Joanne Froggatt on the Downton Abbey movie: "Everyone would like to do it"
“Logistically, it’s a bit of a minefield,” says the actress who brought lady’s maid Anna Bates to life
Joanne Froggatt, who played lady's maid Anna Bates in Downton Abbey, has said that although “everyone would like to do” a movie spin-off, logistically speaking it is proving very tricky.
Downton creator Julian Fellowes has been hinting at a film ever since the TV drama wrapped up almost two years ago.
Froggatt tells this week’s issue of Radio Times: “It’s been tricky. There has been a lot of goodwill from all of us, but logistically, it’s a bit of a minefield.
“It’s very difficult to get 22 actors together. But if we can, everyone would like to do it.”
Back in January, Jim Carter – a.k.a head butler Mr Carson – revealed that there’s “a willingness to do a film” and said that the cast had been “asked to keep ourselves available for dates in the future”.
Fellowes himself, however, has since spoken about the difficulty of rounding up the stars, a lot of whom are now in Hollywood thanks to their Downton success, and he said in July that the film might have to be a prequel with a brand new line-up.
Dame Maggie Smith, meanwhile, reckons making a Downton movie might be “squeezing it dry”.
The very uncertain fate of the Downton Abbey film aside, Froggatt has just landed a role in film One Last Thing, opposite The Wire's Wendell Pierce. But first, you can see her in new ITV thriller Liar – from the writers who brought us The Missing – on ITV next Monday.
