when downton abbey first hit our screens
back in 2010
it quickly became a smash hit and went
on to feature dozens of actors
throughout its six seasons
here's what the cast has been up to
since the popular period drama came to
an end
michelle dockery portrayed lady mary the
eldest crawly daughter in downton abbey
with her snobby exterior concealing a
kinder disposition
mary was a firm fan favorite
additionally dockery was relatively
unknown prior to the show having guest
starred in a few british shows and
appearing in the 2012 film anna karenina
since downton abbey dockery branched out
from the posh girls stereotype to take
on some very different roles
in 2017 she played alice in godless
another period drama but this time a
western next
dockery took on the role of letty in
good behavior in this show she played a
con artist who'd just gotten out of
prison
talk about a contrast then in 2019
dockery starred in guy richie's the
gentleman a modern-day crime flick
while her character was pretty pulled
together when she opened her mouth it
was clear that she was no lady mary
roger's supposed to be working down
there and you're up here blowing his
brains out
as she told tatler being able to play a
character whose accent has an essex
sound as mine does
i love that it would be difficult to go
through life without coming across
dame maggie smith at least once smith is
an undisputed
titan of the stage and screen with
credits such as harry potter
gosford park and the prime of miss gene
brody along with countless shakespearean
productions
to that end downton abbey certainly
seemed right up her alley
and her incisive portrayal of the
crawley family matriarch made for some
great gifts
however as it turns out smith wasn't
exactly sad to see downton go
in an interview on the graham norton
show she explained that since being on
the show she started getting stopped
much more frequently
when asked if she was glad that the show
had come to an end she quickly replied
oh yeah
smith went on to explain laughingly that
her character quote must have been 110
by the time the show finished
after the show ended smith slowed down
in her acting career though she did
voice a character in the animated film
sherlock gnomes and reprised her role as
the dowager countess of grantham in the
downton
abbey movie are the future of downton
hugh bonneville is another well-known
british actor that just seems to pop up
in everything his previous credits
include notting hill
paddington doctor who and much more
suffice to say he was no stranger to
british tv when he was cast as robert
crowley on downton abbey
and since the show has finished he's
kept himself incredibly busy with other
projects
one of bonneville's more surprising
projects was a documentary about jesus
christ called countdown to calvary for
which he traveled to israel
even though bonneville has moved on to
other projects he seems to have a
lingering fondness for downton
as he told the independent when the
movie came out if the movie works let's
do another
it could run and run after all how many
star trek movies are there
for laura carmichael who portrayed lady
edith on downton abbey the show was
certainly life-changing for one thing it
launched her entire career
as she told bbc america i feel very
lucky in that downton was really my
first job and it opened so many doors
for me
the show also introduced her to her
partner michael c fox
fox portrayed andrew parker in the fifth
season of downton
after downton carmichael went on to star
in the spanish princess another period
drama
after that project she played agatha in
the secrets she keeps a modern
modern-day series about a pregnant woman
who develops an obsession for another
pregnant woman
for carmichael it was the perfect
contrast she said of the experience
i had been doing the spanish princess as
well as downton so i definitely wanted
to look at projects that were quite
modern
sounds like this dark part was the
perfect change for her
elizabeth mcgovern played cora crawley
on downton abbey the american mother of
the family
after the show finished she appeared in
a range of films that were all complete
departures from downton
showing roots was an american film set
in the 70s
and the wife was another american film
about adultery set in the present day
then in the commuter a modern-day liam
neeson thriller
she played neeson's wife in the
chaperone however mcgovern returned to
the world of period drama
in a story about a silent screen star
and her chaperone
in 2019 mcgovern also starred in a
mini-series of war of the worlds
she told variety this modern thriller
series was a welcome change from the
more limited roles of women in
historical dramas saying
with all these period pieces i do
sometimes feel like i'm in a straight
jacket as a woman
so little of the time you have a voice
and these didn't
in downton abbey joanne froggett
portrayed anna the always sweet
housemaid who fell in love with brendan
coyle's mr bates
froggit wasn't new to acting but she's
certainly taken on some interesting
roles since downton rapt
from 2017 to 2020 the actress starred in
the itv drama liar
the modern series follows froggit's
character as she tries to get her rapist
convicted of his crime
in 2020 froggett spoke to bt tv about
the impact of liar saying
a lot of people came up to me in the
street when it was shown in the uk
it was probably one of the biggest
reactions to anything i've done
emotionally everyone was talking about
it she said that liar was one of her
most difficult projects
adding it's a challenge to play someone
where we couldn't tell if she was
telling the truth or not
following liar froggit got to work on
the itv drama series
angela black allen leach played tom
branson in downton abbey
the one time chauffeur of the family who
married the youngest daughter as the
actor explained to the los
angeles times he wasn't exactly pleased
with the show's ending he told a
reporter
i felt that there was a lot left open
for him however the loose ending
actually meant that this character had
more to do in the subsequent film
he said looking back now i'm delighted
because it meant he has this arc in the
movie
since downton leech has definitely moved
on in fact he moved to la to marry
american actress jessica blair-hermann
the couple have since had their first
child leach also took on some exciting
new roles
in 2019's bohemian rhapsody leach played
paul prenter the former manager and
lover of freddie mercury as he told
queerty
the experience was a real contrast to
downton with this bigger budget project
he finally got the luxury of more time
on set
with leech settled in la it looks like
we may see him popping up in more
hollywood movies down the line
jim carter was a crucial part of the
downton abbey family
while hugh bonneville played the head of
the house carter played mr carson the
butler
julian fellowes the show's creator told
town and country
carson is the father of downton i am the
butler at downton
my name is carson it turns out carter
probably didn't really leave carson
behind after filming finished
in fact he's actually married to one of
his co-stars imelda staunton
who played lady maud bagshaw in the
downton abbey film
as she explained it's no accident that
jim's playing that part
he's as honorable as mr carson since
downton abbey ended
carter has appeared in a few films and
shows most notably as pope boniface in
the medieval drama nightfall
in fact he actually co-starred with a
downton alum tom cullen
talking about their experience in
nightfall cullen told yahoo
i remember the first scene we did i was
like oh it's mr carson with us
but he's such a great actor that within
10 minutes i just completely forgot
brendan coyle played the lovable mr
bates in downton abbey a quiet gruff
servant who falls for
and marries the maid anna after daunting
came to an end the actor went on to
appear in various films and shows
including me before you and requiem
however coyle's main focus seems to be
the theater
in 2018 coyle spoke to the independent
about returning to the stage
what he was after in his work he said
was quote great writing he listed
requiem and an arthur miller play the
price as examples of post downton
projects he'd accepted for their scripts
coyle then went on to perform in saint
nicholas a one-man show by irish
playwright conor mcpherson
as coyle explained he'd been obsessed
with mcpherson since the 90s saying
his writing struck me in a way that no
writing has ever before
or since lily james is probably one of
the biggest stars to come out of the
downton abbey series
prior to appearing on the show as lady
rose her credits were pretty minimal
however after downton her career well
and truly took off
in fact james has starred in countless
major films including cinderella
baby driver darkest hour the guernsey
literary and potato peel pie society
mamma mia here we go again rebecca and
much more
james rise to fame has practically been
stratospheric and as james put it it was
all thanks to downton
she told the glossary that show enabled
me to be seen more and that's all you
really want as an
actor to be able to be seen even though
james seems to be in just about every
film being made right now she still has
big plans for the future
in fact she's even considered producing
her own female-driven films with a
school friend
we can't wait to see what's next for her
dan stevens time on downton abbey was
short-lived
he played lady mary's love interest
matthew until he asked to leave the show
in 2012 and his character was killed off
much to the disappointment of fans
as the actor told the telegraph at the
time his decision to leave was motivated
by a desire to have quote
a chance to do other things so what
other things did he do
well steven's career has certainly been
busy and varied in the guest
stephens took on an american thriller
then in beauty and the beast he starred
alongside emma watson as the famous
disney prince turned beast
and in the man who invented christmas
stevens played the famous author charles
dickens
he told indie wire in 2017 that his
career has given him truly challenging
roles
he said of his role in beauty and the
beast i think i was mildly terrified but
that's really generally what drives a
lot of my decisions these days is
calibrating the right amount of terror
playing mary's love interest henry in
downton abbey wasn't exactly an odd
project for matthew good
as the british actor's career has been
filled with period dramas
brideshead revisited bell the imitation
game and death comes to pemberly are
just a few examples
apparently good didn't mind returning to
the world of period dramas after his
stint on downton
either he played tony princess
margaret's husband in the crown
sydney in the guernsey literary and
potato peel pie society
philip in ordeal by innocence and david
in four kids and it
in an interview with the belfast
telegraph good discussed another
post-mountain project called a discovery
of witches which follows a vampire and a
witch as they travel through various
centuries
sounds like the ultimate period drama
one thing's for sure good is clearly
pretty comfortable stepping back in time
for a role
jessica brown findlay was just 21 when
she was cast in the first season of
downton abbey as sybil the youngest
crawly sister
as the actress explained to you she's
done a lot of growing up since the show
additionally when findlay decided to
leave downton she was still very young
in fact she'd only just left university
over the years findlay set to work
cultivating a healthy work-life balance
unfortunately shortly after departing
downton finley was
hacked by a criminal who exposed private
photos which led to a resurgence of an
old eating disorder
however with therapy findlay found a
better balance and a better relationship
with her body
findley has also been busy with her
career starring in multiple stage
productions in london
including hamlet opposite andrew scott
while also appearing in dozens of film
and tv projects
looks like her departure from downton
abbey ended up working pretty well for
her
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