Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey (30 page)

The rule on set is that actresses must wear ‘total sunblock’ in order that they all maintain a pale Twenties complexion, says Vaughan. Keeping a tan at bay means she needs to apply only a light touch with make-up. After airbrushing with foundation, Vaughan adds shades of pink for blush and taupe for contouring. The powder blush that was available in the Twenties was a much less convincing cerise, which when worn by Ivy provoked Mrs Patmore’s ire!

Natural-looking shades are used to make the eyes ‘pop’. ‘When you are working in high definition things can go a bit flat, so you want to bring dimension into it,’ says Vaughan.

There is also a nod to the youthful shapes that were popular at the time. ‘In this period everything was rounded: the eyes, the rouge and the lips, too. All I do, because I don’t want them to wear lipstick, is work with a light lip pencil, and just draw some shape on the top of the lip. Just a hint of colour there marries the face into that popular Twenties look.’

Although the show requires the cast to immerse themselves in the era, drama takes precedence over historically accurate diction. ‘We decided not to get the people above stairs speaking as they did in the 1920s, because they spoke in a very particular way,’ says Alastair Bruce, historical advisor. ‘It would have been much more pronounced. So we’ve tried to make sure that those who live above stairs sound like they might live above stairs in a big house today, and that those below stairs should retain their regional accents.’

For Jim Carter (Mr Carson) it is a case of building on his natural northern accent. ‘I just have to make sure it’s proper and well enunciated,’ he says. ‘I use my own voice and posh it up above stairs.’ Rob James-Collier does something similar with Thomas. ‘I do a “telephone voice” – when anybody picks up the telephone, you’ll notice the diction becomes smoother. Above stairs, you see him doing that and then below stairs he slips a bit. He’s putting on a show.’

How people carry themselves has changed greatly since the early twentieth century. ‘They were very postured,’ reveals Alastair Bruce. ‘I make people march and carry things on the axis of their spine, and instantly their shoulders go back.’

There are other rules, too. Above stairs, the servants cannot lean on the furniture or on the walls. As MyAnna Buring (Edna) puts it, ‘It’s about where you stand and how you move. It really affects you.’ Michelle Dockery (Mary) agrees: ‘We are always reminded of how we must present ourselves, how we should move and how we must eat at the dinner table – and it definitely influences you in your daily life. I remember someone commenting to Laura [Carmichael] and me when we were out for dinner one night that we were sitting with our hands off the table, as we had been taught to do.’

It wasn’t only the aristocracy who adhered to strict table manners. ‘The servants would come in for dinner, on time; they would stand while Mr Carson said grace, then they’d sit down and eat,’ says Bruce. He explains that ‘after grace is said, the table becomes the Lord’s table and is treated with respect; you don’t lean on it and you put your hands in your lap when you’re not eating.’

Dancing was also more formal in the Twenties. ‘We had lots of dancing lessons: one-step, two-step, tango and some Scottish dancing,’ says Lily James (Rose). ‘The dancing is so different from what has been seen before, revealing how times are moving on in the show.’

For the actors, the lines between their lives and those of their characters are not always clear-cut. Like Cora, Elizabeth McGovern is an American mother with English daughters. ‘When you raise your children in a country in which you didn’t grow up, you have a different frame of reference,’ she explains. ‘I think Cora looks at her daughters as I look at mine – with awe. They have a little bit of mystery.’

Mrs Hughes, meanwhile, owes her nationality to the actress playing her, Phyllis Logan. ‘She was not written as Scottish, but it was decided that was how I would play her,’ she remembers. ‘It was nice to reach into my background for a sort of general Scottish psyche.’ It has helped to shape the Mrs Hughes we see on screen, she thinks. ‘She’s not an outsider but certainly she’s not, for example, a royalist. She’s more democratic.’

Some actors are very different to their roles. ‘Brendan [Coyle] is the complete opposite,’ says Joanne Froggatt. ‘He’s hilarious. I love Bates, but Brendan is much more fun-loving.’

For much of the cast the fourth series marks as many years of working together, and so they have developed their own rhythms on set. Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, as Lord and Lady Grantham, have something of the ease of an old married couple – perhaps helped by having worked together previously on a BBC sitcom,
Freezing
. ‘I have always had a really easy acting relationship with Hugh,’ says McGovern. Her on-screen husband agrees that they are in sync. ‘We have our own little ways of getting on with things,’ says Bonneville, ‘but we can be very direct with each other if something’s not clicking. She’s completely adorable, and just so easy to work with.’

It is a sentiment echoed by all the cast regarding their colleagues – but most speak particularly warmly of working with Maggie Smith, an icon of the screen. ‘We have a very nice time,’ says Penelope Wilton (Isobel). ‘Maggie, like myself, grew up in theatre. I have always been an enormous admirer, so it’s a great joy to be working with her.’