Paul Giamatti Remembers Maggie Smith Ahead of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Release: 'It's Not the Same Without Her'

Paul Giamatti opened up about the upcoming installment of the Downton Abbey franchise. Ahead of the final movie release, the actor remembered Maggie Smith, who portrayed the role of Violet Crawley in the movie.

Giamatti is set to return to the third film alongside the original cast members, including Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Laura Carmichael and Michelle Dockery. In conversation with People Magazine, the actor shared that filming for the movie isn’t the same without the late Harry Potter star. 

While in an interview with the media portal ahead of making his appearance in the 7th season of Black Mirror, the actor also opened up about reprising his role as Harold Levinson in the final film of the franchise. 

Speaking of Smith, who passed away in September 2024, Giamatti revealed, "It was not the same without her, but it felt very much like in her honor in some way. She certainly still feels present through the whole thing.” 

He further added, "Not having her there is obviously a huge loss, but everybody was still acting in her spirit." The actor continued to reveal,  "Working with her the first time around was one of the best things ever and I didn't even really get to do that much with her." 

Giamatti made his first appearance as his character in the Christmas special episode of the Downton Abbey series. 

As per the storyline, Levinson is the brother of Cora Crawley and Martha Levinson. In the Christmas special episode, Cora’s brothers and sisters come down to Downton Abbey, where the family is hosting Rose’s coming-out ball. 

Opening up about his return to the movie as his character, the actor said, "The interesting thing for me was that they even asked me at all because I was like, 'I don't have an important character in this story.'” He added, "But what's funny is my character has a very significant role. He does something very significant in the movie. I was like, 'It's really funny they brought me back to do this very important, significant thing.'” 

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale will be released in September 2025.

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