‘Downton Abbey’ season 4 finale spoilers: Paul Giamatti to visit Elizabeth McGovern

When the season 4 finale of “Downton Abbey” airs in November in Britain (and probably February / early March over on PBS), we are going to see Elizabeth McGovern’s Cora have some company … and not just courtesy of her mother Martha.

Rather, TVLine reports that Shirley MacLaine will be joined in the episode by award-winning actor Paul Giamatti, who is going to be playing the part of Harold Levinson, a “free-spirited” playboy who manages to come in and really mess things up in Downton for all of its residents. This will be an interesting sight to see, mostly because of the fact that most of these upstairs people will be related to him by marriage, and thus forced to put up with him.

When you consider that “Downton Abbey” does not partake in “stunt” casting in order to bring in viewers or draw headlines, there must have been something specifically about Giamatti that stood out. To us, one of his biggest attributes is that this is a man who really can play just about any character, whether it be a powerhouse or a meek, feeble middle-aged man. He is a character actor unafraid of taking on new challenges.

As for MacLaine, her return is less of a surprise given that it has long been confirmed that she would be back for another episode this year. She first made waves at the start of season 3, even though we always felt as though her character received a tad more hype than what she actually did on the screen.

What do you think about this casting news? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below, and you can head on over to the link here if you want to read some other news regarding filming locations.

Photo: ITV