Are you looking forward to
doing the red carpets for the
Downton movie?
Not particularly, no. Actors are
wheeled out again and again, but
most of us just want to do the job
and go home, not spend our time
putting on a frock and talking
about the film. It’s not like we’re
going to Syria, of course, but a
red carpet is work.What advice have you passed
on to your daughter?
She’s got acting in her DNA. We’re
character actors in our family and,
without wanting to tempt fate, that
means you’re always working.
‘A CONFESSION’ AIRS ON ITV IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.104
BACKONOURSCREENSIN‘ACONFESSION’
‘IDON’TDOSOCIAL
MEDIA–I’VEGOT
ALIFETOLIVE!’
A
ctress Imelda Staunton nearly
has OK! spitting out our tea
when she tells us that she and
her husband have ‘been hard
at it’! Of course, she’s talking about
their careers on stage and screen. As
a four-times Olivier Award winner and
an Oscar nominee, Imelda is in great
demand. This month sees her in ITV’s
new six-part crime drama A Confession.
Based on a true story, it focuses on the
2011 disappearance of 22-year-old
Sian O’Callaghan and follows Detective
Superintendent Steve Fulcher (played
by Martin Freeman) as he sets out to
catch her killer.
Imelda, 63, plays Karen Edwards,
a woman whose own daughter Becky
has been missing for eight years. One
harrowing fight scene left her ‘quite
bruised’ but she shrugs it off, explaining
that she’s an actor ‘who just goes for it’.
Married since 1983 to Jim Carter,
who plays Downton Abbey butler
Carson, Imelda was thrilled to join him
in the Downton movie, which is out next
month, as the spirited Lady Bagshaw.
The couple have a daughter, Bessie
Carter, 25, who recently starred in
costume drama Beecham House.
Here, Imelda talks about her
‘lovely’ husband, her ‘delight’ about
Downton and why she has no time for
social media...Is it more daunting portraying real
people, like Karen?
Not daunting, but there’s an extra
responsibility to honour that person.
You just don’t want to mess it up.Did you meet Karen?
Yes, and I was nervous
because I didn’t want
to ask her anything –
she’s been through
enough. But she was
very forthcoming,
friendly and
surprisingly resilient.
For years she thought
Becky was alive, and
yet all that time she
was dead. I don’t
know how you live
with that.Did you enjoy working with
Martin Freeman?
We only had a few scenes together but
we’d met before. What I like, and what
I think he likes, is actors who turn up
and know what they’re doing.How was it filming the Downton
Abbey movie?
It was lovely. I felt very chuffed to
be asked. I’ve known most of the
cast throughout the whole period of
Downton, so I felt very at home there.
I was delighted to be ‘upstairs’ with all
those nice frocks, and it was wonderful
playing a feisty character. I only shared
one scene with my husband Jim, though.Jim says he brings you tea in bed
every morning – is that true?
Yes, every morning. It’s not actually tea.
He gets coffee and then he brings me
hot water.What’s the secret to having him so
well trained?
He’s a very, very good man and a lovely,
lovely bloke. Terribly funny too – we
have a really good time together. He’s
just great.You don’t ‘do’ social media do you?
Christ no! Who in their right mind would?!
It’s not for me. I’ve got a life to live.What do you do in your spare time?
The gardening, go and see a show, see
my mates – because when you’re doing
theatre, you’re cut off from your friends.
When Jim was filming Downton for six
years, I was doing theatre most nights,
so now we’re having
a very good time
together planning
little trips. We did
five days in Kent
last year which was
absolutely fantastic:
Margate, Dungeness,
visiting gardens.
We’re enjoying
having those little
bits of life together,
because there’s no
doubt we’ve both
been hard at it!OK!IMELDASTAUNTON TALKSTOOK!ABOUT
‘DOWNTONABBEY’WORKINGTHERED
CARPETANDHERHAPPYMARRIAGE
INTERVIEW BY MICHELLE GARNETT PHOTOGRAPHS
BY CAMERA PRESS/DEBRA HURFORD BROWN,
ITV, GETTY IMAGES?
ygAbove: ‘It’s not like we’re going to Syria,
of course, but a red carpet is work,’
Imelda tells us. Below right: Imelda with
daughter Bessie and husband JimImelda as Karen
Edwards in A
Confession