Maggie Smith Leaving "Downton Abbey" After the Sixth Season

She also hinted that she thinks the sixth season would be the last for everyone.

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Downton Abbey just finished its fifth season. The show's creator Julian Fellowes, doesn't know if the early 20th century estate drama will run longer than six seasons—but one thing's for sure: Maggie Smith wants it to be the end of her run as the Downton matriarch. 

In a profile within The Sunday Times, Smith gasped at the idea of her character continuing on past the sixth season. Smith said, “I mean, I certainly can’t keep going. To my knowledge [my character] must be 110 by now.” She also hinted that she thinks the sixth season would be the last for everyone. In other news: this means there's only one more year to make a Kardashian dream come true.

But in an interview with The New York Times, Fellowes said, “It’s not really my decision. I don’t own Downton Abbey now. NBC Universal owns Downton Abbey. So I could walk away, but I wouldn’t walk away. It’s too much my baby. It won’t go on forever — I’m not a believer in that. But I can’t immediately now tell you where the end will be.” Fellowes has another project lined up at NBC, that he's set to begin filming later this year. The Gilded Age will be a 19th century New York drama.

As for Smith, though she sees her character as ancient, the Dame is still keen on dropping wit and wisdom on the silver screen. She's currently in the no. 1 British film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the unlikely (and oddly titled) sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will hit American cinemas this weekend. 

 

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