Laura Carmichael admits being cast in Downton Abbey ‘was a life-changing moment’ for her

Laura Carmichael has admitted being cast in Downton Abbey changed her life but revealed she now enjoys trying out new roles.

The actress, 35, who played the unlucky-in-love Lady Edith Grantham on the period drama, said she is now ‘drawn to things that feel different’ after starring in modern BBC thriller The Secrets She Keeps.

Laura stepped out of her comfort zone and took on a new role in the Australian drama in 2020, with the actress returning for a second series which was released in July.

The star told Radio Times: ‘It’s been such a gift being in Downton. It’s opened so many doors. If another period drama came across my desk… if I loved the script, I wouldn’t be too nervous of entering that world. But at the moment I’m drawn to things that feel different.’

‘When the Downton audition came up, I couldn’t have been more surprised that it was for a proper part – I thought I’d have a line or two. 

‘At the time, I didn’t know what it would mean to join a cast like that. Thank God I didn’t, or I’d have thrown up immediately! It was a life-changing moment. I was starstruck by the cast, and constantly surrounded by brilliant actors. It was such a gift.’

Role: The actress (right) who played the unlucky-in-love Lady Edith Grantham on the period drama, said she is now ‘drawn to things that feel different’ after starring in modern BBC thriller The Secrets She Keeps

Speaking on stepping away from Downton Abbey and playing ‘complicated’ Agatha in The Secrets She Keeps, Laura revealed she enjoys ‘trying on different hats’. 

The series is led by two women, both grappling with the relationship between womanhood and motherhood.

The full interview with Laura Carmichael can be found in this week’s issue of Radio Times

Her character, a socially-isolated supermarket employee, strikes up an unlikely friendship with successful mummy blogger Meghan (Jessica De Gouw).

Laura said: ‘The series works around themes that are universal. Women presenting as perfect, then having their worlds crashing down.’ 

She admitted she felt ‘lucky’  to be in Australia, where the series was filmed, and insisted her family join her. 

Laura met her partner Michael C Fox while filming the fifth series of Downton Abbey. 

The couple have been together since 2016 and moved in together two years ago. They then welcomed a baby boy, Luca, in March last year. 

The couple keep their relationship quite private, but made a rare appearance at the Downton Abbey: A New Era premiere last month.

They posed for a series of loved up snaps together as they appeared arm-in-arm on the red carpet.

Although the couple keep their romance under wraps, Laura gushed over how lucky she felt to have met Michael on the set for Downton Abbey.

New: Laura stepped out of her comfort zone and took on a new role in the Australian drama in 2020, with the actress returning for a second series which was released in July

In 2019, she told Town and Country: ‘I’ve fallen in love and made wonderful friends – how lucky am I?’

Michael, who played illiterate footman Andrew Parker, has also addressed their relationship in the past, saying they liked to keep their romance separate from their jobs on Downton.

‘We’d go to work and we didn’t want it to be a thing in any way when we were working together,’ he told the Sunday Post.

‘It was great, though, to go to work with your best pal.’

The full interview with Laura Carmichael can be found in this week’s issue of Radio Times.

Happy couple: The couple keep their relationship quite private, but made a rare appearance at the Downton Abbey: A New Era premiere last month (pictured )