Leech:There’s some magical thing happening.
We’re thinking if we have any auditions to do, we should keep this set up.
Carmichael:I want to keep borrowing that light.
I’m going to jump straight into questions … Let’s start with your initial reactions to the script.
There were so many storylines up in the air when we revisit these characters.
Carmichael:Our initial reaction was, “Oh goody, we get to go to France.”
That was honestly my first thought.
She’s super happy in her marriage, but she still wants to work.
I was really pleased to see that back in the story.
You were revisiting roles that you’d fulfilled before.
I always want more of that.
That’s always my thing with ego, because it felt like such a cool development throughout the show.
To see her come back in that way in this movie was really satisfying for me.
Carmichael:With the upstairs and the downstairs, because of the location.
That meant that it was
Leech:It was more disjointed.
Carmichael:Yeah, but it was a thrill to see the film, to see the finished product.
I wanted to see what they’ve been up to.
I really enjoyed it.
It’s not just the family you could experience exactly as you would back at “Downton.”
I felt as well that this movie has, as you said, so many more plots and subplots.
What [do you] you hope her future looks like off screen?
Carmichael:I would love for her to keep writing and keep being the boss.
He fell in love with her as this career woman.
It feels right that he would carry on supporting her, even though their lives have changed so much.
We’ve watched him rise through the professional and personal ranks.
We’ve seen him suffer.
Now, in the film, as you said, his daughter’s inheriting this amazing villa.
He had incredibly strong, and at the time, fairly radical political views.
It does seem very, very strange.
He did and I don’t think he is that person.
Focus Features will release “Downton Abbey: A New Era” in theaters on May 20, 2022.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
