END OF A 'DOWNTON' ERA

HUGH BONNEVILLE AND MICHELLE DOCKERY REFLECT ON FAMILY DYNAMICS AS THEY HEAD TO A 'GRAND FINALE'

- BY EMILY ZEMLER

A FEW WEEKS AGO, some of the cast gathered to watch "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale." Although they had shot the movie last summer, it was only then that stars Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery realized the film was the ultimate culmination of 15 years of work.

"Michelle and I squeezed each other's hands as we watched the final frames of the movie," Bonneville, 61, says, speaking alongside Dockery over Zoom in late August. Each are in their separate homes, but there's a sense of convivial affection between them after playing Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, and his eldest daughter, Lady Mary, for so long. He acknowledges, "It really did feel like the end that time."

"It did," Dockery agrees. "And we've had a lot of endings. With the series, it felt like we didn't really know where it would go beyond that. It felt quite definitive at the time. And even after the first film there was no guarantee there was going to be a second. But this one does feel like the goodbye."

"There's always talks of spinoffs in outer space and all sorts of other iterations of it," Bonneville jokes. "You discover the castle has got a rocket ship underneath." More seriously, he adds, "But for us lot, this is certainly the end."

Since the series finale of "Downton Abbey" aired in 2015 after six seasons and 52 episodes, creator Julian Fellowes has written three films, concluding with "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale" (in theaters Friday). Although the movies were never inevitable, Fellowes is clear that this is the last time these particular characters will appear onscreen together.