Throughout six seasons of TV and three films, beginning with the sinking of the Titanic to 1930, Downton Abbey’s Ladies Edith and Mary have alternately sniped, sabotaged, and supported one another. With Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the final installment in the addicting universe of upstairs/downstairs, the disparate sisters have come to a place of “real love,” says Laura Carmichael, who plays Edith.
The Grand Finale finds the Crawley family of Downton rocked with scandal at the news of Mary’s divorce from playboy Henry Talbott. The great Lady verges on societal ruin until her sister Edith steps in with a plan to improve Mary’s status. A tension between tradition and modernity has always driven Downton’s plot, and Carmichael credits Edith’s move toward progress as the reason she steps up to solve Mary’s problems.
Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley and Laura Carmichael as Edith Focus Features
“There was a moment in the series where we saw Edith kind of find her voice, become a writer, and spend time in London. I think it really opened her eyes to the world around her that was changing. In that way, she’s a bit more sophisticated,” Carmichael tells Out. “In this story, we can see how this can be useful to her sister, who is going through a divorce and is struggling with that scandal.”
The new film begins with the Crawley family and their staff in London for the season, taking in the latest Noel Coward play, courtesy of their former footman Thomas Barrow (Rob James Collier), whose relationship with actor Guy Dexter (Dominic West) has elevated him to London’s gay glitterati. Though all appears sanguine in the Crawley world, during a shopping excursion with Edith and Mary (Michelle Dockery), there are hints of the eldest sister’s imminent divorce.
No stranger to hardship and scandal, Edith steps up to support her sister as a confidante and a formidable force in social maneuvering.
“Edith is truly frightened for her sister and what could become of her and Downton, and their home, because it impacts the entire family,” Carmichael says. “Edith has a modern sensibility that can see a way through, and she can see a way in which she can see her power and status to support her sister.”
For fans who’re accustomed to barbs the sisters have traded over the years, there are satisfying moments between them in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale that acknowledge their past feuds.
“They’re not suddenly all cuddly. There’s a kind of great moment where she [Edith] says, ‘You can’t just say thank you, can you?’” Carmichael laughs. They’re still the same Edith and Mary, but there’s real love there.”
Watch the full interview with Carmichael and Joanne Froggatt (Anna).
Watch Out's interview with Hugh Bonneville, Allen Leech, and Kevin Doyle below:
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is in theaters now.
