George Clooney 'to make appearance in Downton Abbey'

THE GUARDIAN
Martin Williams
theguardian.com, Wednesday 10 September 2014 19.59 EDT




George Clooney is to star in the UK television series Downton Abbey, it has been reported. The actor will play an American character who is a guest at a wedding in the country estate.

The show, which will be broadcast at Christmas, was written to raise money for a charity fundraiser, called Text Santa for ITV. An ITV spokesperson said Clooney would appear in a sketch, but would not act in a full Christmas episode.

The Hollywood star has already filmed the scenes but a spokesperson for the period drama refused to give away any further details. However, it was reported that Clooney was set to appear alongside Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery.

Clooney is reportedly a huge fan of Downton Abbey and is good friends with Bonneville, who plays Lord Robert Crawley. The pair became close after working on the war film, Monuments Men, together.

Earlier this year, it was also claimed that Clooney and his fiancée, Amal Alamuddin, considered choosing Highclere Castle, the Hampshire estate where Downton Abbey is filmed, as the venue for their upcoming wedding.

However, it has been suggested that this was an elaborate cover story – invented after he was spotted at the castle – in order to keep his Downton appearance a secret.

Sources told the Sun: "All the plans have been shrouded in secrecy because George was determined for his role not to leak out.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/11/george-clooney-downton-abbey-charity-sketch-itv

'Downton Abbey' moving on without Dan Stevens, says co-star

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Feb. 10, 2014 at 12:40 PM



"It's been interesting," Bonneville told the New York Post about life on the program since Stevens left.

"The show has taken on a different flavor. New characters have come in his wake," Bonneville said. "I had drinks with him a couple weeks ago. But miss him on the show? I think that's a bit too maudlin."

Bonneville can now be seen on the big screen in "The Monuments Men," as well as Season 4 of "Downton Abbey." Stevens recently starred in the film "The Fifth Estate.



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2014/02/10/Downton-Abbey-moving-on-without-Dan-Stevens-says-co-star/UPI-45041392054023/#ixzz2t1asdC61

Hugh Bonneville: Matt Damon is Front and Center in First 'Monuments Men' Poster

ROPE OF SILICON

BY: BRAD BREVET PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 25TH 2013 AT 10:30 AM

The film is based on the true story of an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/first-monuments-men-poster/