MUCH like her character Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey, Michelle Dockery has endured her share of heartbreak.
But as she glided down the red carpet this week for the movie premiere of the final instalment of the hit period drama, the actress glowed with happiness.
Michelle, 43, in a flowing Prada frock, revealed her blossoming baby bump as she was supported by her beaming husband Jasper Waller-Bridge, 37.
It comes a decade after her fiancé, PR director John Dineen, died of cancer aged just 34 — and like Lady Mary, whose husband died in a car accident, she found herself a widow.
But there the similarities end. Because unlike her character, the actress insists she isn’t “posh” and that one of her favourite early jobs was working in a fish and chip shop.
Michelle said: “I was the waitress there for two years.
“It had a restaurant and a front with a counter. It was owned by an Italian couple.
“It was fish and chips, pie and mash and Italian food.
“I worked there for a couple of years when I was a teenager, two or three nights a week, while I was doing my GCSEs and A-levels — and I loved it.”
Michelle came from modest beginnings in Romford, East London, with mum Lorraine, a care home assistant, and dad Michael, a lorry driver.
She said: “I’m not like Lady Mary at all. For one thing, I’m not actually posh.
“I had a very strong Essex accent when I was younger, and I don’t think I would have got the role of Lady Mary if I’d walked into the audition going, ‘Allo, nice ter meet yer’.”
‘I was like, what’s an Emmy?’
The award-winning actress is returning to her breakthrough role as Lady Mary, with the release of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale this Friday.
At the premiere, Michelle revealed she is expecting her first child — proudly showing off her baby bump on the red carpet.
As the final film in the movie trilogy, Michelle says it is the perfect goodbye to Downton and its star Maggie Smith, who died in September aged 89.
She told YouTube channel Collider Interviews: “It’s a beautiful film and for us it was such a treat to come back together. It’s a real tribute to Maggie.
“This time around we relished every minute. It being the last, it felt really special. Like anything when something comes to an end, it’s emotional but such a happy place to be.”
Michelle got her big break in Downton at 26 — and by series six she had been nominated for a Golden Globe along with three Emmys.
Laughing, she recalled: “The first time the show was nominated for the Emmys I was like ‘What’s an Emmy?’.
“It was so new to me.” Before landing the role she auditioned for so many parts that she didn’t get.
Once you’ve been established as a certain character in a successful show, that gives you a feeling of stability within a career that is quite unpredictable.
Michelle Dockery
“But when Michelle got the call to try out for ITV’s Downton she instantly felt it was a “big deal” and a “life-changing” role, which meant that she suddenly started getting recognised.
Now, 17 years on, she still suffers from nerves and “feeling vulnerable” but credits the hit period drama for giving her security.
On the Reign With Josh Smith podcast, she said: “Downton certainly gave me a lot of confidence.
“Once you’ve been established as a certain character in a successful show, that gives you a feeling of stability within a career that is quite unpredictable.
“I feel very lucky that Downton gave me that anchoring from a very young age.”
After her big break on Downton, Michelle starred in Hollywood blockbusters including action thriller Non-Stop in 2014 and sci-fi thriller Self/less a year later.
This year she returned to the silver screen in big-budget action flick Flight Risk, directed by Mel Gibson.
Asked if she agreed to be in the movie because she got the chance to beat up her co-star Mark Wahlberg, she said with a laugh: “That wasn’t the only reason.
To work with someone like Mark was such an appeal — he’s a brilliant actor, and in a genre like this, which for me isn’t a regular thing, it was a great opportunity.”
And she insisted that working with notorious hot-head Gibson was actually a “relaxed” experience.
Michelle said: “Visually, what he was wanting to see from the action was really admirable. Despite the intensity of this film, there was a relaxed, calm vibe which amazed me.”
While the bright lights of Hollywood seemed well beyond her reach growing up, Michelle always wanted to be an actress.
She said: “My parents would probably say they knew before I did, but as a kid I was always impersonating people.
“I went to a stage school which was local to where we live. I was so happy. I loved being with a group of people and making plays and choreographing dance routines.
“I loved it from such a young age.
“It was quite clear by the time I got to school that I wasn’t academic.
“I was forever in the drama department and singing and dancing. That was the route I was going to take.”
‘My dog is the most joyful thing in the world’
Down-to-earth Michelle still struggles to believe what she has achieved but has found a new perspective as she has got older.
She said: “I loved turning 40. When I look back, I think, ‘Gosh, I thought I knew what I was doing’. I thought I was mature.”
For Michelle, true happiness is being at home in London with her husband, film producer Jasper — the brother of TV favourite Phoebe — who she married in 2023, and dog Alfie.
I didn’t quite have the confidence. Now I’m dying to do a musical.
Michelle Dockery
Michelle said: “I have stayed in the most beautiful places all over the world and travelled so much, staying in gorgeous hotels, but at some point I was like, I really want a home.
“I have a dog that we got in the pandemic and he is the most joyful thing in the whole wide world.
“He is a lurcher. I didn’t grow up with dogs and I didn’t quite realise how much of a dog person I was until I got mine.”
Michelle is so obsessed with her pet that despite shunning social media for herself, she set up a secret account for the dog to nosey on other people — and four years on, nobody has discovered her true identity.
She said: “I have one for my dog. I’m one of those people! And I stalk people through my dog. No one knows it is my dog. I’m not very good at doing those things, but he is.”
The screen star has also pursued a second career as a musician, signing a record deal in 2022 to perform with Michael C Fox, who played Downton’s footman Andrew Parker, as the duo Michelle and Michael.
She said: “I absolutely love acting, but singing is something I’ve done, but never professionally until now.
“That came with the confidence of being at a certain age and time in my life where I wasn’t afraid of that ambition to pursue a career in music.
“I was offered musical ventures in my 20s and I didn’t follow them up.
“I didn’t quite have the confidence. Now I’m dying to do a musical.”
Michelle is also grateful to her fans — and always treats them with respect when they approach her.
She said: “I’ve learnt that it’s a privilege to have the power to cheer people up.
“When somebody asks you for a picture, answering, ‘Yes’, is the right way to go. If you say, ‘No’, you walk away feeling worse, for not doing a nice thing for them.”
