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Im exactly the same as you.
What a lovely, delicious, silky, cashmere-y voice to have.
How did you master that unique dialect?
I absorbed myself in the world of this particular accent for a while.
I watched documentaries and films.
Personality is born out of an accent.
What archival footage did you find most helpful?The BBC archives are amazing.
Theyve recorded and filmed normal people on the street over the past century.
Youre just listening to someone tell a story about their lives.
Its very rich footage and audio.
Its like a podcast but from 1928.
Its a special slice of 1969 in London.Exactly right.
I lovedGet Back.Its changed and morphed over time, the rhythm of how people speak.
My ear tunes into peoples voices quickly.
I feel a lot more comfortable working in an accent thats different from my own.
You get to enter theDowntonworld in such a fun way: as a glamorous, holier-than-thou film star.
How big of a fan were you before being cast?I was obsessed withDownton Abbey.
I watched every episode when it was airing.
I was ready for a big spring cleaning.
And then my agent called me about the role.
Why would you have been more apprehensive?Maggie Smith.
The general presence of a dame?Its Maggie Smith!
you gotta step up if youre entering thatDowntonworld.
I think I watched her inHookhundreds of times when I was a kid.
She was a goddess of an actress and still is.
But everyone in that cast loves and treasures each other.
They want new people to come in, have fun, and join the troupe.
Its like joining a company of theater actors.
So no hazing was afoot?Well, Hugh Bonneville did tease me once.
you’ve got the option to really adlib here.
So I took his advice and did a bit of improvisation added a few bits of dialogue.
No, you dont do that.
I very quickly realized youre not given any chance to deviate from the page.
Damnit, Hugh, thats a low blow.Cheeky monkey, that man.
My resounding memory of Maggie is what an amazing storyteller she is.
It doesnt really matter what the story is its the way she says it.
She has people captivated.
Shes so funny and quick-witted.
I kind of just went with the moments and hoped I didnt say anything stupid.
Did you get to bond much with Myrnas bleach-blonde wig?Oh my God, I insisted.
The wig she hadmanycolors and iterations.
The wig we saw onscreen wasnt her first rodeo.
It had a lavender rinse at one point.
Another time it was grayer, but it didnt feel edgy enough.
We finally found this icy blonde color that worked best.
We wanted it to be starkly different to everyone else in the house.
This woman could afford to have her hair bleached and looked after.
Nobody at Downton was doing that yet.
She was trailblazing this look.
It wasnt anywhere near as big as I thought.
I assumed they were displaying emotions very energetically, and they would have to run through their whole bodies.
So I had to learn and bring it back down to something that felt more truthful.
When I was watching the old films, I realized the intricacies of the expressions were smaller.
A lot of them werent American, so English wasnt their first language.
You cant learn a new language overnight.
They had no time, so they were forced to retire.
A lot turned to drugs and alcohol.
They never recovered from this fall from grace.
Also, from a technology standpoint, it was easier to record male voices in that era.
The recording equipment was in its infancy, but a mans voice had a basal tone.
Womens voices are higher pitched, and the industry didnt yet have the equipment to level those voices out.
A lot of actresses in those early talkies had low and gravelly voices for that reason.
Hell, theres always been an imbalance for us women.
Every decade, there are more reasons why.
Women have had an uphill struggle in this industry since day one.
Myrna never felt comfortable or at ease, which I relate to.
It wasnt a comical situation for her.
She thought she was looking at the end of her career.
All of your eggs arent in one basket anymore.
I could breathe oxygen into different areas of my life as opposed to focusing only on one.
I was running on adrenaline and trying to kindly people.
Comparison is a thief of joy just let it go.
I feel successful on days when the family washing basket is empty.
Or when everyone is asleep by 8:30?
That issucha good day.
Have you ever been to a Greek restaurant where they break the plates at the end of a meal?
Ive never had the honor.Me either.
I tried to channel what I would do at a Greek restaurant through Myrna!
