Yahoo News Downton Abbey star says the show's popularity was "unexpected"
Downton Abbey actress Jessica Brown Findlay has opened up about the show's phenomenal success, describing it as "unexpected".
The 29-year-old played the role of Lady Sybil Branson on the ITV drama for the first three series, before she became one of the show's first major deaths when Lady Sybil died during childbirth.
But while it may have been one of the biggest TV series of its time, Jessica told Sunday Brunch hosts Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy today (February 17) that she never expected it to really take off as it did, adding that it wasn't until the end of its first season that its success really hit home.
Related: Downton Abbey cast tease what's in store for their characters in the movie
"It was the end of the first series and it was right as the last episode had aired, and I was in Soho," she remembered.
"I was still at university, I was at art school, and I walked past a newsstand and there were the three [Crawley] sisters on the front of two or three different newspapers, saying that 14 million people had watched it. I had a big freak-out."
Simon quickly interjected, noting how the show had snatched a massive US fanbase too.
"Yeah, it was sold to 100 and something countries," Jessica said, "It broke records and it was really unexpected. I just thought it was this sort of quiet little period drama."
Of course, Lady Sybil's death means that she can't return for the Downton Abbey movie, but Jessica added that she was ready to leave the series when she did.
"I was incredibly grateful for what Downton became and did, but it was my second job and I knew nothing about what I was doing," she explained.
"I really wanted to learn more. I had so much more I wanted to go and learn."
Sunday Brunch airs on Channel 4, while the Downton Abbey movie will premiere on September 13 in the UK and on September 20 in the US.
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