I would have loved a part in Downton Abbey
Suave star Charles Dance has said he would have loved a role in TV hit Downton Abbey but show bosses have never asked him.
The 66-year-old actor, who has previously worked with
Downton
creator Julian Fellowes in the Oscar-winning Gosford Park, revealed he
would now be unwilling to accept a cameo role in the show.
Dance - who now appears in fantasy epic series
Game Of Thrones
- said he regarded Gosford, which also featured Dame Maggie Smith as a
dowager countess, as one of the inspirations for the ITV drama series.
He said:
"If I'd been asked to do it I probably would have done it, but I wasn't. I did Gosford Park, which was I think the germ from which Downton Abbey grew, and that was written by Julian.
"Of
course, it's enjoying enormous success and it's got a big fanbase - if I
was asked to do something in it now it would probably just be to guest
in it, and now I wouldn't want to do that."
Dance, whose appearances have included a starring role in acclaimed drama
The Jewel In The Crown, now appears as the villainous Lord Lannister in hit HBO drama
Game Of Thrones.
He lamented what he felt was a lack of effort to produce quality drama on British television.
He said:
"I have to be careful because I tend to get up on a soapbox a bit about this.
"But,
especially, the BBC seems to be putting more time and energy into real
estate at the moment and junk reality television and stuff.
"We are capable of doing it, we have a lot of very, very skilled people here, but you get what you pay for.
"I
think if you make something of real quality people will buy it, and it
has a life span, rather than reality television shows that comes and go
really quickly."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/charles-dance-i-would-have-loved-a-part-in-downton-abbey-8516938.html