Michelle Dockery and the Downton Abbey Cast on Supporting Thomas, Mary as a Gay Icon
Downton Abbey: A New Era (in theaters now). The latest film in Julian Fellowes’s series about a landed family and their staff in Yorkshire bucking against and embracing progress in terms of class, gay identity, and women’s rights now faces off with Hollywood when a film crew arrives to shoot a movie at the estate.This time around, Lady Mary, gay butler Thomas (Rob James-Collier), and others stay behind to manage the film shoot, while Lord (Hugh Bonneville) and Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) head to the South of France with Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) to investigate how the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) came to be in possession of land there.
Without giving away all the goods, the film from Focus Features sees a glimmer of hope for Thomas while Mary discovers hidden talents working with the film crew under its director, Jack (Hugh Dancy).
Meanwhile, Lord Grantham is forced to consider his identity as part of the landed gentry. Each plotline speaks to the lessening friction between the old ways and the new, with Downton's lovable characters leaning toward change and Mary proving once again that she’s a gay icon.“There are parts of Mary that I think you see in this film that come out without her realizing, and I think she really enjoys being [not just] part of the film, but the film within the film,” Michelle Dockery tells The Advocate. “She's such a stoic, strong character.
I just loved the arc of her journey and who she is now compared to who she was in the beginning.”Hugh Dancy (Jack), Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), and Kevin Doyle (Mr.
