Пресс-пакет к Christmas Special - часть 2

[downton-abbey]

Продолжение
IAIN GLEN - сэр Ричард
NIGEL HAVERS лорд Хэпворт
PHYLLIS LOGAN - миссис Хьюз
ROB JAMES-COLLIER - Томас
ELIZABETH McGOVERN - графиня Грэтэм
SOPHIE McSHERA - Дейзи
LESLEY NICOL - миссис Патмор
SHARON SMALL - Мэриголд, горничная леди Розамунд
PENELOPE WILTON - Изобел Кроули
DAN STEVENS - Мэтью

IAIN GLEN (Sir Richard Carlisle)
Iain Glen plays Sir Richard Carlisle, the newspaper tycoon and Lady Mary Crawley's fiance'. Having purchased Haxby Park, procured then lost butler Carson then asked head housemaid Anna to spy on Lady Mary, Iain explains how the relationship between them has become fraught. "Mary has become more of a challenge to him and he is particularly wary since the sad loss of Lavinia so he is trying as hard as he can to secure their future together, to bring on a commitment to an actual day."

Iain explains Sir Richard's complex relationship with the world he finds himself in, "He always did feel like an outsider, it's a world he wants to be a part of but it's a world he doesn't really respect. He wants to be part of the upper echelons of society but because he's very much a self made man and earned his wealth he has a slight disregard for those who have had it on a silver plate."

Can Sir Richard continue to fight for Lady Mary's affections- "I think he now feels quite a strong love for Mary but doesn't feel like it is necessarily reciprocated. She confessed her dark secret to him and he took it on quite gracefully at first but now it's becoming more and more like something he can threaten her with, which is not conducive to love."

NIGEL HAVERS (Lord Hepworth)
Nigel Havers plays Lord Hepworth, an old family friend of Lady Rosamund and the Dowager Countess who joins the Crawley family for Christmas. But what is he here for- "Lady Rosamund and Lord Hepworth have an affection for one another, she is widowed and would like some company again. But the Dowager, is too smart for that. I think she sees through him quite quickly as to the real reason behind his persistence in spending time with the family."

Nigel, who is will be starring in Peter Pan at the Hawth theatre in Crawley over Christmas, explains how lovely it was to join the cast and to be back doing a costume drama. "When I started in the business as an actor I did these sorts of things all the time, in the 70's, 80's and early 90's so it was nice to come back.
The whole thing was just fantastic."

PHYLLIS LOGAN (Mrs Hughes)
Phyllis Logan plays Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper at Downton Abbey who managed to keep a whole household going throughout the war despite the reduction of vast members of her staff. Despite letting Ethel go after catching her with Major Bryant, she continued to help her, feeding her from the house
provisions and trying to set up meetings with the Bryant's to no avail.

When it came to the dance rehearsal Phyllis got to dance with Hugh Bonneville and had plenty of praise on how professional they looked but it wasn't all smooth sailing, "We had to learn the waltz which I thought would be quite simple, one, two, three, one two three, but we were knackered at the end of it! Lots of kicking
shins and bruised toes."

Getting into the Christmas spirit, Phyllis is keen on forming a choir, "I've got this notion that I want to form the Downton Choir. Michelle sings, Elizabeth has a band, Lesley has been in musicals, Siobhan has a great voice, as does Sophie and I can sing a bit so what's to stop us! The Downton Choir, little charity gigs
around the country, flog the CD's." As for her favourite Christmas song, "You cannae whack Slade, we have my brothers and his family over and have a right old jamboree."

ROB JAMES-COLLIER (Thomas Barrow)
Rob James-Collier plays Thomas, who has carefully plotted his way back into the house is now a footman again after being a stretcher bearer in the medical corps on the front line in the First World War. But Rob explains that Thomas hasn't changed that much.

"He's still conniving and ambitious and wants to get to the top of the house and be a valet or a butler,' he says. "Circumstances play into his hands and Bate's arrest for the suspected murder of his wife means his Lordship has no valet and Thomas sees' an opportunity there."

But will Lord Grantham trust Thomas again after everything that happened before the war. "Thomas was nearly sacked so he has to come up with a way to work himself back in to his good books which he does by hiding something his Lordship loves and then helps get it back to him. But as always his evil plan
backfires."

With the upcoming Servants Ball, Rob and the rest of the cast had to learn to dance, which isn't something he took to naturally. "Due to the fact I was having a Thomas' hair cut that day I missed the first thirty minutes of rehearsal and found I couldn't keep up. I have two left feet,' he laughs, `cannot waltz or indeed dance for toffee and then I had to take the legend that is Dame Maggie Smith for a spin on the floor! - I was so nervous and managed to stand on the Dame's toe but we had a laugh and she was so great with me. I think she humored me and my two left feet."

ELIZABETH McGOVERN (The Countess of Grantham, Cora)
Elizabeth McGovern who received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role as the Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, ended the second series having just survived the Spanish Flu.

Elizabeth reveals that, "revelations are at the heart of the Christmas episode for Cora and she is finally able to put something to rest that has been bothering her for a while, though more than that I will not say."

Elizabeth loves music and when she's not acting, is part of a band called Sadie and the Hotheads who have a new album due out at Christmas time. Elizabeth particularly enjoyed the dancing that they had to learn. "I got to dance with Jim Carter, he was just fantastic, a real gentleman and I also danced with a hall boy who looked petrified but it was a lot of fun."

SOPHIE McSHERA (Daisy Mason)
Sophie McShera who plays Daisy, the scullery maid in Downton Abbey had a tough time in the second series. Having been talked into a marriage she wasn't sure of and made a widow hours later, she still feels guilty that she strung William along. Coming into the Christmas episode Sophie explains how a new
character is causing even more tension between her and Mrs Patmore.

"Marigold Shore, played by Sharon Small inspires Daisy to try and get more out of her job, gives her a bit of ambition and tries to make her fight for promotion,' explains Sophie.

When it came to the Servants Ball, Sophie tells us she just had so much fun learning the dance with everyone. "They were hilarious; we were proper limbering up and wanted to wear leg warmers and everything, we were all being very silly."

But when the day came Sophie explains how she didn't even get a partner! "I was promised a little dance with Matthew Crawley, (I was so made up),' she laughs. "We rehearsed and then I didn't even get to do any dancing! I watched it longingly, learnt all the steps, I was so excited, then nothing. Devastated I was."

Sophie is currently appearing in the West End show Jerusalem at the Apollo theatre and won't get much of a Christmas this year. "We have a show on Christmas Eve so I've got to somehow get myself up north for the day, have a big family Christmas and come back straight away. I'm usually up there for quite a while so it's very different for me this year."

"Christmas at our house is all about my big family, eating ridiculous amounts of food, and the best bit of all is the buffet tea with all the leftovers, amazing."

LESLEY NICOL (Mrs Patmore)
Lesley Nicol plays Downton's cook Mrs Patmore, tells us about the dancing lessons the cast had to have for the Servants Ball, "Well Dan Stevens kicked me in the leg, not on purpose I might say, but it put me out with an ice pack for a good ten minutes!"

Lesley got to dance the one-step with Dan and explained how she thought Mrs Patmore would have thought about that. "I imagined it would be like dancing with Prince Charming for her. He would have been the most handsome piece of eye candy you could possibly dance with so I did rather enjoy it."

Lesley reveals that things with Daisy still aren't that easy in the Christmas episode, "Her relationship with Daisy has become really, really difficult and she knows there are changes coming but she's not quite sure what is going on.
She's quite upset because she can see that Daisy isn't happy and she just wants to get to the bottom of it."

And what would Lesley like for Christmas- "Just to have terrific health, because without that you've got nothing."

SHARON SMALL (Marigold Shore)
Sharon Small plays a new character called Marigold Shore, Lady Rosamund's new lady's maid.
"Shore is not one to go unnoticed', says Sharon. "She is new to the servants' hall and they're a little bit suspicious of her.

"Shore is a bit of a meddler and sticks her nose in where it's not wanted. She mostly stirs things up between Daisy and Mrs Patmore."

But Sharon thinks she is just a little misunderstood, "The other servants think she is giving Daisy bad counsel but for Shore it's about giving Daisy a voice and the confidence to ask for something she deserves for the first time."

Joining an established show that has been so successful world wide and running for two years could be daunting for most actors but Sharon has taken it in her stride. "I've been so lucky that with my character I've got to have the experience of being both upstairs and downstairs. The sets are lovely, the kitchen is just
beautiful and everyone has been really gorgeous and welcoming, you know there's a real family here and I really do feel part of it."

With many of her scenes being with Lord Hepworth, which Sharon says has been a dream, "He's got so many stories, is hilarious and does a brilliant Tommy Cooper impression. Plus he's so handsome, just really lovely to work with."
Being from Scotland, Sharon explains what a dream Christmas for her would be like, "I'd be in Scotland, with lots of snow in a really big house to fit everyone in, all of my family from Scotland and all of my partner Dave's family from England with Rosemary Clooney singing `Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', it's
always the first one I put on."


PENELOPE WILTON (Isobel Crawley)
Penelope Wilton plays Isobel Crawley who had a difficult time during series two. Seeing her only son go off to war, come home badly wounded, in addition to the continued tensions between her and Lady Cora meant Isobel had a fairly traumatic war. However is it going to be a good Christmas for her "It's a wonderful Christmas because Isobel's son Matthew, is of course back to full health. Isobel is certainly less uptight, it wasn't easy being amenable when your son's life was at stake." She is also trying to help Matthew get on with hislife. "It's so easy for us looking in,' she explains. "Matthew and Mary are so wrapped up in other things that they feel they can't change their own situation and we just try and make them see."

Like everyone in the house Bate's trial affects them all. Penelope explains that Isobel tries her best to help. "I'm a great supporter of Bates and I ask to go to the trial to be supportive to him and Anna when the verdict comes in."
And of course the dancing, Penelope unfortunately couldn't make the rehearsals but was a quick learner. "I had the absolute great joy of dancing the one step with Carson, so now I have danced with Jim Carter. He did extremely well, he's got natural rhythm."

DAN STEVENS (Matthew Crawley)
Dan Stevens plays Matthew Crawley, heir to the Downton Abbey estate who lost his fiance' Lavinia Swire to Spanish flu at the end of the second series but is trying to move on with his life, "He's been dealing with the death of Lavinia but he seems slightly less haunted than when we last saw him and I think he's trying to get on with life, to see it as a new chapter."

With Sir Richard Carlisle still looming large over Lady Mary, Dan explains what Matthew hopes for her, "The spectre of Carlisle in Mary's life continues to bother Matthew. I think even if they don't end up together he feels she should do what's right and not marry Carlisle."

And how will Dan be spending his Christmas- "I will be with my family somewhere in England, ideally with cozy pub lunches by the fire and ale and goose which we had for the first time last year and it was a revelation!"