Hugh Bonneville has said the new Downton Abbey film will be a “great lasting tribute” to the late Dame Maggie Smith after her death aged 89 last month.
The actor, 60, revealed that filming on the third film of the hit period drama wrapped this summer and will “close all the stories.”
Hugh played Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, son of Dame Maggie’s character Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the ITV series from 2010 to 2015.
Speaking on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with The National Lottery on Virgin Radio UK, Hugh paid tribute to his late Oscar-winning co-star.
He said: “We finished a third – and I think probably the last – Downton Abbey film this summer, which will be released next September and it’s a wonderful way to close all the stories, so it’s a suitable film for fans.”
Hugh Bonneville has said the new Downton Abbey film will be a “great lasting tribute” to the late Dame Maggie Smith after her death aged 89 last month; in the photo 2018
The actor, 60, revealed that filming on the third film of the hit period drama wrapped this summer and will “close all the stories.”
“It’s set in the house and saying goodbye to all these characters and obviously we said goodbye to Dame Maggie, which was very moving on screen and now in real life.
We will miss her very much. But the final film will obviously be a lasting tribute to her.”
Following Maggie’s death in September, a video resurfaced of the legendary actress admitting that she had “never seen Downton Abbey.”
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show in 2015, the Harry Potter icon admitted that, despite not watching the show, she was satisfied with the series’ ending.
‘So are you, in a way, kind of glad that Downton is over?’ the host asked, to which Maggie didn’t hesitate to respond: ‘Oh, yeah.’
She added: ‘No, I really am. Honestly, she was almost there, when we finished she must have been one hundred and ten years old, so I couldn’t go on and on.
‘I couldn’t! It just didn’t make sense.”
When asked if he had ever seen the British period drama, he hesitated and then gave the presenter a cheeky look.
Hugh played Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, son of Dame Maggie’s character Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in the ITV series from 2010 to 2015.
He added: “It’s set in the house and saying goodbye to all these characters and obviously we say goodbye to Dame Maggie”; in the photo 2011
Graham fought back his laughter as he insisted, “Isn’t that right?” but Maggie confirmed that he didn’t with a shake of her head.
‘I have the box. So I can see it,’ he added, leaving the audience in stitches.
The release date for the third Downton Abbey film was revealed late last month as filming began in Yorkshire.
The new film will be released worldwide on September 12, 2025, and Universal Pictures UK confirmed the news on Instagram.
The title read: ‘A new cinematographic event. The third film in the beloved #DowntonAbbey franchise will be released only in theaters on September 12, 2025.
Hugh, Dominic West, Elizabeth, Michelle, Laura, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan and Robert James-Collier will return for the highly anticipated film.
Joanne Froggatt, who confirmed last week that she is pregnant with her first child, Allen Leech, Penelope Wilton, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera and Douglas Reith will also be back at Downton.
It was revealed that Paul Giamatti will also be part of the cast.
The Oscar nominee will reprise his role from the television series as Cora’s brother, Harold Levinson.
Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola and House of the Dragon actors Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan are also expected to join the third film in the franchise.
Bosses were hoping to bring back some of the big-name actors who appeared in the previous six seasons and the two spin-off films.
The programme, which covered the many social changes and world events that occurred between 1912 and 1928, will return to screens next year.
The hugely successful period drama began on ITV in 2011 and has spawned six seasons and two films.
The first two films, released in 2019 and 2022, grossed a combined $287.3 million worldwide.