Maggie: “Van” Life Easier Than “Downton”
Maggie Smith says she found playing the semi-homeless Miss Shepherd in the new movie “The Lady in the Van” less physically difficult than her star turn as Lady Violet in “Downton Abbey.” Smith said: “It was much easier to be Miss Shepherd, as an actor, because she didn’t mind how she looked. It was a relief: Lady Violet was always wearing corsets and things. For comfort alone, it was nicer to be Miss Shepherd.†Smith is pictured with Alex Jennings. When Jennings was starring on the London stage with Maggie in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” I went backstage and drank champagne with the both of them. But I’m saving that story for my memoirs.
