'Downton Abbey' Movie Plot: Prequel Plans Will Not Star Original Actors?
The "Downton Abbey" movie could likely become a prequel. Creator Julian Fellowes revealed that he's having a hard time rounding up the show's original actors because of scheduling problems, hence, the big screen offering might not center on the show's familiar characters or stars.
Speaking at an event in London, Fellowes said that the "Downton Abbey" movie might take place 30 years before the timeline of the original series. This means he might resort to casting younger actors for some of the parts and he mentioned one possibility.
He might need to cast a younger Mrs. Patmore, the estate's cook. In the series, Lesley Nicol, 59, played Mrs. Patmore.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I think it would be possible to do a prequel that was re-cast and do a love story," Fellowes shared. "So you went right back and had the young cast arriving in the show as footmen and Mrs. Patmore being a kitchen maid," he added.
In 2012, Fellowes also intimated that he had an idea about a potential prequel featuring the courtship of Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), which could have gone as a published novel. "They had a slightly troubled courtship because she was in love with him before they married, and as we know, he married her entirely for her money," Fellowes stated. The scribe has been dangling the same idea when news of a "Downton Abbey" movie was first hatched soon after the series ended in 2015.
Meanwhile, Michael Edelstein, the president of NBCUniversal International Studios which owns rights to "Downton Abbey," said the company will still do its best to bring together the show's 20 or so cast members. "People go on and do other things. But we're hopeful to make a movie sometime next year," he said.
His declaration comes as actors like Sophie McShera (Daisy) and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) said they still haven't heard anything about the movie from their agents. But they also expressed they will be willing to do the movie should development details iron out.
