-Let's dive right into it.
So, Allen, welcome. It's the first time we've ever met.
-Thank you, yeah. -But, I recently learned
something about you because a good friend of mine --
Just kidding. He doesn't know me.
Niall Horan had said that -- he tweeted about being mistaken
for someone from your show. -Yeah.
-And it was you. -Might have been.
-So do you ever get mist -- Is that a common mistake?
-I mean, my Twitter feed is mainly people going,
"Hey, mom and dad were watching 'Downton Abbey.'
I think Niall Horan's in it." [ Laughter ]
Oh, no, then it's Allen Leech.
So, I'm actually glad for once Niall got it
the other way 'round. -I want to pull this up,
because when I saw this, I was actually shocked
at the resemblance.
I mean you look almost identical in this picture.
-I'm not going to lie, I've had words with my dad.
I have, I have said --
Did you work anywhere near where he's from, Mullingar,
at any point 26 years ago?
[ Laughter ] 27. Let's allow for gestation.
-Have you ever met in person? -Yeah, I have,
yeah, and we actually took a photo together.
I don't know where it's gone, but of our side profiles.
I do want a DNA test though.
Seriously. -Fair.
-I think it is fair. -Elizabeth, you lived in London
for about 30 years, correct? Ish?
-Ish, less. -Ish. Less?
Okay less, but you're originally from LA?
-I was born in Chicago, and I grew up in LA.
-Grew up in LA. -Yeah.
-So how was that transition, moving to London?
-Well, for the first decade, I felt a bit like I'd taken
some kind of drug and woken up in a Charles Dickens novel.
[ Laughter ] And everybody was a character,
and they spoke my language, but I didn't understand them.
It was sort of -- -Is it true about
the valet parking thing?
Do you remember, in "Freezing?" -We know each other very well.
We go back very far.
-We've been married three times on camera,
and one of them was a show called "Freezing" which was
about Elizabeth McGovern moving to England --
an Oscar nominated actress moves to Britain.
-It sounds strange, but -- -And at the end
of episode one -- It was based, you know, loosely on her life.
And the end of episode one was me -- her meeting me,
her husband, in a restaurant, and I said, you know,
"What have you done with the car?"
And she said, "I left it with the valet parking guy.
I gave the key to the valet parking guy."
And I said, "We don't have valet parking in Britain."
[ Laughter ] -Now --
-True story. -Your husband told me that
that actually happened. -It is a true story.
-Really? -I said, "I left the keys
with valet parking," and the guy said -- in the restaurant said,
"We have no valet parking." [ Laughter ]
-So was your car gone? -You just gave your keys --
-Well, we make -- made a very quick dash outside.
[ Laughter ]
-Allen, you are actually the opposite.
You moved from London to LA. -Yeah.
-Is that correct? -Yup.
-Was that a culture shock for you?
-Yeah, I mean, it's interesting when in LA,
people say, "Let's go for a couple of drinks."
-Mm-hmm. -They mean like just a couple
of drinks, it's one or two, and then they're like,
[ American accent ] "Hey, man. Okay, great to see you. Bye."
Like, "Oh." -Was that --
Was that an American accent? -No, no.
I don't know what that was, really.
But -- Yeah, and then I had an Irish friend over
who's a musician called Hozier, you might know.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And there's a pub -- I don't want to get in trouble
for leaving us in the bar and locking us in,
as it's called a lock-in. You know?
-Yeah. -So everyone else left.
We were sitting at the bar, you know, talking away,
and I had brung my wife, my fiancée at the time, and said,
"Listen, I -- I'm just gonna go for a couple of pints,
then I'll be home."
So then at 4:00 a.m., she rang me.
[ Laughter ] And she went,
"Where the hell are you?"
And I said, "I'm still in the pub.
I'm still here. We're just talking."
It's like, "What -- You and Hozier are just talking?"
I was like, "yeah." And she said,
"What the [ bleep ] have you left to talk about?"
[ Laughter ]
So, then I went home. Yeah.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-I kind of want to learn the lingo, to be honest.
I feel a little left out. So -- I mean, there's so many
different kinds of British accents.
What's something that I could say --
like say to sound very posh?
-What about -- Well, Penelope Wilton,
who is in the show, she plays Isobel Crawley.
She's now just become a dame. -Mm-hmm.
-And she met the Queen. -Mm-hmm.
-When she came to the set, she said,
"It's really quite fantastic, you know.
The Queen actually doesn't say, "yes."
She says, "Ears."
"Ears, ears, ears." -Ears.
[ Laughter ]
-So, go on. Go on. -Okay.
-Okay, so just say ears. -Are you having a nice time?
-Ears. -Hey.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-You nailed it! -What would I sound like
if I was like working in the kitchen?
-Well, obviously, in our show,
then you'd have to have a Yorkshire accent
because Mrs. Patmore is from Yorkshire.
-Mm-hmm. -A cook.
-Up north. -Up north.
So, you'd sound a bit like that, and you say,
"Put that bowl down, girl,
or you'll get a clip 'round the ear 'ole."
-Say what to the who now? [ Laughter ]
-"Put that bowl down, or you'll get a clip 'round the ear 'ole."
-Ear. -"Put that bowl down,
or you'll get a clip around the ear, yo."
[ Laughter and applause ]
Was it yo? Did you say yo?
-Earhole. -Earhole.
-Earhole? -Ear 'ole.
-Ear ho. Ear ho. -Ear 'ole.
-Ear 'ole. Drop the "H." -Ear 'ole.
-Ear 'ole. -Ear 'ole.
-Yes, yes. -Yes! Nailed it!
[ Applause ] So, I have to congratulate
you all on "Downton Abbey" coming out, the movie.
I'm so excited for, but Elizabeth, tell us.
What can we expect? What is it about?
-The King and Queen are coming to dinner.
-Okay. -That is where we start.
-Sleepover. They're coming for a sleepover.
Aren't they? -Well, yes. They're gonna stay.
[ Laughter ]
So, obviously that creates a lot of tension,
which leads to intrigue both downstairs and upstairs.
Things go wrong, fights occur,
people fall in love, and it all ends well.
That's our story. -Spoiler alert.
[ Laughter ]
-But see, I did notice -- you know, obviously,
I watched the trailer, and I did notice that there's no --
there's no Indian characters in the movie and so --
-Not in the movie. No. -Yeah, I thought I would
correct that for all of you.
So, I took the liberty to fix it and include myself,
if you see here. [ Laughter ]
I'm making myself an honorary Crawley, here.
What do you think? Could this work with the aesthetics?
What do you think? -Absolutely.
-That's pretty good. -It looks like she's digging
her nails into my back.
-Is that why you've got that expression?
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-You're in pain. -Would you be down?
Could you pitch? -Oh yeah, done.
-Don't worry. Don't worry. -Sequel, sequel,
for the sequel. -Would that not be great?
Indians, come on! Come on! [ Cheers and applause ]