Maggie Smith Says Her Iconic Harry Potter and Downton Abbey Roles Weren't 'Satisfying'
Maggie Smith is beloved by millions for her iconic performances as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter franchise and Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey. But that doesn’t mean the parts creatively fulfilled her.
In a new interview with U.K.’s ES Magazine, Smith, 84, discussed her legendary career and revealed how Harry Potter and Downton Abbey rank on her list of roles.
“I am deeply grateful for the work in Potter and indeed Downton, but it wasn’t what you’d call satisfying,” Smith said, according to The Guardian. “I didn’t really feel I was acting in those things.”
Smith played McGonagall, a fan-favorite character in the Harry Potter universe, in all 8 films, starting with 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and ending with 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
She similarly played Crawley for an extended time, from the show’s first season in 2010 to its last in 2015. She recently reprised the role in the movie, which hit theaters in September.
The actress told CBS News in 2013 that she hadn’t seen any of Downton, and when the news outlet asked again in 2015 if she had remedied the situation, she revealed it might happen soon.
“No. But they gave me the boxed set. And I’m going to do all sorts of things now, ’cause I’m free!,” she said in an interview that aired on Sunday Morning after the U.K. finale of the series aired.
In the same interview, the actress revealed that she didn’t actually wear corsets during filming, instead talking the production into letting her pretend she was wearing one.
“In actual fact, I have to say that I did cheat a bit,” Smith admitted. “Because I promised that if I sat up, bolt upright, I made it look as though I were wearing corsets.”
