How Downton Abbey cast went from girl-next-door to Hollywood glamour

Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael stick together on the red carpet at the premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era held at the Metropolitan Opera House on Sunday (May 15) in New York City.

When the teaser trailer for “Downton Abbey: A New Era” premiered last year, it didn’t take the standard route of listing the cast for the film. Instead, the promo elegantly trumpeted the presence of Lord Grantham, Lady Grantham, et al.

The first Downton Abbey film gave us Thomas Barrow, played by Rob James-Collier, a gay butler whose sexuality was explored throughout the film by way of a short-lived romance with the king’s royal dresser. However, in Downton Abbey: A New Era, currently playing in theatres, Thomas Barrow’s story gets more of a spotlight and his experiences as a gay man are presented under a warmer more optimistic light, with bright hope for his future. For LGBTQI fans of both the show and western television, the introduction of this storyline back in 2010 was a milestone moment. Thomas Barrow is an openly gay character played by an openly gay actor; while in this moment in time this alone may not be much to celebrate, in 2010 this was relatively rare in Hollywood, considering shows like Will & Grace were the height of mainstream gay representation, with straight actors playing the lead roles. At this time streaming services which have now majorly streamlined production and allowed more marginalised stories to be told, were also not yet around. Thomas Barrow.

Downton Abbey: A New Era released in cinemas last week to praise from fans and critics, with the ending leaving some viewers particularly devastated. The film sees Dame Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern reprise their roles, as the Crawleys attempt to solve the mystery of why the Dowager Countess (Smith) has suddenly inherited a French villa.

Naman Ramachandran The latest in the Downton saga, Universal’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era” topped the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.07 million ($3.8 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

Downton Abbey's Lesley Nicol has been left devastated after the passing of her beloved husband David Keith Heald. The 68 year old's agent, Paul Pearson, confirmed the news of his death to The Sun as he shared: “I would like to confirm the passing of Lesley’s beloved husband David Heald, known to all his wonderful friends as Da’arboth. “Da’arboth was an amazing, unique and inspirational man who was always at Lesley’s side ‘her warrior’.

Die hard fans of Downton Abbey will all have wondered just what it’s like to step inside the historic home. It’s no secret that Downton is in fact a real place, and tourists flock to experience the upstairs-downstairs life depicted in two blockbuster films and an incredible six series on TV. As Downton Abbey: A New Era arrives in cinemas, we meet Lady Fiona Carnarvon who opened up her outstanding home - Highclere Castle in Hampshire - to create one of our most treasured TV shows of all time.

Refresh for latest…: On a weekend we could term “the calm before the Strange,” there was nevertheless sustained holdover business at the international box office, and a new entry in the form of Universal/Focus’ Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Downton Abbey couple Laura Carmichael and boyfriend Michael C Fox reportedly secretly welcomed a baby boy in March last year. The 35 year old actress, who played Lady Edith Grantham on the ITV period drama, gave birth to a son she named Luca, according to The Sun.

Damien Chazelle’s latest film “Babylon” dazzled with its Old Hollywood glamour and other more eccentric charms and mayhem at CinemaCon on Thursday, one of the showpieces of Paramount’s presentation. Chazelle’s film, which is a “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” reunion of Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, has a lot of style, some jazz but also some madcap humor, including a closing scene to the trailer in which Pitt’s producing tent is precariously located next to where an elaborate battlefield is staging a period war scene, only for a spear to come flying in inches next to his head.

premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era took place in Leicester Square, London on Monday night (25 April) with the cast of the period drama taking to the red carpet for its first screening. Seven years since the ITV series ended and three years after the first spin-off film, the beloved drama returns to the big screen to continue the story of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. In anticipation of the film’s release on 29 April, its cast including Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and Laura Carmichael - who play Mary, Robert and Edith Crawley respectively - put on a fashionable display for the red carpet.

Downton Abbey has been in production on-and-off for the better part of a decade, it can sometimes be difficult to divorce the show's characters from the real life actors who play them— especially where personal style is concerned.However, at the premiere of Downton Abbey: A New Era, the women of Downton had the chance to showcase their own taste—and they didn't miss.Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith in the series, arrived at the premiere in London on April 25 in a pink Giambattista Valli mini that might be best described as a reverse mullet dress: Party in the front, business in the back. Stylist gave the actor a blowout, while makeup artist gave her a subtle glow. Carmichael's on-screen sister, , went in a more modest direction, arriving in a cape dress from Valentino featuring a shower of silver beading from shoulders to ankles.

Haskell Yellow Daisy Print Lace Collar Silk Shirt Dress, which costs a whopping £329. She captioned the photo: " Morning Tuesday… see you on @thismorning at 10am. Today we are joined by Hugh Dancy to talk about the new @downtonabbey_official movie… #hwstyle dress by @lkbennettlondon.