{"id":2018507,"date":"2025-09-13T04:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T04:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2018507"},"modified":"2025-09-13T04:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T04:50:16","slug":"will-downton-abbey-come-back-for-a-sequel-the-actors-weigh-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/will-downton-abbey-come-back-for-a-sequel-the-actors-weigh-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Will ‘Downton Abbey’ Come Back For a Sequel? The Actors Weigh In"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After more than 15 years, the cast of “Downton Abbey” is making its final curtain call in the movie “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the last installment in the period drama.<\/p>\n

The long-running series has provided a glimpse into the early 20th century world of the Crawley family and their servants, all residing in an English castle called Downton Abbey.<\/p>\n

The latest film bids adieu to both the series and its beloved characters including Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith Hexham (Laura Carmichael), Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt), Tom Branson (Allen Leech), Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) and the Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith, who notably died<\/a> in 2024, among other members of the Grantham family and staff.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the final film, TODAY.com sat down with Bonneville, Leech and Doyle to find out how they feel about leaving Downton behind, the movie’s emotional ending and whether or not fans can expect another sequel.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Abbey<\/h2>\n

\"Kevin“I like the idea of the audience using their imagination and imagining how those characters are going to develop over the years,” says Kevin Doyle, pictured (L) with Michael C. Fox (R).<\/span>Rory Mulvey \/ Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n

The series may be over, but in the hearts of fans, their favorite characters will live on indefinitely. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like the idea of the audience using their imagination and imagining how those characters are going to develop over the years,\u201d Doyle says.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We) leave it to them now,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

Even so, that doesn\u2019t stop the trio from speculating on what could happen to their respective characters, starting with Mr. Moseley, the servant turned successful screenwriter.<\/p>\n

Moseley will \u201cone day give an Oscar speech,\u201d Leech predicts, before pondering Tom Branson\u2019s possible fate, which is to continue establishing himself and his future legacy as a business mogul. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Tom\u2019s) very much found his place in society, in the world. He\u2019s very comfortable now and I think I like that idea,\u201d says Leech.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Grand Finale,\u201d Bonneville\u2019s character, Robert Crawley, must come to terms with embracing a new chapter and, according to Bonneville, it\u2019s not unlike his own bittersweet goodbye to the franchise.<\/p>\n

\"Hugh“I’m walking off into the sunset with great pride and fond memories,” says Hugh Bonneville who plays the Earl of Grantham.<\/span>Rory Mulvey \/ Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s a chapter that I think \u2014 I speak for all of us \u2014 that we’ll never forget. It’s been an extraordinary experience that none of us predicted and it is a once-in-a-career experience,” he says.<\/p>\n

“It’s a testament to the cast and the audience that we’ve sustained it for so long. So, I’m walking off into the sunset with great pride and fond memories.”<\/p>\n

That \u2018Gut-Punch\u2019 Ending<\/h2>\n

\"Laura“I had to reach for Michelle’s (Dockery) hand in the dark as we were watching in the Soho screening room,” says Hugh Bonneville of “The Grand Finale.”<\/span>Rory Mulvey \/ Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Grand Finale,\u201d the Crawley family’s epic saga reaches its conclusion and with it comes its share of heart-wrenching moments, which even the cast found themselves getting emotional over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to reach for Michelle\u2019s (Dockery) hand in the dark as we were watching in the Soho screening room,\u201d Bonneville says. <\/p>\n

Leech says that he was also caught off guard by the movie\u2019s final scenes. <\/p>\n

\"Allen“It really is very emotional,” Allen Leech says of the “Downton Abbey” finale.<\/span>Rory Mulvey \/ Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI ran back to the theater last night to watch the last 10 minutes and it really is very emotional,\u201d Leech reveals. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I wasn\u2019t sitting down, I got to watch the audience. And to watch them go from pure elation of being there and immersed in the world of Downton again, and watching them suddenly crumble, I have to say, it kind of (gave me) immense pleasure,\u201d he says with laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to know that they loved these characters so much that it really was affecting them,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt was really an amazing thing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Doyle, \u201cThe Grand Finale\u201d didn\u2019t cut as deep as the original ending of the series, saying that there were \u201ca lot of tears\u201d when the show ended in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe end of the TV series hit hard because we thought that that was it,\u201d Doyle recalls. \u201cAnd it had been a glorious six years.\u201d <\/p>\n

But as everyone knows, the franchise was far from over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve kind of had these bonus goodbyes,\u201d says Leech of the subsequent sequels.<\/p>\n

Will \u2018Downton Abbey\u2019 Ever Return? <\/h2>\n

\"RaquelDownton Abbey’s beloved staff in “The Grand Finale.” <\/span>Rory Mulvey \/ Focus Features<\/span><\/p>\n

After airing on PBS from 2010 to 2015, the Julian Fellowes show hit the big screen in 2019 with the eponymous movie, \u201cDownton Abbey,\u201d followed by 2022\u2019s \u201cDownton Abbey: A New Era,\u201d and, of course, the final installment, \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale.\u201d <\/p>\n

Is there a chance that Downton could once more make its return?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, the castle\u2019s always been the central character, so that\u2019s still there. Put it that way,\u201d says Bonneville. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s just time for us to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leech agrees, saying, \u201cJust the story of Downton is probably over for our characters, doesn\u2019t mean the story of Downton (is over) though.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.today.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After more than 15 years, the cast of “Downton Abbey” is making its final curtain call in the movie “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the last installment in the period drama. The long-running series has provided a glimpse into the early 20th century world of the Crawley family and their servants, all residing in an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2018508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2018507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Will-Downton-Abbey-Come-Back-For-a-Sequel-The-Actors.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2018507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2018508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2018507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2018507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2018507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}