Lily James Hopes To Spice Up Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey newcomer Lily James hopes her character will be “even naughtier” in the forthcoming new series.

Warning: May Contain Spoilers For American Readers!

Downton Abbey will return to ITV later this year for a fourth series and while it may be without Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley it see newcomer Lily James join the cast full time. The actress made her debut as naughty Rose – cousin to the Crawley family – in the season three finale.

Viewers will remember that Rose, packed off to Downton by her mother, caused quite a stir upstairs with her ‘naughty’ behaviour and affair with a married man. The character returned in the recent Christmas Special, after being sent packing to Scotland, and was seen to be deeply unhappy so logically the Crawley family decided to ‘adopt her’ so to speak.

The Radio Times caught up with actress Lily James at its recent covers party and asked the actress if Rose will be ‘even naughtier’ this year. “We’ll see. I hope so…It’s nice to bring the outside world into Downton. The London world is quite exciting – it gives it a social context. Downton’s in a bubble with their morals and the world they uphold, so it’s nice to see the more rebellious London world [as well]. But you never know what’s going to happen…Julian [Fellowes] could write anything for any of us’

The actress revealed that she had so far received two scripts for the fourth series but was careful not to let any details slip. Filming on the fourth season is reported to start shortly although details are, unexpectedly, few and far between. Creator and Julian Fellowes has confirmed the fourth season will see Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) re-build her life following the death of Matthew in the Christmas special and some reports claim a new suitor will also be introduced.

Late last year it was confirmed that Dame Maggie Smith would continue in her role of Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess. The one-liners and witty putdowns of the Countess are a highlight of each episode for Downton fans.

Speaking at the National Television Awards last month Fellowes stated he would like to bring back American actress Shirley MacLaine as a sparring partner for Violet. MacLaine appeared in the first two episodes of Downton‘s third season as Martha Levison; the mother of Cora (Elizabeth McGovern).