‘Downton Abbey’s’ Lady Edith Says The Show ‘Changed All Of My Life’

Laura Carmichael, best known as Lady Edith on the series and now movie, Downton Abbey, says that the show changed his life in more than one way, as she was on the verge of quitting acting before her life and career turned around.

In interviews about the upcoming movie version of Downton Abbey, Carmichael explains that her time as Edith Crawley changed her professional and personal life for the better. She says that before she started working on the PBS and ITV series, she was close to unemployment, questioning what to do next.

“I was so close to not being a working actress. I had a hard time. It’s such a painful experience, wanting to act and not doing it, and trying to figure out how to get in there,” she said.

Carmichael explains that when she went in to read for the role of Edith, she assumed it was a small part, because she hadn’t seen the script, as it was being kept very hush-hush at the time. After arriving at the audition, she said she realized it was a “proper part,” and wondered why they wanted to see her for it.

Now, Carmichael is considered a star, and receives many scripts, but without the part on Downton Abbey, she says she might not have ever met her boyfriend, actor Michael C. Fox, who plays Andy Parker, the footman.

Carmichael explains that her time as Lady Edith Crawley has paid dividends in her private life.

“It has changed all of my life. When you are able to work, and love it, it is such a joy. And I’ve fallen in love and made wonderful friends — how lucky am I?”

Even Carmichael’s long-suffering character, Lady Edith, managed to turn her life around in the course of the series, shared The Inquisitr. Edith Crawley started on the television show as the overlooked middle sister, and ended up as the Crawley with the highest-ranked title after she married Bertie, and after having her daughter, Marigold, out of wedlock.

Her sister and main competition, Lady Mary, is married for the second time, but still holds the title of lady, while Edith is now a marchioness, and the lady of her own manor and estate.

The Downton Abbey movie will be in wide release next month, first in Europe and then in North America. The plot of the movie surrounds a royal visit of the highest level, with King George and family coming to visit the estate.