it was, but Julian wasn’t ready for Mary to have a bob, so we had to put a hairpiece in to make my hair look longer again. Then my hair grew back to the natural length, and then Julian decided he did want to have the bob, so eventually, we just went with a wig.
STRIPLV: With all the sadness and feelings of anxiety you had to portray, you must have enjoyed the freedom of not being Lady Mary?
DOCKERY: It was a good feeling, certainly a first. And yes, there was a sense of freedom, but
I missed the security. You knew you had something to do every year, and losing that was a little terrifying. I’m a working actor, after all. (Laughs)
STRIPLV: Throughout the entire run of the last six seasons, did you ever want to leave?
DOCKERY: There was a time after series three, you know, we were all, obviously in negotiations to do four and five. There was certainly a moment where I thought, “This is my time to go.” But I couldn’t bear the idea of watching the show and not being a part of it. In the end, that was my decision made for me, because I know I would have hated that.
STRIPLV: Away from “Downton,” do you still audition, despite your fame?
DOCKERY: It varies but course I have to still audition. It’s different roles you’re reading for; you’re not necessarily going to be able to play the characters. But yes, you still have to work for it. There’s no free lunch!