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Dockery herself received three consecutive Emmy nods for best lead actress in a drama series, and she picked up several SAG Awards. \u201cThere was such a circus around it all when we were promoting it and being at various awards shows\u2014but every time we went back to film the series, it didn\u2019t feel any different,\u201d she says. \u201cThat never changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
She still remembers the words of wisdom Bonneville shared with her and Laura Carmichael, who plays Mary\u2019s sister Edith, after the first season aired. \u201cHe said, \u2018Relish this, \u2018cause it doesn\u2019t happen. It rarely happens more than once,being a part of something so huge like this,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cIt really stayed with me, and I haven\u2019t taken any of it for granted.\u201d Dockery has taught her costars as well: \u201cFrom the minute we started working together I had one thought: I will learn from this one,\u201d says Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Downton<\/em>\u2019s demure and loving Countess of Grantham.\u201d I watch her like a hawk. She\u2019s rare. She has the radiance, charisma, and talent of a superstar, but she\u2019s a team player. She loves other people\u2019s work, even though she\u2019s best at pretty much everything.\u201d<\/p>\n In between trips to Downton,<\/em> Dockery has made numerous TV series: the western Godless,<\/em> the murder mystery Defending Jacob,<\/em> the courtroom drama Anatomy of a Scandal,<\/em> and the seductive thriller Good Behavior.<\/em> She also worked with director Guy Ritchie in the movie The Gentlemen<\/em> and returned to the stage in 2017 to star in the National Theatre\u2019s production of Network<\/em>, opposite Bryan Cranston. \u201cIt did create a big shift for me. There were job possibilities before, but nothing had opened the door the way that Downton<\/em> did,\u201d she says. \u201cIt definitely opened up a lot of opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna, admires Dockery\u2019s range. \u201cAs an actor, Michelle has fantastic taste, which makes all the difference. She chooses projects with real substance\u2014stories backed by brilliant talent both on screen and behind the scenes,\u201d Froggatt says. \u201cShe\u2019s never afraid to take on roles that push her in new directions, and in doing so she shows just how versatile and compelling she is as a performer.\u201d<\/p>\n As Dockery, 43, closes the Downton Abbey<\/em> chapter of her life, her onscreen character will remain close to her. \u201cI grew up with her. I was 26 when I started playing her; between then and now, we have grown into women,\u201d she says. \u201cI take her with me sometimes in other roles because there\u2019s this brilliant complexity and stoicism, and she\u2019s such a rich character. Any other character I play, I\u2019m always looking for those nuances.\u201d<\/p>\n But stoicism is only one aspect of Dockery\u2019s own personality. \u201cI sometimes wish Lady Mary fans could see Michelle between takes,\u201d McGovern says. \u201cAfter a frosty, tragic scene, she becomes a clown, doing imitations with an elastic face and body that makes me laugh and laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n