Movies - TV
How Downton Abbey: A New Era Fulfilled A Years-Long Dream For One Of Its Actors
By SARAH MUSNICKY
Costume designer Anna Robbins has been immersed in the world of "Downton Abbey" since the launch of its fifth season back in '14 and stepped back into the role in '19 to design costumes for the first movie. And with this year’s "Downton Abbey: A New Era" perhaps being the final movie, Robbins wanted to make sure that Lesley Nicol’s wish for her character, Mrs. Patmore, to wear a tiara came true.
In the film Mr. Barber had the downstairs staff be extras in his film, "The Gambler." While Nicol didn’t directly ask Robbins for a tiara, the costume designer knew she had always wanted to wear one and knew this was the perfect opportunity to make it happen for her.
In /Film's interview with Robbins, she explained that while Nicol hadn't asked anything of her, she knew that she had to make the actress' dream come true. She stated, “I think the first request, it was an unsaid request [...] So that was one of the first things I think we sourced for that scene, is that we knew that this was the opportunity that we'd [be] able to pop some diamonds onto Mrs. Patmore."