It’s been four long years since we last saw the denizens of Downton Abbey – a tearful goodbye to characters we had been following through their ups and downs across six fantastic seasons. But it’s September, and the time is finally here: September 20th will be the release of the Downton Abbey movie.
If you’re anything like members of the WGBH Drama Club, you have probably been going back through the series (available on WGBH Passport) in preparation. And you, too, have probably wondered—what has the Downton Abbey cast been doing since that final season? Well, as it turns out, quite a bit.
Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley)
Following his departure from Downton Abbey, Dan Stevens had a busy 2017. Stevens starred alongside Emma Watson in Disney’s live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, playing the titular Beast. Later that year he appeared alongside Chadwick Boseman in the film Marshall, which was based on one of Justice Thurgood Marshall’s first cases. Stevens played Lorin Willis, the prosecutor in the case of the State of Connecticut vs. Joseph Spell. 2017 also saw Stevens take another turn on the small screen as David Haller in the premiere season of Legion. Based on the Marvel comic of the same name, the series follows David Haller, a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia who discovers he has special powers. Now in its third season, the series—and his continuing film work—have kept Haller pretty busy.
Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham)
Perhaps the largest star at the start of Downton Abbey, Maggie Smith already had a storied career, and continued to work in film during her tenure as Violet. While working on Downton, Smith continued to play quirky characters, most notably starring in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as well as portraying the iconic Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series. Since the show has ended, Smith has gone on to star in The Lady in the Van as Miss Sheperd – a role that earned her an 11th Golden Globe nomination. Based on a true story, The Lady in the Van follows a man who befriends a woman (Smith) after she parks her broken-down van in his driveway, and refuses to leave.
Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil Crawley)
In 2015, Jessica Brown Findlay starred alongside James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe in Victor Frankenstein, playing Igor’s love interest, Lorelai. Later that year she starred in the BBC television adaptation of Sadie Jones’s The Outcast, where she played Alice Aldridge, the stepmother of a 10 year old boy who witnesses his mother’s death. In 2017, Brown Findlay joined the Hulu series Harlots as Charlotte Wells, the eldest daughter of ambitious brothel owner Margaret Wells. While that series continues to keep Brown Findlay busy to the present, it was recently also announced that she would be starring as Lenina Crowne in the 2020 television adaptation of the sci-fi classic, Brave New World.
Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith Crawley)
After the conclusion of Downton Abbey, Laura Carmichael joined the detective series Marcella, as a criminology student who gets a little too close to the serial killer. In 2016, Carmichael played supporting roles in the films A United Kingdom, about the controversial marriage between an African prince and a British woman in the 1950s, and Man in An Orange Shirt, a BBC made-for-tv film about two love stories, 60 years apart, that charts the changes and challenges in gay lives in England. Carmichael now stars in The Spanish Princess, as the ficitional Maggie Pole, the foil to Catherine of Aragon.
Watch Masterpiece: Man in An Orange Shirt
Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary Crawley)
Post-Downton, Michelle Dockery went from lady to larcenist. In 2016 Dockery joined the series Good Behavior, where she stars as Letty Raines, a thief who is always two steps away from danger. The following year saw her starring in the Netflix mini-series Godless, where she plays Alice Fletcher, a widow who runs a ranch in a lawless American west—a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. She is currently filming her next series, Defending Jacob, in Massachusetts. Starring alongside Chris Evans, Dockery plays a mother who finds her 14-year-old son accused of murder.
Elizabeth McGovern (Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham)
Elizabeth McGovern has stuck with dramas since the Downton finale. In The Wife, McGovern has a cameo as an embittered writer who shifts the trajectory of the main character. And in The Commuter she plays the wife of an ex-police officer who gets roped into a criminal conspiracy on his train home. But her upcoming role in The Chaperone promises to include a touch of humor. Written by Julian Fellows, creator and executive producer of Downton Abbey, the film watches as Norma (McGovern), a rule-abiding matron, chaperones a teenaged Louise Brookes as she travels to New York to become a dancer. What fun!
Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham)
Hugh Bonneville has had perhaps the most varied series of appearances post-Downton. From kids films to Shakespearian dramas, Bonneville has done it all. As Henry Brown in the Paddington movies, he entertained children as the father of Paddington’s adoptive family. As Ian Fletcher in the BBC Two series W1A, which earned him 2 BAFTA nominations, Bonneville portrayed the harried head of values at the BBC. From there, Bonneville took on the Bard as Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in the “Henry VI, Part 1” episode of The Hollow Crown.
