If you haven't seen the Downton Abbey film yet, proceed with caution: light spoilers ahead!
At the beginning of the Downton Abbey television series, the character of Joseph Molesley functions at the periphery of the story. As Matthew Crawley's valet—and not a member of the Downton Abbey staff—he is, at best, only tangential to the main plot.
But over the course of six seasons, the always endearing but often unlucky Mr. Molesley became a fan favorite and grew to become not only a key player in the Downton universe, but also a great source of comic relief in the period drama.
"What Kevin brought to the character, and the way he brought him to life, I think that excited the producers and the writers," said Jim Carter, who plays Mr. Carson, about his colleague. "They could see what they could do with this, and it's developed brilliantly through Kevin's skill and what he brings to it into this very lovable, vulnerable guy who wants to do well, and people adore that in him."
Writer and creator Julian Fellowes agrees with Carter's assessment of how the character evolved. "Kevin is a wonderful actor, an extraordinary actor. He came in to play the part of an unwanted valet at the very beginning. It was immediately apparent that he gave such depth to the character," Fellowes told me.
"He plays comedy in a tradition that is very old: the sad comedian when your laughing but you're also feeling sorry for them at the same time. It's a tradition that Charlie Chaplin was in and Harold Lang, and at times Robin Williams, where part of the laughter is coming out with tears, and Kevin I think is one of the best I've ever seen in that. You feel so sorry for Molesley, but at the same time he is hysterical."
That talent for comedy is on full display in the film, when Mr. Molesley, a royalist through and through who is overjoyed at the thought of the King and Queen at Downton, makes a serious faux pas while serving the royals at dinner.
"It was terrifying," Doyle said of filming that scene.
"I knew it was important because the culmination really of that whole downstairs story that's standing up for the dignity of the house, and letting the King and Queen know that it's Downton Abbey staff rather than the royal household who are serving them. I think that's important. That was important to them all."
The movie also teases the potential for a relationship between Mr. Molesley and Miss. Baxter, Cora's lady's maid. "It's always been a very slow moving thing, a glacial romance. There isn't the room in a two hour film to satisfy everybody's storylines," Doyle said. "I think they both had disappointments in life, and they both recognize that. They're two very careful people."
Perhaps their love story will serve as fodder for a potential sequel to the Downton Abbey film, a project that certainly hasn't been ruled out by the franchise's major players.
"Downton 2: Baxter and Molesley. It's all set up for them," Carter said laughing. But all jokes aside, their courtship is one of several loose ends that could be resolved in a second film.
According to Doyle, "It's just a matter of getting everybody back together again."
Downton Abbey hits theaters in the U.S. on September 20. Buy Tickets Now
Watch the trailer:
As the digital director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers culture, entertainment, and a range of other subjects
