Downton Abbey stars talk first impressions

They swapped stories and shared favourite moments from the series during a recent gathering in New York.

Downton Abbey stars swapped stories and shared favourite moments from the series during a recent gathering in New York to promote the drama's final season on PBS, which kicked off January 3. Here's a rundown of memorable observations from the night: Jim Carter (Mr. Carson) knew the show was for him when he noticed an intriguing line of stage direction in the script he'd been given for his audition. "It said 'Carson sits there in his magnificence.' I thought, 'I could do that.' If you want an actor to sit in magnificence, I'm your boy."
Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) went in to the audition thinking her character would be something like the one played by Kristin Scott Thomas in 2001's Gosford Park for which Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes earned a screenwriting Oscar.
She realised that was not the case when she read the episode that involved her momentous dalliance with Mr. Pamuk.
"She became so much more after that episode," she said. Dockery also had a good feeling about the show when she ran into Dan Stevens, who was to play her husband Matthew Crawley, at her audition for Downton. The two had just worked together on a BBC rendition of Turn of the Screw.
Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) felt the same way when Elizabeth McGovern wound up in the role of his wife, Lady Crawley.
"It's the third time we've played husband and wife," Bonneville noted, citing their unions in the British TV comedy series Freezing and TV movie Thursday the 12th. "Third time lucky," he added.
Allen Leech (Tom Branson) never had any conception that he would join the family. "Having worked for weeks on my Yorkshire accent, they came back to me and said 'Why don't you play Irish?' I went 'Noooo," he said. "But I was just delighted for the work."