The life of British comedian Michelle Dockery changed in 2010, the day the first episode of the cult series aired, Downton Abbey. Twelve years later, we still find her as Lady Mary Crawley in the film Downton Abbey – A New Era, which opens on Friday. Interview.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
We have this irresistible urge to call her Lady Mary when we see her appear on our screen in videoconference. Thanks to this character that she embodies in Downton AbbeyMichelle Dockery’s life has been turned upside down.
Du jour au lendemain, elle est devenue une star ; la série qui met en scène une famille d’aristocrates et leurs domestiques dans le château de Downton Abbey a connu un grand succès dans le monde entier pendant six saisons, de 2010 à 2015.
Quand on est actrice, on se dit qu’il y a toujours un moment où notre carrière bascule, et Downton Abbey a changé ma vie. Encore aujourd’hui, les gens sont parfois surpris de ne pas me voir en costume d’époque de Lady Mary ! Les fans de la série sont tellement dévoués !
Michelle Dockery
Dès la première lecture du scénario, elle est tombée sous le charme de ce personnage de jeune aristocrate un peu snob, arrogante parfois. « Je l’aime tellement, dit-elle. Ma référence était Kristin Scott Thomas dans Gosford Park [réalisé par Robert Altman]a film written by Julian Fellowes, creator of the series.
“I love Lady Mary, she is stubborn, she is a spoiled child. But the more the years pass and the more it evolves, because it goes through hardships. He’s a complex character. That’s the beauty of Downton Abbey, as all the characters are complex and nuanced. »
PHOTO NIKLAS HALLE’N, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
British actress Michelle Dockery at the premiere of Downton Abbey – A New Era in London on April 25
“When we were shooting the first season, we knew we were making a quality show, because Julian Fellowes had won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Gosford Park in 2002. But we could never have predicted this phenomenal success,” she recalls.
The actress remembers the series being very well received in the United Kingdom, but it was when the broadcast began in the United States that everything changed. “It got absolutely crazy. I was 27 years old, it opened doors for me, of course. I had other roles thanks to the success of the series, and it has been going on for 12 years. That’s what’s incredible. »
Michelle Dockery played notably in Guy Ritchie’s film The Gentlementhe series Defending Jacob and most recently in Anatomy of a Scandal, Netflix series where she plays a Crown prosecutor while a government minister is accused of rape. “Lady Mary could have been this lawyer a century later, because she is self-confident, quick-witted and eloquent. She would have been great,” she laughs.
Adapt to change
In Downton Abbey – A New Erawe find the Crawley family, part of whom goes to the south of France to solve the mystery of the inheritance of a villa and the other receives a film crew who will invade the castle.
PHOTO BEN BLACKALL, PROVIDED BY FOCUS FEATURES
Director Simon Curtis and Michelle Dockery while filming the film Downton Abbey – A New Era
It is Lady Mary who takes care of the stars who arrive and all the unforeseen events that arise during filming. “The film is funny and, at the same time, full of emotions,” she says. This film is also, as the title suggests, the transition to a new era.
“The New World is represented by this unashamed film crew who shoot in the castle and who are not at all impressed by this magnificent setting. It has no value in his eyes. That’s the change, the new era,” explains Michelle Dockery.
“Others, like my father, Lord Grantham, and Mr Carson, the butler who runs the house, are very reluctant to modernity and don’t want the world to change. Lady Mary is intrigued by the work of this film crew, which she watches very closely. “She discovers that she loves it and is almost going to become a producer, she is so invested! »
Lady Mary adapts to change. We are in 1928, it is the end of a decade, we are before the crisis of 1929 and the 1930s, the Second World War is approaching. There’s this feeling that another world is coming, and it’s the end of an era.
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Dockery was delighted to find the whole team of Downton Abbeywhom she considers family.
“We are very close to each other, we grew up together for 12 years. Some actors were in their twenties, like me, when the adventure began. These characters and actors are part of our lives, and Maggie Smith is so funny! It’s a real pleasure ! »
In theaters Friday