Matthew Goode Hits It Big With ‘Good Wife,’ ‘Downton Abbey’ Roles

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By KARA MAYER ROBINSON
Feb. 26, 2015 6:17 p.m. ET


Matthew Goode at Freemans, a restaurant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. PHOTO: CLAUDIO PAPAPIETRO FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

In less than a year, British actor Matthew Goode joined the cast of a critically acclaimed TV drama (“The Good Wife”), appeared in an Oscar-nominated film (“The Imitation Game”) and secured a role in another, equally successful series (“Downton Abbey”).

“It’s been a really good year. There’s no question about that,” said the 36-year-old actor who grew up in England, studied at London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts, then performed mainly in theater (“The Tempest”) and film (“Match Point,” “A Single Man”).

Mr. Goode was offered the “Good Wife” role of prosecutor Finn Polmar last winter, just as producers Michelle and Robert King were secretly plotting the exit of one of its lead characters, Will Gardner, played by Josh Charles. He quickly accepted, temporarily moving his family—Sophie, his wife, and daughters Matilda, 5, and Teddy, 1—to New York.

It has been a good run, but Mr. Goode is eager to return to England.

He will pack up his family in April, in time to film the next season of “Downton,” shoot a show about wine with friend and fellow actor Matthew Rhys and prepare for a new arrival. His son is due in August.



WSJ: Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, you...Is there some sort of British actor boom going on?

There’s so much work over here. I think the Americans are much more open-minded than British audiences. But you’ve still got to pull it off. America isn’t just a couple of accents; it’s a vast country with a myriad of different accents and classes. You’ve got to get it right.

WSJ: Was it difficult to step into “The Good Wife” midseason, just as Josh Charles’s character was being killed off?

I never felt like I was stepping into his role. When I discussed it with Robert and Michelle, I said, “I think it would be a mistake to throw me in as this immediate replacement love interest. I think the audience needs to mourn and I don’t think it’s that interesting.”

So far, I like Finn. A lot of the characters are quite arch. You think you know them and suddenly they’ll do something that’s actually quite immoral. It hasn’t happened to Finn yet.

WSJ: How did you acquire your American accent?

I found a bloke on the Internet…this lawyer. He was talking to the press for a good five minutes. I didn’t memorize it, but I watched him. I could just learn his rhythms and what he said.

WSJ: Will you return next season?

I don’t know yet. We haven’t had the discussion. I might, but I’m all about the family, really. You can’t keep uprooting your children all the time.

WSJ: How did your “Downton Abbey” role come about?

I knew a few people in the cast already, like Allen [Leech] from “The Imitation Game.” I met Michelle [Dockery] a long time ago. We had a really good laugh and ended up dancing the night away. It’d been on the cards and suddenly it came to fruition.

I don’t know how long I’m going to be doing it, but the game is afoot. My character’s a guy called Henry Talbot. That’s all we know so far.



WSJ: “The Imitation Game” has caused quite a stir. What are your thoughts about it?

The story of Alan Turing is fascinating. We see that he thinks differently, we see that he has an incredible mind. Ultimately, he wins the Second World War. And for his efforts, because he likes to make love with men…?

Because Alan Turing achieved this incredible thing, he’s been pardoned by the queen. What about pardoning the other 49,000 men who you condemned for just being gay? There’s a petition you can sign. They wanted to get 49,000 signatures and I think it’s on its way to 100,000.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.wsj.com/articles/british-actor-matthew-goode-hits-it-big-with-good-wife-downton-abbey-roles-1424992619

'Downton Abbey' Got Prince Edward Right

BLOOMBERG OPINION
By Stephen L. Carter  Feb 24, 2014 11:38 AM ET



Among the many subplots spinning in the “Downton Abbey” season finale, the one most interesting to the student of history involved a would-be blackmailer’s theft of a love letter written from the Prince of Wales to Freda Dudley Ward, and an amateurish scheme by Lord Grantham, a self-described monarchist, to steal it back.

Historical dramas are often at their shakiest when they introduce characters who actually existed, but “Downton Abbey” seems to have handled Prince Edward fairly. Edward’s notorious affair with Mrs. Winifred Dudley Ward produced hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bizarre letters, so it’s hardly beyond supposition that one might have wound up in the wrong hands. And the chances are that the letter would have been quite direct and inculpatory, for the future king was not one to express himself with cautious indirection.

He also would have sounded quite empty-headed.

For example, in a letter to Freda sold at auction in 2011, he sounded exactly like the eternal adolescent he was occasionally accused of being: “This is only just a teeny weeny little scrawl to catch the last post sweetheart & to tell you how fearfully madly I’m loving you this afternoon angel & looking forward to 4.30 tomorrow. Although I only said all this about 12 hrs ago I can't help saying it all again this afternoon only I mean it even more sweetheart!!”

In another letter, part of the manuscript collection at the State Library in New South Wales, the prince addressed her as “My vewy vewy [sic] own precious darling beloved little Freddie.”

Nobody but a royal could get away with such solemn silliness. In 2003, when Sotheby’s sold a batch of the letters, the New York Times described them as “written in childish pencil scrawls on yellowing sheets of notepaper emblazoned with the addresses of Nepalese base camps, Canadian locomotives and the royal retreat of Sandringham.” As to the substance, the Times was primly censorious: “Alternately self-pitying and condescending, speckled with misspellings and erratic punctuation, the letters reveal a man alarmingly spoiled, relentlessly misogynistic, caustically racist, and determined to avoid his ordained role in life at all costs.” And then there was this: “Especially astonishing to read are frantic avowals of undying love, rendered in a creepy combination of saccharine baby talk and pathological desperation.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-24/-downton-abbey-got-prince-edward-right.html

WATCH ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ SEASON 4 FINALE LIVE, ONLINE! WILL FEBRUARY 23RD EPISODE 'THE LONDON SEASON' REVEAL IF *** KILLED *****? (VIDEO & SPOILERS)

HOLLYWOOD TAKE
By Melissa Siegel February 23, 2014 8:37 AM


Photo: Reuters
Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Phyllis Logan, Joanne Froggatt and Sophie McShera from Downton Abbey.

The Downton Abbey Season 4 finale airs Sunday night on PBS. But before you watch the February 23rd episode of the Masterpiece drama, check out our preview and spoilers for "The London Season" below.

Last week on Downton Abbey Season 4, we finally bid farewell to Mr. Green (Nigel Harman). Anna’s (Joanne Froggatt) raper was hit by a car and killed, but was it truly an accident? Bates (Brendan Coyle) recently found out about Green’s attack on his wife, so could he have sought revenge? Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen) certainly suspected something fishy occurred, and since Bates just happened to be off work the day of Green’s death, things are not looking good for Anna’s husband.

In other Downton Abbey Season 4 happenings, Jack (Gary Carr) and Rose (Lily James) briefly got engaged, only for the former to break it off for the sake of his love. Jack realized that Rose would face a lifetime of scrutiny if she married an African-American, so he sweetly stepped away so she could have a happier future. Meanwhile, Mary (Michelle Dockery) continued to get courted by two suitors, while Edith (Laura Carmichael) struggled to determine what to do with her unborn child.

So what will happen in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale? For starters, Episode 8 will feature a guest appearance from actor Paul Giamatti. Giamatti will play Harold, who joins Cora’s (Elizabeth McCovern) mother, Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine) for a trip overseas.

“I’m this immensely wealthy businessman, who had some sort of involvement in the crooked deals that were part of this thing called the Teapot Dome scandal during the President Harding administration,” Giamatti told Telegraph about his role in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale. “Harold has come to London to lay low. I thought it was kind of interesting the way the character was written. He’s awkward and not terribly comfortable in these social situations. He’s more comfortable in business. He obviously whores around a lot on yachts and stuff like that, but it’s not his primary interest.”

Harold and Martha join the rest of the characters in "The London Season" to celebrate Rose’s presentation to the Royal Family. But of course, there are several other major plots to be resolved in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS HERE

Downton Abbey Series 4 Spoilers: (PICTURES)

UNREALITY PRIMETIME
November 7th, 2013 by Anna Howell.

It’s hard to believe that this Sunday will see the last instalment of the current series of Downton Abbey, but before the depressions starts sinking in we still have a whopper of an episode to look forward to – and we have some pics to show you in advance!

We were all left shocked by the fact the not only is Lady Edith pregnant, but that she is not married to the father as he is not only missing, but still married to someone else!

Last week’s episode saw Edith (Laura Carmichael) confide in her aunt Rosamund (Samantha Bond) the news as well as enlisting her company while she visited an illegal doctor to have the problem solved.

However, when sat waiting to be seen Edith made a snap decision not to go ahead with the termination, running out of the building, leaving us all wondering just what she was going to do next!

As well as pictures of some of the downstairs staff there is also a selection of pictures from a Downton sports day which seems to have most people in jolly good spirits, but being the final episode we can’t help but wonder if the joy will last! Finally and another hot piece of gossip for you is that, after their secret date last week, Lady Rose (Lily James) is planning to marry jazz singer Jack Ross (Gary Carr), the show’s first ever black character.


READ MORE HERE: http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/downton-abbey-series-4-see-spoiler-pictures-weeks-finale/

Downton Abbey's Season 3 Finale: Shocking, Says PEOPLE's TV Critic By TOM GLIATTO 02/17/2013 at 10:00 PM EST (PEOPLE MAGAZINE)

Downton Abbey's third season finale on PBS's Masterpiece was, to say the least, a spoiler's paradise. The episode, which saw the Granthams and servants going on holiday in the Scottish Highlands, started on a joyful note – Lady Mary was pregnant! – and ended with a shock that would have knocked the hat off Lady Violet's wobbling head.

SPOILER ALERT: Major plot points to be revealed immediately.


Cousin Matthew (Dan Stevens) died in a car accident. He was driving back to Downton, so happy he was practically whistling, just after Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) had given birth to their son – the male Downton heir everyone has been so obsessed with since Season 1.

Many viewers probably saw this coming: For one thing, Stevens had said he was thinking of decamping before season 4 started shooting. And after the finale had its premiere broadcast in Britain in December, he blabbed all about it, including for an interview posted online by The New York Times.

Even so, the death was almost sadistically abrupt and arbitrary, especially after the soft tenderness and growing love between Mary and Matthew in recent episodes. Now we saw dead poor Matthew dumped on the cold mossy ground, eyes wide open.

You can never be sure Downton writer-creator Julian Fellowes won't pull some shameless stunt to kick-start a story – in season 2 Matthew, paralyzed during the war, suddenly leaped out of his wheelchair – but he seemed to want us to be sure that Matthew was 100% gone. I wouldn't have been surprised if the car backed over the corpse.


READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20673834,00.html

Downton Abbey: Five Things You Must Know Before Sunday's 'Downton Abbey' Finale By Justine Ashley Costanza. Posted on Feb 15th 2013. (CELEB LOVE)

Consider yourself warned: The season ends with an unexpected bang.

Season 3 of Downton Abbey saw the marital union of Lady Mary and cousin Matthew, the near end and recovery of Lord Grantham’s estate, and the shocking death of Lady Sybil.

If the finale is anything like the rest of the episodes that aired this season, it’s sure to rouse a few laughs, gasps, and even tears. So arm yourself with tissues and these five teasers about Sunday’s Christmas Special, “A Journey to the Highlands.”


1. Spoiler Alert: After the shocking finale aired in the U.K. last December, the episode received extensive media coverage. With all of those ruin-the-surprise articles floating around, avoid searching online for "Downton Abbey finale" like the plague.

2.  A Little R&R: We’ve witnessed the Crawleys endure a series of setbacks and heartbreaks this year but rest assured, the family enjoys a much needed vacation during a trip to Duneagle Castle in Scotland.

3. Timeline Shift: In the promotional clips released by PBS, we see an older baby Sybil being held by Mr. Carson, so it’s clear the episode occurs sometime after episode 6.

READ MORE: http://www.yourtango.com/2013174371/five-things-you-must-know-sundays-downton-abbey-finale

Downton Abbey Season Finale-And if you thought the merde hit the fan a couple of weeks ago - just wait until this airs!!!

Watch Downton Abbey, Season 3: A Scene from Episode 7 on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/shorts/downton-abbey-season-3-scene-episode-7/?elq=be7bc9ffbc7549a9b4ee3609ed0e8769&elqCampaignId=532

TV REVIEW: Downton Abbey Series 3 Final Episode & Pictures SPOILERS (Huff Post)

Julian Fellowes had his work cut out in the final 90 minutes of this series, with eight sprawling story lines to tie up neatly with a gigantic Christmas-ready bow.

Instead, he threw the gauntlet down with a brand new character, in the form of great-niece Rose, an 18-year-old upstart who "hates London, but loves dancing". Hmmm.

The Dowager’s advice on how to treat the little smart Alec-lette was “keep smiling and never look as if you disapprove" - but that was before Rose announced she was off to the metropolis she claimed to despise, and then did a bunk to that den of iniquity, the Blue Dragon, or “the outer circle of Dante’s inferno” as Matthew Crawley would have it.

Matthew proved his manliness, looking after Rose on the dancefloor of the fabled Blue Dragon

And so, in the dying minutes of this third series, we were at last allowed a bit of nightclub feathers and flapper-dom, a sniff of the 1920s that the Crawley folk had done such a good job of hiding from until now. Strangely for someone with a war-wound who spends half his life in a dressing gown, Matthew knew instinctively how to acquit himself on the dancefloor, while he was coming over all manly and protective to boot.

If only Mary could have seen him in such cavalier stance, because the pair of them were giving the family cause for concern. Mary was just too “tired from London” and busy checking on train times to whip off the dressing gown, but it turned out there was nothing wrong with either of them. How they laughed, and kissed, and prepared to “start making babies”... ewww. Please, no. It’s like watching your parents.

READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/11/04/tv-review-downton-abbey-series-3-final-episode_n_2073598.html

Downton Abbey Finale: Too soon, Downton Abbey, too soon. (E! On Line)

Watch Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 7 Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

Sunday night's two-hour season finale of the phenomenal period drama is the last we'll see of our beloved Crawley family—at least until its third-season return, which is ages away.

 Meanwhile, we must cherish the dramatic conclusion, which the previews promise is full of drama, suspense, terror and romance…

It's Christmastime, but the family and servants have little cause for celebration. Housemaid Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is despondent as her new husband Bates' (Brendan Coyle) trial approaches for the murder of his horrid first wife. And despite his grief and guilt over the death of his fiancée Lavinia, Matthew (Dan Stevens) finally seems ready to fight (literally) for his true love, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). Alas, Mary seems irrevocably bound to her fiancé, ghastly newspaper magnate Sir Richard Carlisle (Iain Glen, Game of Thrones' Ser Jorah), who has the power to destroy her and her family if she refuses to marry him.

Watch Downton Abbey, Season 2: A Scene from Episode 7 on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.

 Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/watch_with_kristin/downton_abbey_season_finale_sneak_peek/294606