Downton Abbey’s Maggie Smith and Julian Fellowes on Harry Potter, the Oscars and playing “mean old bags”
Before my encounter with Maggie Smith, both professionally and personally, I had already been a devoted fan of hers. This admiration dates back to when I was around 15 years old in the mid-60s. My mother, feeling that I lacked sophistication, took me on a cultural excursion during a school break. We attended a performance of Arabella at Covent Garden where Joan Carlyle sang, and a ballet production of Sleeping Beauty featuring Margot Fonteyn. To round off the experience, I was treated to Olivier’s famous Othello at the Old Vic.
