'Downton Abbey' Season 5: New Characters to Be Featured in the Show
The much-awaited fifth season of "Downton Abbey" has finally premiered in the U.S., and fans will be watching as Lady Mary makes her choice between her two suitors, Lady Anstruther makes a play for the footman, Jimmy Kent, while Lady Edith struggles to stay away from her illegitimate daughter whom she had hidden away.
The new season will feature a bunch of newcomers who'll surely stir up things in the Abbey, and show creator and executive producer Julian Fellowes recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly to talk about the latest additions to the cast.
Rade Sherbedgia will be playing Prince Kuragin, a friend of the Dowager Countess. "He featured in Violet's past," said Fellowes. The prince is a Russian refugee who escapes the Bolshevik Revolution and lands in England.
Of Sherbedgia's casting, Fellowes said, "When you're casting someone who is going to play quite a principal role opposite Maggie (Smith), and they go down memory lane, you do need a real heavyweight. Otherwise, they just get sort of blown away by her." The show creator says that Sherbedgia is very fitting for the role, which was proven when he acted opposite Smith is a scene that Fellowes describes as one of her best in the series. "He's got an extraordinary kind of poignant quality that makes you sort of half cry all the time.".
Meanwhile, Richard E. Grant will be playing Simon Bricker, an art expert who visits the estate to assess a Piero della Francesca painting owned by the Granthams. He will also strike up a flirtation with Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), which will displease Robert (Hugh Bonneville).
Anna Chancellor will be playing Lady Anstruther, and she will be reconnecting with Jimmy (Ed Speelers) this season. Fellowes said that Chancellor's portrayal is "partly comedic and quite touching."
"Downton Abbey" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. on PBS.
