During Downton Abbey’s six seasons on the air, fans couldn’t get enough of the hilarious zingers Maggie Smith brought to each episode as Violet, the Dowager Countess. And it turns out Smith’s castmates were equally obsessed with her quips.
During a visit to the set of the Downton Abbey movie (out Sept. 20), the stars of the period drama shared some of their favorite Dowager lines with EW.
Allen Leech, who portrays Tom Branson, picked a quote from the fifth episode of season 1, when Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton) says, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, I must’ve said it wrong,” the Dowager Countess replies dryly.
Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith, Violet’s granddaughter, selected the Dowager’s most famous zinger, which comes from the second episode of season 1.
“You do know I mean to involve you in the running of the estate?” asks Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville).
“Oh, don’t worry, there are plenty of hours in the day,” responds Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens). “And of course I’ll have the weekend.”
“We’ll discuss this later, we mustn’t bore the ladies,” Robert says.
Completely perplexed, the Dowager asks, “What is a weekend?”
And Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) chose a cheeky quote from season 3, episode 1, when the Dowager disapproves of her son’s dinner attire. “Do you think I might have a drink?” she asks Robert. “Oh, I’m so sorry — I thought you were a waiter.”
Watch the video above for more.
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