‘Downton Abbey’ season 4: Maggie Smith jokes about future as Dowager Countess

While such “Downton Abbey” characters as Sybil and Matthew die, how does the Dowager Countess live on? This seems to be a question that Maggie Smith is having quite a bit of fun with at the moment, as she recently confirmed that she will be back for the fourth season of the show,

So can Smith really see her famous (and Emmy-winning) role really go on forever? Based on some of her latest comments, it certainly does not seem like it. In a new interview with “The Today Show,” the actress had a bit of humor with the fact that close to a decade has already passed since the beginning of the series, and she is still finding a way to be very much alive and kicking:

“She’s gotta drop down dead at some point … Because [she] must be about 110, logically, in the thing. So I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Realistically, the truth here for Smith is that she will really be able to stick around on the show for as long as she wants to. Julian Fellowes has more or less already stated such, and with the latest rumors suggesting that season 5 could be the end for the ITV production (though this is far from confirmed), doing two more years may be something that Smith can handle before whetting her desire to other film and stage work. After all, there are few actresses out there who do even half as much as she does, even those a third of her age.

Can you imagine “Downton Abbey” ever without the Dowager Countess? If you want to see what one of the show’s new cast members is saying about the new season, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ITV