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Why Elizabeth McGovern of Downton Abbey Is More Like Cora Than You Realize
The American-born star spills the Earl Grey tea on the beloved series and new film
Karwai Tang/WireImage Elizabeth McGovern, 60, rocketed to the top of Hollywood in her early 20s, including a 1981 Oscar nomination for Ragtime and an engagement to Sean Penn. “It was so exhausting, I couldn’t sustain it,” she told the Daily Mail. “We also wanted to do different things. He likes to pretend he’s not really a Hollywood person, but he is.” Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. McGovern later married British director Simon Curtis, 62 (Cranford), left her hometown of Los Angeles, spurned some blockbuster roles (“No regrets!”) and moved to the posh, veddy olde-English London neighborhood of Chiswick. Now she plays Cora, wife of Lord Grantham, in , directed by Curtis. She talks with AARP about their new movie, which helped bring many film fans over 50 back to theaters. Some go Hollywood — have you an Angeleno gone Chiswick
Yes, I suppose you could say that. I forgot to make a game plan. You re like our American delegate to the British aristocracy — like Cora Do you feel like that sometimes or does Cora
Ha ha! No, I feel like an actress who stumbled on to a part that I’m now forever playing! Cora will always be somewhat of an outsider, and frankly doesn’t care. She is a free spirit. Elizabeth McGovern (left) stars as Cora Grantham and Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith Hexham in "Downton Abbey: A New Era." Ben Blackall/Focus Features Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > In the new movie there s a different flavor in the comedy such as when Hollywood invades the Crawleys to film a movie at Downton Is that your husband s touch
It’s always been comic, but Simon understands how to capture that. It was very much his idea to have the family keep accidentally walking into the frame when they’re shooting the movie. Simon just has such an instinct for that humor. A lot of comic stuff Laura Haddock — who plays the actress in their film — does they just came up with on the day. The looks on their faces, little details you can’t plan ahead — it’s thinking on your feet. You have to be loose enough to capture those moments and have the confidence to go with it. The movie is about social change coming to Downton — the decline of the aristocracy How does the movie-within-the-movie express this
The film people coming in and upsetting the entire status quo is such an organic idea, because historically film was about to take over the role of the aristocracy in people’s imaginations. Celebrities replaced the aristocrats. And it throws everything into a tailspin, which culminates in the downstairs people sitting around the dining room table in their finery — and one gets to be a Hollywood screenwriter. It shakes everything up in a way that is funny and delightful and dramatic and emotional all at once. (Left to right) Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Robert and Cora Grantham. Ben Blackall/Focus Features (Left to right) Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern as Robert and Cora Grantham. Ben Blackall/Focus Features Your American character Cora seems less nonplussed by the changes than the Brits
Cora has always been much more able to roll with the changes than her husband, Robert, or any of the English people. She’s American, from a newer, less rigidified culture, so change is much more natural. She doesn’t belong to all the archaic machinations the family are very attached to — she doesn’t even really get them at all. In this movie she s more concerned with some scary news about her health She has the same disease that killed Isobel Crawley s fiancé
She has this secret, and her preoccupation is the fact that she might not have any future with the family. Are there any tears involved in this feel-good movie
There will be tears. That’s all I can say! There will be tears. Does the theme of time s passage feel different to you now at 60
I agree with whoever the genius was that first noticed how time speeds up as you age. How true that is. What can explain the enormous response to Downton especially to viewers over 50
I think, at first, the show appealed to people nostalgic for a simpler time. Now everything has changed so much, and the show has survived for so long, I think people are nostalgic for the way the world was when they first started watching Downton! Tim Appelo covers entertainment and is the film and TV critic for AARP. Previously, he was the entertainment editor at Amazon, video critic at Entertainment Weekly, and a critic and writer for The Hollywood Reporter, People, MTV, The Village Voice and LA Weekly. More on entertainment AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS