Maggie Smith candidly admits she ‘wasn’t acting’ in Downton Abbey role

Dame Maggie Smith may be recognised for her roles in Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, but it seems there was an element to these roles that she was not overly keen on.

In a previous interview, the Academy Award-winning surprised fans by admitting that she didn’t find her two iconic characters, Violet Crawley and Professor McGonagall, “satisfying”.

“I am deeply grateful for the work in Potter and indeed Downton but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying. I didn’t really feel I was acting in those things,” she explained to ES Magazine in 2019.

Maggie also opened up about her career, admitting that she never went to the theatre as a youngster and didn’t know how she decided she wanted to be an actress.

She said: “Honest to God, I have no idea where the urge came from. It was such a ghastly time and we didn’t go to the theatre. I got into terrible trouble once because the neighbours took me to the cinema on a Sunday. But I had a wonderful teacher, Dorothy Bartholomew, who also taught Miriam Margolyes, and who encouraged me.”

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Most recently, the national treasure reprised her role as Violet Crawley in the sequel movie for Downton Abbey, titled A New Era. However, the actress did previously admit she didn’t think she’d be making an appearance in the movies at all.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, she quipped: “No, because honestly, she was about – by the time we’re through – she must’ve been 110. So, I couldn’t go on and on and on. I couldn’t. It just didn’t make sense.”

She added: “I was firmly convinced it would start with the funeral. I could croak it and it would just start with the body.” Speaking about how Downton changed her life, she explained: “I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey. I’m not kidding. I’d go to theatres, I’d go to galleries, things like that on my own. And now I can’t and that’s awful. The Fulham Road’s dodgy!”

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Meanwhile, the film and stage icon has taken on a new project in the form of a new marketing campaign for luxury fashion house, Loewe. Dame Maggie could be seen in a series of photographs looking effortlessly chic, showing off a range of designs from its creative director, Jonathan Anderson.

Also starring in the campaign are Dakota Fanning, Josh O’Connor and Taeyong. Read more about the campaign, here.