Actress Leaving Downton Abbey: Scheming Maid Sarah O'Brien Says Goodbye
Downton Abbey actress Siobhan Finneran, who plays a scheming maid, will not be returning for the fourth season of the show.
Maid Sarah O'Brien has been at the heart of the plot within the show more than once; the cause of Lady Crawley's miscarriage, O'Brien also played a role in the feud with under-butler Thomas Barrow. But Finneran, who had previously stated that she thoroughly enjoyed her catty role, will be no more.
"I'm not doing any more," the actress told the Press Association adding that she still enjoyed her role."O'Brien is a thoroughly despicable human being - that was great to play."
Finneran is one of many personalities who have been cut from the show. Last season "Downton Abbey" suffered the loss of actors Dan Stevens, following the untimely death of his character Matthew Crawley, and Jessica Brown Findlay, who played Lady Sybil.
The old faces will be replaced however with new ones which include Tom Cullen as Lord Gillingham- an old family friend of the Crawleys; Harriet Walter as Lady Shackleton- an old friend of the Dowager; and Julian Ovenden as Charles Blake- an "aristocrat".
Finnernan did not offer a reason as to why she would be departing from the cast. And while some may not be too sorry to see her go, she has said before that her character's "nasty" attitude was embraced by many.
"People actually love that she's a nasty piece of work. They love to dislike her," Finneran told HuffPost TV in January of 2012. "I've always carried around with me [the idea that] something has happened to her to make her be the nasty piece of work that she can be."
Finneran supposed that O'Brien's attitude could have something to do with her life of service.
"She's worked since she was probably 14 or 15 years old, and has basically sacrificed her entire life to somebody else, for the good of their life and their home -- it's no wonder that she would get frustrated or angry about things."
