‘Downton Abbey’ season 4: Michelle Dockery on the joys of playing Mary
When you consider that Lady Mary Crawley is probably one of the more depressing “Downton Abbey” characters to play at times, you would think that this would take somewhat of a toll on a woman like Michelle Dockery. As it turns out, the contrary is true. While Mary spends the fourth season (which we will not explain in-depth for those of you in America) wrestling with a number of issues following the death of her husband Matthew, the depth and range of the character is something that the Emmy-nominated actress really embraces and enjoys playing.
In an interview with Boston Common (that helps to promote the show’s January 5 return in America), Dockery has the following to say about what she finds so interesting about playing this particular character:
“I love playing her because of her behavior at times. I find she can be quite shocking. She has a real bite to her that I love playing, because I don’t think I could ever be that way. That’s the joy of being an actor – you can tap into those sides of yourself that feel unfamiliar.”
Dockery did also drop the most generic of teasers regarding Mary’s upcoming role, at least in terms of how the character is coping in the early going following what happened with Matthew:
“There was a real sense of isolation with the character in the first episode because Mary has very much retreated. She’s become a bit of a recluse.”
The great thing about the Mary character is ultimately that she’s not an intentional crowd-pleaser, and thanks to that, she’s not a character that is going to change or evolve just for the sake of making a given demographic of people happy. You’re instead going to see her struggle with everything in the early part of the season, even to the point where she hurts some people. But in the end, this all may be great for the sake of seeing where she ends up at the end of the season.
Want to look for down the line when it comes to “Downton Abbey”? Then just click here to read more of the shocking information about who could be off of the show at the end of season 5.
Photo: ITV