Though to many Americans, Sophie McShera might only be recognizable as Daisy Parker, the cherubic face with a heart of gold in the Crawleys’ kitchen at Downton Abbey, McShera has had a breadth of roles over a 20-year career in the United Kingdom. In her early teens, she starred as Annie in a West End production of the eponymous musical and continued theater work throughout her teens. After earning a degree in drama from Brunel University, she was cast in hugely popular British soaps like Emmerdale and Doctors, and in 2009 she joined the ensemble cast of the high school drama series Waterloo Road, playing Ros McCain. She’s also had roles in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the Dev Patel-starring The Personal History of David Copperfield, and played Drisella in 2015’s Cinderella with Downton Abbey co-star Lily James.
But McShera, affable and endlessly energetic, never really thought about acting as the career she was going to end up in. Which — considering how much of a fan favorite Daisy was in the 2010 to 2015 Downton Abbey series and subsequent films — is hard to believe.
“I sort of fell into it more than I decided I was doing it,” she says of her younger years in acting, “and when I did do it, I absolutely loved it. There wasn’t much else that I was good at, and [acting] was the thing I wanted to do the most.”
When McShera was cast as Daisy in Julian Fellowes’ then-unknown ITV historical drama Downton Abbey, nobody could have predicted how much viewers worldwide would fall in love with the Crawleys and their staff. Set between 1912 and 1926, the series takes place at the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey (actually, the gorgeous Highclere Castle) and depicts the upstairs-downstairs lives of an aristocratic family and their domestic servants as the events of the day surround their lives and change is afoot in the British social hierarchy.
When the series ended with season six, fans were adrift. But it was soon announced that a movie spin-off was in the works, and four long, grueling years later, we got it in 2019. Even then, there was talk of a sequel. Now, we have Downton Abbey: A New Era, in which a few of the ensemble characters, including our very own Daisy, get some fun arcs amidst a small family scandal involving Lady Violet Crawley (Dame Maggie Smith). And without giving too much away (there are some spoilers in the conversation below), a silent moving picture company pays the Crawleys to produce a film at the estate — a roof in disrepair requires the Crawleys to grovel for such money — and Daisy’s favorite actress, Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock), is starring in it.
“Because [Downton Abbey] has been so huge in all our lives, and it’s been 12 years since we began it, it feels like the biggest thing [I’ve done],” says McShera when asked if she considers the series and the films to be her biggest break. “But I never really know. Like, there are not many jobs that go on for that amount of time. It’s been amazing. So, yeah, it feels huge and a really big part of my life.”
Shondaland caught up with McShera, a West Yorkshire native (yes, that accent on the show is really hers!), about the many phases of Daisy, getting a new frock, and how fun it was to play against a new actor and new character in Downton Abbey: A New Era.
VALENTINA VALENTINI: I want to go way back to when you first got the role of Daisy. What did you think then about that, and how does it feel now to remember that?
SOPHIE McSHERA: It’s so mad to think about it. Like, I do vividly remember my audition, but obviously I never realized that it would be this huge thing that I’d still be doing
and talking about 12 years later. I probably would have been way more scared to do my audition if I’d known. I still knew that I thought the script was amazing, and I’d heard rumblings about Maggie Smith maybe being in it. So, it was one of those projects that you thought, “Oh, God, this would be so cool and so exciting.” I didn’t have any expectations other than I really wanted to do it, and then if I did, they’d have all been exceeded. I just feel lucky that I got to work with all these people and have this kind of second family, and to play a character for that long and get to do that journey with her, which is unusual.
VV: Yes, Daisy has quite an arc, from scullery maid to sous-chef to educated young woman — though still a cook, to be fair. I know there have been some great arcs on Downton Abbey, but I struggle to find one as broad and as exciting as Daisy’s.
SM: Yeah, but I can’t agree with you because I’m biased! But I feel like Julian does this amazing job where everyone is so happy with who they get for their character, and I feel so happy with how he writes Daisy. I think she had a good journey because, for a lot of viewers, she was the way into the house from that very low point where she was. It was amazing to play someone who was just trying to get through the day and not get screamed at by Mrs.
Patmore [Lesley Nicol] to then become a woman with political ideas and ambition. Even her journey with love, she’s just come so far. I’ve gotten to play so many different things — I’ve even gotten to go up into the main dining room and make a speech in front of the big family, you know, things that you’d never dreamed Daisy would have done at the beginning of season one. So, yeah, she’s had an amazing arc.
VV: When you got the script for this film, what were your thoughts about it?
SM: I read this script, and I was so excited that we get to do this again. Obviously, I was looking for myself in the scenes in the south of France to no avail. We all were asking each other, “Do you get to go? Do you get to go?” But I absolutely loved the film-within-the-film stuff. I just thought that was so cool. And I couldn’t believe that I had to have more than one costume fitting for this film because I never have to have costume fittings! They just wheel out the dress, and I put it on. But this time, I actually had a big, fancy dress to wear as well. When I was reading that scene when the filmmakers who’ve come to Downton Abbey need to use the staff for a dining room scene, I could sort of imagine all of us as our characters and how giddy we’d all be. And when we were filming it, we — the real us — really were so giddy. Some of those reactions that you see around the table, that’s just us reacting to each other because it was so funny and strange that the family walks in, and we’re [sitting] there at the table, and they’re looking at Mrs. Patmore and Mrs. Hughes [Phyllis Logan] in all their finery. It was so lovely. And we never really have our phones on set, but on that day, we were all taking pictures of each other. You can see the joy and that we’re all really having a fun time with it.
VV: Daisy really is the unsung hero of the downstairs faction of Downton. When she feels really passionate about something over the years, she’s stood up to her superiors. And now in this film, she’s the one who saves the day. Because of Daisy, Miss Dalgleish returns to set after storming off like a brat!
SM: I loved this idea that at the start of our film, this beautiful film star walks in the house, and Daisy’s jaw drops. You know, Daisy doesn’t get too excited by things. She was the only one who didn’t really want to go to the royal visit or care much about that. But she can’t help herself with a film star, with Miss Dalgleish. She’s so excited at first, but slowly it becomes that thing, “Be careful to meet your heroes.” And Daisy is going, “Oh, God, she’s actually not that nice.” But the two of them find this moment of connection where Daisy gets to be truthful with her like maybe nobody else can. And Miss Dalgleish accepts the truth from Daisy that she might not have accepted from any other person in that house. I think that was such a cool moment for us to play and a great thing that Daisy got to do. And I just have to say, I loved working with Laura Haddock. Because [the original Downton cast] has this inbuilt relationship with each other — we’re all so close, and we’ve had all these years together — but we actually love getting new people in. It’s fresh, it’s exciting, and Laura was one of those people that just fit in easily and was so talented and lovely and funny. I was pleased that I got to play it out with one of the newbies.
VV: Now, there’s this odd thing that happens with beloved series like Downton Abbey, where people will know you as “Daisy,” but they won’t know you as “Sophie McShera.” Is there anything that you’d like people to know about you, or perhaps you’re happy this way?
SM: I’m absolutely fine with it! [Pauses.] I’m trying to think if I’ve got a hidden skill that the world needs to know about, but I think, disappointingly, that there’s not. So, I’m going to work on that.
VV: How has it been with the fans over the years? Any fun or weird stories about Downton fandom that you want to share?
SM: We say this all the time, but truly we feel so lucky with our fans. We have the best fans! The reason we’ve even done a second film is because we have these amazing fans that wanted to see more. I do think people think that we get recognized more than we do, but even when we’re in a group, we’ve not gotten recognized. Certain people get recognized more than others. Like Jim [Carter] kind of gives the game away as Mr. Carson. He says it’s the eyebrows and the voice. But a lot of us can gather and go out and not get much attention. But we are always kind of stunned if it’s in another country. When me and Lesley first got recognized in New York City, we were just shocked that people in America were watching our show. It was so exciting. And I think it’s still really exciting to us that it has this big of a reach. We’re still really grateful and happy when people recognize us and say nice things.
VV: Has there ever been any thought of getting pigeonholed as a Daisy type? Have you talked about that with your co-stars or just thought about it yourself?
SM: I got asked that the other day, and I guess it’s like, being an actor, you’re just so happy to have a job and be working, and this is a really long, amazing job. I’m really proud to be part of it and really grateful and happy about it. So, I don’t really have those feelings. But doing different things is always a pleasure. I will always love playing Daisy. She feels so special to me, but it is really fun to have her and then be able to go out and do other things that might surprise people.
VV: So, what are you going to surprise us with next?
SM: I’ve been filming this new TV drama, The Gallows Pole, which is based on the book. This is all very English, so maybe none of these references are making any sense, but it’s been amazing working with Shane Meadows. He’s famous for his non-scripted work, so it’s been a lot of improvising. It’s based on a true story about a criminal gang in Yorkshire in the 1700s, and I’m playing a real person.
VV: Oh, wow, that will be flexing some new muscles for you.
SM: It’s so exciting. And it’s been such a challenge working in that new way. I’ve really enjoyed it.
Valentina Valentini is a London-based entertainment, travel, and food writer and also a Senior Contributor for Shondaland. Elsewhere she has written for Vanity Fair, Vulture, Variety, Thrillist, Heated, and The Washington Post. Her personal essays can be read in the Los Angeles Times, Longreads, and her tangents and general complaints can be seen on Twitter at @ByValentinaV.
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