Downton Abbey:Shirley MacLaine: 'I’m still not sure why Downton Abbey is such a hit’ Fresh from the set of the third series, Shirley MacLaine explains why the Granthams’ future rests on her shoulders. (THE TELEGRAPH)

“When my agent called and asked: 'Do you want to go head to head with Maggie Smith in the British series?’ I just chuckled,” she laughs throatily. “It’s not going to be a problem, I’m certain Maggie and I will get along just wonderfully. Intimidating? Certainly not!”

One salivates at the thought of these two venerable actresses pitting their wits against each other – especially as the script calls for MacLaine to cross swords with Maggie Smith’s combative and cynical Dowager Countess. It’s certain to be a riveting clash of caustic British versus American style.

“But I still don’t know exactly what happens,” says MacLaine, tantalisingly reaching for her Downton script and flipping through it. “I’ve got this script but it doesn’t tell me what has happened between the end of the second series and beginning of the third one. “All I know is when I show up, it’s a year later and it’s no longer a convalescent home for wounded soldiers.”

One thing seems certain: the fate of Downton Abbey may rest on her American shoulders. But her character will invoke the imperious Dowager’s scorn for advocating that the British should adapt to changing times. “Of course I, as my character, go over and say: 'Why don’t you become a little bit more American and more comfortable with change and let it go?’ ”

Good grief – let Downton Abbey go? “We have all these wisecracks about what my character says about the family,” reveals MacLaine, without expanding on this, “and about why I’m there. And it’s all done in a manner that’s very witty and biting… although in some ways it’s honestly cruel.” MacLaine smiles enigmatically, reaching for another handkerchief to smother her sniffles.

“I’ve been watching the series on TV and I love it. But I’m still not quite sure why it is such a big hit. Here as well as in the UK. I knew I loved it but I didn’t know all these other people were looking at it. I found it very encouraging about the intelligence of the audience, to tell you the truth. Yet I’m asking myself what is it about this show that is proving so irresistible?”

One answer, she conjectures, is that people on both sides of the Atlantic want to be transported away from a time of plunging economies, home foreclosures and financial failures.


READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/9138914/Shirley-MacLaine-Im-still-not-sure-why-Downton-Abbey-is-such-a-hit.html