Shooting on the “Downton Abbey feature film has begun, according to actress Michelle Dockery, who played Lady Mary in the critically acclaimed series and does so in the movie as well.
Dockery shared the news Monday on Instagram, posting an image of the movie’s clapboard with actors’ silhouettes in the background.
“And … we’re off,” the English star wrote.
But it appears not all members of the ensemble cast were on Monday’s call sheet — at least a couple of them were out on the town.
Her co-stars Hugh Bonneville and Allen Leech said they skipped the first day of filming to catch Elizabeth McGovern’s performance in “God of Carnage” at the Theatre Royal in Bath, and posted photos on social media pages corroborating their absences.
Bonneville and McGovern play Mary’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and Leech plays her brother-in-law Tom Branson in the series and the film, which reunites the aristocratic Crawley family and the other denizens of their sprawling English manor.
In July, Focus Features and Carnival Films announced production of the film, with the principal cast members set to return along with Emmy- and Oscar-winning creator Julian Fellowes, who wrote the screenplay and is producing the project with Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge.
Brian Percival, who directed the ITV series’ pilot, is directing the movie; Nigel Marchant has also returned as an executive producer.
During its six-season run from 2010 to 2015, “Downton Abbey” aired in at least 150 countries and set a record for non-U.S. television shows with 69 Emmy nominations.
The period drama, a smash hit stateside and across the pond, followed the English family and their servants as they adapted to the rapid changes of the early 20th century.
There’s still no word on the film’s release date.
