Fans of “Downton Abbey” were devastated when Maggie Smith, aka the Dowager Countess, died in September. Smith had starred in both the TV series and in both movies, with the Countess character dying at the end of “Downton Abbey: A New Era.”
Now, executive producer Gareth Neame promises that the third film, due Sept. 12, will include a tribute to both the character and to Smith herself.
“The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway,” Neame told TVLine while promoting Peacock’s “The Day of the Jackal.” “The loss of the Dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful.”
Neame calls her loss “the end of an era,” saying, “We will never see the like of Dame Maggie Smith ever again.” He also said the “Downton Abbey” cast and crew’s “huge respect” will “come across in the next movie.”
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Smith collected three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her performance as the Dowager Countess on the “Downton Abbey” TV series.
Before her tour-de-force parting role in “Downton Abbey,” Smith won best actress Oscars for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and for “California Suite.” She was Oscar-nominated for “Travels With My Aunt,” “A Room With a View” and for “Gosford Park,” which shared writer Julian Fellowes with “Downton Abbey.”