144 SEPTEMBER 2019
JASON BELLCOURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES
ON LAURA CARMICHAEL’Sfirst day back on set as her character
Lady Edith Crawley, she wasn’t at the magnificent Highclere Castle, the
estate in Hampshire, England, whichDownton Abbeyis based on, but
rather at a studio in London.
“They had recreated the kitchens and the bedrooms there,” she
remembers of her first scene, which she shared with her on-screen
sister, Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary). “It was a lot of the old gang and
the new gang in the crew. We were very excited to see everyone become
their character again and to see the house and the costumes.”
For British-born Carmichael, becoming her character meant having
her blonde hair styled into Lady Edith’s perfectly coiffed bob and
dressing in a immaculately beaded gold silk chiffon gown. Carmichael
had played the second daughter to the aristocratic Crawleys, known as
Lord and Lady Grantham, from 2010 to 2015, but it was now September
2018 and she’d been out of the practice of wearing period costumes.
“You feel so responsible, as you should, walking around in these
dresses that have taken months to design and make. On the first day,
first morning, first hour of filming, I put my heel through a bit of
chiffon in my dress,” she says, laughing. “But that’s the thing with
filming this movie: we just had to start and get back into it.”
The long-awaitedDownton Abbeyfilm picks up where the award-
winning television show left off. Season six followed the Crawley
family and their staff during 1925 as they lived out their lives in
Downton, until the final episode aired at the end of 2015. A testament
to the show’s incredible popularity, the very last episode screened on
Christmas Day and 9.6 million people across Britain still tuned in to
watch it. The glamorous, high-society drama was so well loved across
the globe that rumours of a potential movie were underway before the
final season had even aired.
“It had been talked about since filming finished for the series,”
Carmichael tellsVog ue. “It really felt like any time any of us were
promoting [the show] we were also promoting a film that we didn’t
know was going to happen. It was a relief when we got the agents
saying: ‘Right, it’s happening, here’s the script.’” The show’s creator,
The period dramaDownton
Abbeywas a phenomenon
that spanned six seasons,
earned 15 Emmys and was
adored by millions. Next
month, the hit television
series makes its long-awaited
return on the big screen.
By Danielle Gay.
FILM
VOGUE CULTURE
“Itfelt like a
celebration,
having t wo
and a half
months
together
again. It was
very nostalgic
but also it felt
like no time
had passed
at all”Julian Fellowes, finally gave the project the green light in 2017 and
filming began at the end of last year. “It felt like a real celebration,
having two and a half months together again. It was very nostalgic but
also it felt like no time had passed at all.”
For the cast, it may have felt like they’d never left, but for the
characters it’s two years later and time has marched on. Fans of the
show will remember Lady Edith finally had her happy ending,
marrying Bertie Pelham, the 7th Marquess of Hexham, at the end of
the season. Carmichael’s character has undergone the biggest
transformation – it’s the first time audiences will see her as a
marchioness, living at the lavish Brancaster Castle. “On the first day,
Gareth Neame, our executive producer, ran to me and said: ‘Now
remember, Laura [Lady Edith] is now more important than anyone. She
outranks them all,’” Carmichael says. “We’re now seeing Edith
immersed in her new role. That’s a new challenge and it’s completely
different from the life she led at Downton.” →Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith
Crawley dances with her on screen
husband Bertie Pelham, played by
Harry Hadden-Paton.AnnaRobbins,
standing behind
Penelope Wilton,
oversees a scene
during filming.Costume designer
Anna Robbins, top
right, adjusts a
gown on set.