Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery makes rare comment about childhood ahead of new period drama role

June 2024 · 3 minute read

The actress is famed for playing Lady Mary Crawley in the hit period drama, Downton Abbey

Michelle Dockery may be famed for starring in the beloved period drama Downton Abbey, but she is now set to appear in another period piece called This Town

The actress, who played Lady Mary Crawley in the popular TV show-turned-movie franchise, will soon be back on the small screen for the upcoming BBC series, which will take viewers back to the late seventies and early eighties. 

During a new interview with Radio Times, Michelle confessed how filming in Birmingham brought back many memories of her childhood. "I come from Romford in Essex, and I had a similar upbringing," she said.

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"What I love about This Town is the depictions of areas that would have been very grey as bright and beautiful. I'm not from Birmingham, but I really related to those places." 

She added: "We didn't have much, but it was colourful. We had a lovely little house and our street was vibrant with the kids playing. This Town is that for me, it shows what my childhood looked like." 

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Michelle, 42, also confessed that it was a joy to land such a role – especially, having been cast in so many modern-day shows in recent years. 

"I'm so lucky with Downton, it changed my life, and I'm so proud of being part of that show. But I'm never actively trying to do different things," she added. 

"I wasn't looking for a singing role, it just came along and I was like, 'This is amazing, and this is, of course, what I want to do'. It's the only period drama I've done for a long time.

"If I did a period drama that was also in the 1920s, it would look like Lady Mary had walked on to the wrong set. I think I tend to be cast in more modern pieces for that reason."

MORE: Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery makes career-changing debut with co-star Michael Fox

, which will be released on 31 March, tells the story of four young people who form a band in the early 80s against the backdrop of violence and are "fighting to choose their own paths in life, and each in need of the second chance that music offers". 

Michelle recently spoke with Lauren Laverne's 6 Music show about the new drama, adding: "I love this period, I was born in the eighties – I loved getting into the costumes of that time, and be surrounded by those sets. 

"We were all sort of obsessed with the props on this show because it was so nostalgic. It really was for me – to be sat in those rooms with things I really recognised from my childhood." 

She continued: "For me to be shooting somewhere like Birmingham was really special. My sister actually lived there for a few years, so I spent some time there when I was a teenager. For me, it was great to be out of beautiful country houses, and filming somewhere like Birmingham – it was very much like my childhood, that's how I felt." 

Leading the cast of which has been created by Steven Knight – the brains behind and – are Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose and Eve Austin.

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