EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth McGovern Talks Cora’s Journey in Downton Abbey: A New Era

Downton Abbey: A New Era is now out in theaters and we got the chance to celebrate the release with one of the stars of the new movie, Elizabeth McGovern.

McGovern, who is married to the film’s director, Simon Curtis, sat down with BB to talk the film, her character, Cora, what keeps her coming back, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

Your character has quite the twist occur to her in the new movie. As an actress how do you prepare for that?

“You have to hope that you have a director that is working closely with you, because I’ve often had an experience as an actor that you think everything out. But if you’re not in sync with the way it’s being directed, the signs aren’t really calibrated properly. He [Simon Curtis] also agreed that we had to really drop these hints. You have to do it so economically, because there’s so many other storylines to keep afloat and you don’t really have a lot of time to let the messages land. Having worked with so many directors, I know that it takes so much skill to actually do what he did with this movie, which is tell so many stories and have them all be clear.”

Working with Curtis how did this time feel different?

“A lot of times I’ll work with a director, and they’ll get preoccupied by something that looks good, or an effect that obscures the actual story. What I felt Simon did so beautifully is that every choice, every camera angle, every light, bits of costume, they all worked to tell the right story and to reinforce each character rather than make it more confusing. That’s where, as an actor really, you’re dependent on so many other people to do your work. That’s the truth. In this case, I felt really lucky to be supported by the whole team and everything was working together really well.”

As you said, there was a new director on this film, but obviously he is not new to the Downton family.

“No.”

Did he shed a new light on Cora or do something with the character no director had done before?

“I didn’t feel that way, particularly about the character, except that I felt he cared about it, but I felt he cared about every single character. I feel that when I watch it too, every single person has their chance. He really talks to the actors more than we are used to. That was really nice. He sat down with each person individually and said, look, how can we help shape and convey this story? But also, something that was really useful is that because he came onto the project with a lot of feature success behind him, he had confidence to say, no, guys, we’re not doing it the way we’ve always done it. We’re doing it this way.”

How do you think that approach affected your character and the story?

“It’s made it fresh because he could say just because you’ve always shot a certain thing that way doesn’t mean we’re going to do it exactly the same. What often happens with something that’s as successful is down to that the producers get very fearful about doing anything fresh and new because they’ll think they’ll lose the magic. I’m happy to genuinely feel that I think we’ve preserved the magic, but in the approach, there was a lot more room for spontaneity and new ideas.”

What I also really liked about this story was the play on the title, “A New Era.” The story definitely lives up to its name.

“I know. There’s a lot of loose ends.”

When you read the script, did you get the that same feeling. The story lends itself to another film or season?

“I could see there’s a lot of stories I would be interested in following.”

If there were to be another film or season, what would you like to see happen with Cora?

“I’ve always felt that she, her background as an American living in England was rather unexplored. It’s a fascinating subject. Henry James, Edith Wharton, writers who have been obsessed by the American in Europe. I suppose maybe some stories that would explore that a bit of her background or who she is in fact, that would be fun.”

Now to the opposite end. If this is the end, are you satisfied with her journey from start to finish and where we find her at the end of this film?

“Yeah. She’s a character we know all that much about, but she’s perfectly nice. In terms of the whole tapestry, her role was to be this consistent, graceful person. That was the decision that was made about how she fit it into things.”

She does have a sense of calm about her. She always somehow remains claim even in the most strenuous situations. Are you similar to Cora in that sense?

“I’m certainly, I think, more high strung than she is, but aren’t we all? She’s exceptionally calm.”

As you said, we don’t know much about her backstory. As an actress, is that something you have crafted in your head, her backstory?

“I do try to. You try to fill in all those cracks. I suppose for me, she was a woman of her time, and she accepted the limitations that were available in a way that a modern woman probably wouldn’t. They’d rant and rave a lot more. I certainly would. But then again, it’s quite nice for me to see a character who is having to look at her own life because of the situation that she’s found herself in. To actually make the decision to say I’ve been happy and it’s okay. I find that refreshing. We’re living in a world where there’s always a sense of something better. There’s always something that somebody else has that is around the corner that somebody else is doing that we’re not doing and this constant anxiety or this feeling, ooh, it’s not enough. It’s not enough. Here’s a character who said it’s been enough. And it’s nice. It’s refreshing.”

Your character has a bemused expression on her face throughout the entire series. Was that done on purpose or was that something you didn’t even recognize you were doing?

“I don’t think it was something I consciously thought about, but I think, because of the way they viewed her character, there’s so much filling in that I need to do. Because there’s not a lot to chew on, a lot of the time. From minute to minute, I constantly had to make a choice of how do I fill in this thing, because there’s just very few… And oftentimes there’s high drama going on where people are engaged in conflict and I’m standing in the background. It was just the way that I found to try and fill in that void.”

Now I understand you had the opportunity to film this movie in France?

“Yeah.”

How was that?

“Oh, it was just as heavenly as you might imagine. It really was. I wish I could tell you we were suffering, but I can’t. It was just like one of those times where you just think, ugh, everything has actually lined up for once. Even this thing of having to quarantine for a week before we even started, insane. We were pinching ourselves.”

Did you know before receiving the script you were going to France?

“Nobody knew. It was touch and go. There was a big period where we were thinking, oh, we’re going to be sitting on some British pebble beach. Whopping or pretending we’re in the south of France, but at the very last minute, it was getting permission from the French government to travel there and all the COVID protocol and the very last minute it all came together. But they were looking at other locations in the UK.”

Was there anywhere particular in the UK?

“Scotland, but that would’ve been quite a bit chillier.”

You have been with the series since Day 1, what keeps you coming back?

“It’s a real feeling of love and loyalty for the cast and Julian [Fellowes], for sure.”

Is there any character you wish Cora would interact more with in the series?

“That’s an interesting question I’ve never really thought about. No, I love all the scenes with my daughters. I have daughters and I love them as actresses and people I’d like more of that. I love it.”

You’ve watched your onscreen daughters grow over the years, does that give you a sense of pride?

“Completely. They both just blossomed. They’ve handled the whole business of riding the wave of this success so well. I’ve been so proud of them.”

The show has such a huge, devoted fanbase. Is there any added pressure when it comes to hoping the fans are going to life the film?

“No, I felt very relieved when I read this script because I thought this is good, I can tell. As I said before, I think he’s [Julian Fellowes] channeling a really good idea. But I always feel we should never do this again because it’s going to be really difficult to keep it special. There’s no assumption at the beginning. Oh, it’ll all just work out and be brilliant. Not at all, because I think the worst thing for it to happen would be this thing of spinning wheels and it sort of fossilizing. But, as I say miraculously, it’s really organically, still buzzy. I can’t really believe that, but it seemed to have happened.”

It’s awesome because now you’re getting younger generations coming in to watch the show.

“That’s so crazy. Yeah.”

That’s a testament to the entire team and to Julian because you’ve created something that has longevity and will continue to have longevity. Is there anything that he has written about Cora that you were skeptical about?

“I had a big moment in whatever season it was. It was three or four when suddenly we saw Cora’s family. I had always assumed that she was American, well, the American version of aristocracy, i.e., a descendant of the Mayflower or whatever. It turns out, oh, no, she’s Shirley MacLaine’s daughter, daughter of an author. I had to totally get my mind around that. It was not at all what I was expecting, but mostly I’m always trying to make it up for myself, because we don’t really know ever too much about her. But yeah, there she is. Mom is Shirley MacLaine. That was go figure.”

For my final question for you today. What are you hoping fans get from the movie?

“I hope that they just get to escape for a couple of hours. That they have a feeling of warmth and positivity at the end because I think this world, we’re living in right now is just so damn harsh and there’s so much anxiety and there’s so much to be slightly depressed about. Also, I think along with everybody, I feel so helpless to do anything. If I felt that I was part of something that just made somebody feel a little bit better for a couple of hours, I’d feel like that’s worth all the trouble it takes.”

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity