EXCLUSIVE: Julian Fellowes is hitting the road this week and heading to New York City, the setting of his latest hit series, HBO’s The Gilded Age, premiering its third season at the Tribeca Festival on Thursday. Additionally, Fellowes will be teeing up the premiere of the third and “final” installment of the Downton Abbey films, featuring the lead cast from the beloved PBS and ITV series of the same name.
Fellowes will hit the red carpet at Tribeca in his wheelchair due to issues caused by spinal stenosis, a condition that compresses the spinal cord and affects mobility. He was originally diagnosed approximately two decades ago and recovered after an operation. It has now returned, and Fellowes has been unable to bounce back as quickly at 75 as he did in his 30s. But fans need not worry. The beloved multi-hyphenate wants everyone to know he’s “doing all right.”
“I’ve got these mobility issues, and I use a wheelchair rather more than I would like, but that’s not the same as feeling ill,” he told Deadline during a chat on Monday. “I think you can stand anything like that as long as you feel okay, and that’s the position I’m in now. I have to use a wheelchair because my spine doesn’t work as it used to. But in terms of feeling okay and getting on with things and working and all that stuff, I’m fine. There are many people much worse off than I am.”
In great spirits, Fellowes also dished on all things The Gilded Age and the future of Downton Abbey, while jumping in and out of history, the real-life people and eras that have inspired some of his most beloved projects. An expansive encyclopedia of knowledge, Fellowes preferred to discuss the past rather than address my many attempts to extract spoilers. And while he may not have been forthcoming with words, the glimmer in his eyes and cheeky smile prove he has many more plans for fans yet to come.
This season on The Gilded Age, premiering June 22, the show hits its highest levels of drama and romance. Without giving away too much, a second door of possibility is opened between The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey for a crossover that fans have discussed at length since the show’s announcement.
Originally, it was believed that the two shows could connect through Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern), nee Levinson, an American heiress married to patriarch Robert Crawley, the 7th Earl of Grantham. This season, two families come together in a way that could set up something totally different.
“I kept hearing that Downton was going to be connected to the Gilded Age, but the story in Downton starts in 1912,” he shared.
When asked if the stories could connect beyond the Downton characters and into their ancestors, he added with a grin, “Maybe. We’re not done yet, so we’ll see.”
We will have future stories about the show’s upcoming season to be released soon as episodes roll out.
Regarding Downton Abbey‘s third film, The Grand Finale, premiering September 12, Fellowes addressed whether this is the final film and what fans can expect following the death of Maggie Smith, and her fan-favorite character, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess.
“There is a clear sense in the film that the family continues to be, in a sense, dominated by Violet. The fact that she’s dead is a detail. It’s her beliefs, her demands, and her sense of how the Crawleys should behave, and what they’re there for, that live on. We tried to find ways to make that as clear as we can. Of course, we do miss Maggie in the film, but we should miss Maggie in the film. That’s quite deliberate. We don’t want people not to miss her. We want them to miss her. I think she created a wonderful character that I will be grateful for to my dying day,” he explained.
Regarding The Grand Finale really and truly being the final installment, he shared with a laugh, “I don’t know. Every time I say, ‘Oh yes, that’s definitely it. Goodbye, and I’ll never do it again.’ Then, within a year, I’m back doing something. So I never say never anymore. But I think it’s the last with the original cast. They’ve done 15 years, and that’s a long time on a TV show. The young women who arrived in their early 20s are now in their late 30s, and they’ve all married, had babies, been divorced, and God knows what else, since we started the show.”
He added, “It’s easy for a producer and writer to say it’s been a happy show, because that’s all you’ve ever known. Nevertheless, I think for most, at least, it has been a happy show. When we run into each other on chat shows and that kind of thing, it’s always a happy moment for me. I think of [the experience] as a wonderful magic carpet ride I was allowed to have in my second career. I feel very grateful for it.”
If you read between the lines, did Fellowes reveal he has plans to continue the Downton legacy through the next generation on TV or film?
“Where is that? I’m not seeing that,” he joked.
The post Julian Fellowes Shares Health Update As He Kicks Off Promotions For ‘Gilded Age’ Season 3 & “Final” ‘Downton Abbey’ Film appeared first on Deadline.
