The Cast Of Downton Abbey Has Changed A Lot Since Season 1

On September 26, 2010, "Downton Abbey" aired on television for the very first time. Filmed at the formidable Highclere Castle in England, this period drama explores the world of early 20th-century grand manors and the folks who reside there. Clever, witty, and full of Maggie Smith's famous "Downton Abbey" quips, the show was an instant hit. It drew in fans from around the globe and entertained them with stories of love, loss, and social change. In the U.K., viewership reached 10 million, and in the U.S., those numbers rose to 24 million, as reported by The Guardian. By 2011, "Downton Abbey" had amassed a collection of Emmy Awards recognizing everything from Smith's role as a supporting actor to the writing and directing. Furthermore, for many "Downton Abbey" cast members, fame arrived quite suddenly.

Indeed, a large number of actors on the show caught their big break in the first season. Several cast members went from being relatively unknown stage performers to Hollywood contracts overnight. Some floundered in the spotlight, but regardless, the years following the program's premiere catalyzed the sudden transformation of its cast. From becoming parents to hitting the big screen to even joining the Marvel universe, the "Downton Abbey" actors were never the same after the show became a hit.

When Michelle Dockery was cast as Lady Mary Crawley on Season 1 of "Downton Abbey," her life changed its course forever. A self-proclaimed Essex girl, Dockery had long harbored dreams of making it big. However, she never imagined that "Downton Abbey" would essentially launch her into "national treasure" status — as a piece in High Life once put it. As Dockery told The Guardian in 2013, "I still feel on the outside [of the entertainment industry] looking in. My career trajectory has been surreal."

Whether she can believe it or not, Dockery's career has skyrocketed since her first appearance on the show. In addition to receiving three Emmy Award nominations for her role in "Downton Abbey," Dockery went on to receive an additional nomination for her performance in the miniseries "Godless." Critics have also applauded her role in the Netflix hit "Anatomy of a Scandal," a show that pushed her creative bounds.

But if Dockery's career has changed, her personal life has turned on its head. Since the inception of "Downton Abbey," Dockery met and got engaged to the dashing John Dineen. She then was left heartbroken when Dineen died of cancer in 2015 before they could say "I do." Following this tragedy, Dockery had to find a way to move forward. She eventually met Jasper Waller-Bridge, who she married in 2023. During her campaign to promote "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale" in 2025, Dockery hit the red carpets revealing a little baby bump.

As a child, Jessica Brown Findlay dreamed of taking the stage, but she didn't aspire to become an actor. Instead, she hoped to make a career out of her talent for dance, a goal for which she trained endlessly. "Quite quickly, ballet became my entire personality. I loved the feeling of making something beautiful," she wrote in a 2025 piece for The Guardian. But when an injury forced her to hang up her ballet slippers up for good, Brown Findlay decided to try acting. She landed a few small roles before being cast as Lady Sybil Crawley in Season 1 of "Downton Abbey." Her career took off from there.

In the years following the "Downton Abbey" premiere, Brown Findlay has gone on to enjoy a number of interesting acting projects. She played Charlotte Wells in the critically acclaimed TV show "Harlots," and was cast as Ophelia in Andrew Scott's widely applauded interpretation of "Hamlet." Arguably, her biggest opportunity came from Hollywood. She was given the chance to work with Anne Hathaway in the film "Mother Mary." Reflecting on the project with Harper's Bazaar, Brown Findlay revealed, "You admire actresses from afar and wish you could talk to them — then suddenly you can. Filming that blew my mind. It was the most exciting group of people I'd ever worked with." But to become as famous as Hathaway? Brown Findlay would rather not. "I want to be able to live the way I've always done," she said.

The actor who played the valet Thomas Barrow in "Downton Abbey" made quite a name for himself in Season 1 of the show. However, in the years following his big break, Robert James-Collier has not necessarily maintained that initial wave of success. The actor admitted as much in a press release for his ITV show, "The Level," stating, "I spend more time out of work than in work, so it couldn't be frustrating or I wouldn't be able to survive." At first, he attributed this period of unemployment to the competitive nature of the entertainment industry, adding, "It's hard, it's a tough game to be in. And I always say it, but there's better actors than me out of work all the time." 

As time went on, however, James-Collier began to suspect that there were other factors at play — primarily, stereotypes surrounding his portrayal of Barrow's character. The reason? Barrow was gay. While this might not seem like such a big deal, Hollywood casting directors saw things otherwise. In an interview with Radio Times, James-Collier explained, "Because Thomas Barrow is gay and is, essentially, the bad guy for much of the show, a lot of people within the industry can only see you as that. They might not be in a rush to see you as a heterosexual love interest."

Joanne Froggatt went through good and bad times after the hit period drama, "Downton Abbey," wrapped. Discussing this reality with Metro, Froggatt reflected, "I've never come close to quitting acting but there were times when I thought, 'Oh God, what would I do if I didn't do this?' and when I've had the last mortgage payment in the bank thinking, 'Oh, am I going to get a job before that goes?'" She went on to explain that the industry is tough. She admitted there were a few roles that she only landed "by the skin of my teeth."

Luckily, though, Froggatt's tough luck didn't last forever. She landed a role in the 2025 series "MobLand" — a part that she considered beyond spectacular. For Froggatt, one of the highlights of the role was cementing the chance to help shape her character. "I love that process of trying to build a backstory, and I got lots of creative freedom. You don't have to like every character you play but you do have to understand them," she told Metro. Froggatt also enjoyed working with the rest of her castmates, such as Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, and Tom Hardy. "Tom's a brilliant actor — everything he does on set is great. He's such a fantastic scene partner," she added.

Brendan Coyle may be most famous for playing the adorable valet John Bates in "Downton Abbey," but his first love was the theater. Indeed, Coyle first revealed his immense talent for the stage in 1997 when he played a bartender — also named Brendan — in "The Weir." He was such a hit that he won an Olivier Award for best supporting actor and even accompanied the show to Broadway. 

Because of this, it was perhaps no surprise that Coyle returned to his roots following Season 1 of "Downton Abbey" — not just returning to the theater but to "The Weir" itself in 2023. This time, though, he played a different part. As he revealed in an interview with the Abbey Theatre, "The only one part I wanted to play was Jack in 'The Weir.' Top of my list. My list of one." Coyle got the role and enjoyed his experience immensely. "I can't imagine [the play] having been better realized at any time in any place," he added.

Just because Coyle returned to the theater, however, does not mean that he forewent television forever. In 2025, the actor made a striking appearance in the Netflix miniseries "Toxic Town." Starring alongside "White Lotus" actor Aimee Lou Wood, Coyle got the chance to participate in a major hit. The project was especially meaningful as it was based on a tragedy that occurred in his hometown of Corby.

During the Season 3 Christmas special of "Downton Abbey," fans had the shock of their lives. Matthew Crawley — one of the most beloved characters on the show — was killed off suddenly in a car wreck. Although this scene quashed any semblance of holiday spirit, it was deemed necessary. The reason? Actor Dan Stevens, who played Matthew, knew that it was time for him to move on. As he would later tell The Guardian, "There were definitely creative itches left unscratched, genres I hadn't worked in. Three years were up, that's what we'd initially signed up for, and the appetite to explore further was too great."

Since Season 1 of "Downton Abbey," Stevens has not seemed to lose his appetite for success. He moved to Los Angeles, started auditioning, and has worked pretty consistently since then. Although he has taken on dozens of roles, the highlights have included playing the Beast opposite Emma Watson in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." He also starred in Guillermo del Toro's "Cabinet of Curiosities" miniseries on Netflix. By the time of the series' release in 2022, Stevens had proven his range as an actor. Speaking with Tudum, "Cabinet of Curiosities" director Ana Lily Amirpour gushed, "I feel like he can really go anywhere and do anything. He can be the good guy, he can be the villain, he can be a dreamboat, he can be the monster." In 2023, Stevens also stepped in as the voice of Justin Roiland's character, Korvo, in "Solar Opposites" after Roiland was fired from the show.

When Laura Carmichael joined the cast of "Downton Abbey," she could never have imagined just how much the show would transform her life forever. Sure, Carmichael had her fair share of professional opportunities following her appearance on the series. She played Henriette in the 2014 film "Madame Bovary" and later worked on the show "The Spanish Princess." However, it was not Carmichael's career that was turned upside-down by "Downton Abbey" as much as it was her personal life. Indeed, when Michael Fox joined the cast for Season 5, Carmichael could not help but notice a spark. That spark eventually evolved into a full-blown romance, and soon the two "Downton Abbey" stars became real-life partners. Carmichael and Fox went public with their relationship in 2016, and welcomed a son, Luca, in 2021.

The pair starred in the first "Downton Abbey" film together as well as its two sequels. On an episode of "This Morning" in 2019, Fox shed light on what it was like to make a movie with his partner for the first time. "It was interesting coming back to work together on it, but we're very much, like, when we get back to a big team, big family, you just kind of get back into it. And we keep it slightly separate. But, it was an absolute joy," he explained. Because "Downton Abbey" brought Carmichael and Fox together, the show holds a special place in their hearts.

Elizabeth McGovern made her career as an actor, but in the years following her first portrayal of Cora Crawley in "Downton Abbey," she picked up the pen. McGovern made her first major attempt at playwriting almost a decade after Season 1 of the period drama, and in 2022, her play, "Ava: The Secret Conversations," became a success in London. The piece dissects the fascinating life of Hollywood royalty Ava Gardner, including the complexities of Ava Gardner's relationship with Frank Sinatra. McGovern, of course, took the lead role — a choice that was met with a great deal of critical acclaim. The play was so well-received that McGovern decided to take it on tour to Chicago, New York, and Toronto.

Because her playwriting debut was met with so much success, McGovern expressed a desire to do more in the future. "I feel like I'm just beginning," she exclaimed in a 2025 conversation with The Guardian. What's next for McGovern? Apparently, screenwriting. In the same interview, she dropped that she's working on a top-secret film project. Although she has decided to keep the details of her work on the down-low for now, McGovern could not help but share her excitement about her future as a writer. Not only does this give her a creative outlet, but also the chance to test her bounds as an actor in her 60s. "It's my next obsession. I really want to write stuff. I'm really excited about that," she explained.

Like many of his co-stars, Allen Leech began looking for more professional opportunities following the first season of "Downton Abbey." On the show, he played the chauffeur, Tom Branson, whose romantic life made way for a major story arc. But Leech's real-life romance has apparently been much more wonderful than Tom's turbulent on-screen love life. The actor moved to Hollywood and met fellow actor Jessica Blair Herman, whom he married in a 2019 ceremony that seemed like a nod to his native Ireland. "It ended up being something quite different. When you get married in California you expect sunshine, but a little bit of Ireland blew over on the day and we had some heavy rain," Leech told Hello! in an interview. The couple went on to welcome two daughters and enjoy a private family life.

True love is not the only thing that Leech found in Hollywood. He was also able to secure a number of roles in some truly exciting projects. In "Bohemian Rhapsody," he played the part of Freddie Mercury's manager, Paul Prenter, who leaked Mercury's most intimate secrets to the press and was largely viewed as the villain of the film. However, Leech was lauded for portraying him in a fair way. The actor also appeared on the first-ever episode of the award-winning television show "Black Mirror" — a Netflix show best watched without one's parents.

Unlike most of the "Downton Abbey" cast, Maggie Smith had quite the resume leading up to her time on the show. In fact, Maggie Smith got her big break young, earning a BAFTA nomination for her role in "Nowhere to Go" all the way back in 1959. From there, her career sped forward. In 1969, she won an Oscar for her part in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." Decades later, she played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the "Harry Potter" films. By the time she appeared on the first season of "Downton Abbey" in 2010, she had long been a household name. Most other actors in her position would have stopped working and soaked up the stardom, but Smith was not most actors.

Up until her death in 2024, Smith took on new challenges. She tried her hand at modeling, becoming a "Loewe girl" at the age of 87. She embraced roles exploring age and retirement. Following her 2011 appearance in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," Smith doubted that there would be a sequel, even telling USA Today, "I heard that and thought, 'It would have to be in a funeral home.'" Despite this initial hesitation, she took on the challenge of filming "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" in 2015 and didn't disappoint. Her final project, "The Miracle Club," was released in 2023, a year before her death.