“She was wonderful to write for…”

As a seasoned cinephile with over seven decades of movie-watching under my belt, I have to say that few experiences compare to witnessing the wit and charm of Dame Maggie Smith grace our screens. From her Oscar-winning performance in Gosford Park to her iconic role as Violet, Countess Dowager of Grantham in Downton Abbey, it is clear that Lord Julian Fellowes knew exactly what he was doing when he penned those sharp, clever lines for her.

Over the past seven decades, many esteemed scriptwriters, such as Alan Bennett and Neil Simon, have relished crafting dialogue when they knew it would be spoken by acting legends like Dame Maggie Smith. And the payoff has been significant, both on screen and in their trophy collections, including an Oscar for his 2002 screenplay “Gosford Park” and numerous Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTA Awards for his sprawling TV period drama “Downton Abbey.

“She was wonderful to write for…”

According to Fellowes, he found it delightful to write for Maggie Smith. Over the span of Gosford Park and more than 15 years of Downton Abbey, he wrote many scenes for her. She never needed explanations about lines or jokes; she just instinctively understood them. While we weren’t close friends and didn’t share a seaside home, Maggie Smith effortlessly grasped his writing without much effort. Unlike some actors who might not fully comprehend the humor and require reassurance, she didn’t need to be convinced – her understanding was evident.

In Gosford Park, the late Dame Maggie Smith, who passed away just two weeks ago at 89 years old, initially demonstrated her unique portrayal of Fellowes’s elderly aristocrat character. As the Dowager Countess of Trentham, she embodied all the traits – airs of superiority, cutting remarks at dinner tables, subtle hints of vulnerability – which she subsequently brought to Downton Abbey in her captivating performance as Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

In a performance marked by cleverly timed jokes, keenly perceptive glances, and seemingly innocent musings like “What is a weekend?”, she won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for the role. Yet, despite her illustrious and lengthy career, Dame Maggie admitted that the show’s success took her by surprise.

In 2017, during an interview at the BFI and TopMob festival, she shared with Mark Lawson that she and her co-star Penelope Wilton were shooting the movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” abroad when Downton Abbey gained popularity: “When it was released, we were in India, so we didn’t know about this massive phenomenon. We missed out on it all. We felt a bit left out. It became a huge success, with everyone discussing it. Meanwhile, we were in Udaipur, where they couldn’t have cared less.

1934 saw the birth of Margaret Natalie Smith in Ilford, Essex. As a child, she didn’t dream of acting. In an interview with RT, she shared: “I never visited the theatre; it was completely off my radar. However, I can only speculate that it sparked at school thanks to my English teacher who noticed my keen interest in Shakespeare. But all I knew was that I had to pursue it.

Before Downton nobody knew who the hell I was

Initially working as an apprentice at the Oxford Repertory Theatre, she soon caught the eye of Laurence Olivier, who extended an invitation for her to perform at the National Theatre. Her portrayal of Desdemona opposite his Othello in a 1965 film earned her her first Oscar nomination. Five years later, she clinched her first Academy Award, starring as Miss Jean Brodie in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In 1978, she won her second Oscar for California Suite, with four additional nominations, one of which was for Gosford Park.

Although she had already demonstrated her range with over 60 movies and was even JK Rowling’s preferred choice for Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, Dame Maggie asserts that it was her role in Downton Abbey that truly transformed her life. “It’s absurd,” she shared during a crowded BFI event. “I lived a completely ordinary life before Downton Abbey. I’m serious. I used to visit theaters and art galleries alone, and now I can’t.

She went on to say: “And truly, it’s terrible. I had been laboring diligently for a great length of time before Downton Abbey, and my life was perfectly content, with no one recognizing me. However, things have shifted. Oh well.

It appears that only Dame Maggie herself didn’t relish watching herself on screen. Moreover, she mentioned that night with an apt wit, sharing that she had never watched Downton Abbey, remarking, “I reached a stage where it was past the point of catching up.

Luckily, her fans can continue to savor the gems from her illustrious and unique career – a talent like hers is unlikely to reappear.

You can stream the movie “Gosford Park” on both ITVX and Disney Plus, while all seasons of “Downton Abbey” are accessible on Netflix as well as ITVX+.

2024-10-09 18:34

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