Angela Was Offered Dowager Countess Role
No, no, not the one played by Maggie Smith on “Downton Abbey.” The one who flits across the screen briefly in the new movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Wes Anderson, who directed the film, told Charlie Rose last night that he offered the role to Miss Lansbury but she had scheduling conflicts so couldn’t do it. So I’m thinking: maybe she should be offered a role on “Downton” as a competing Dowager Countess — to replace the stereotypical vulgar-American rival the show has had with Shirley MacLaine. It would be a reunion of sorts: before Angie started rehearsals for her new “Blithe Spirit” revival in London she mentioned that she would be socializing with her “old friend” Maggie Smith.
