The Downton Abbey Sisters

Lets talk about some English Roses in full bloom... I’m talking about Downton Abbey!

Lady Mary Crawley ~ Michelle Dockery ~

Lady Edith Crawley ~ Laura Carmichale ~

Lady Sybil Crawley ~ Jessica Brown-Findlay ~

Downton Abbey has become a bit of an obsession for me recently and it all helps when three characters are so completely addictive to watch!

Of course my favourite character has to be the Dowager Countess played flawlessly by Maggie Smith. Anna and Mr. Bates hold me in the palm of my hand and every scene they are together in I want to cry with joy. I definetly want a love affair with the Earl of Grantham played by the ever handsome Hugh Bonneville. And of course the drama and comedy of the downstairs staff makes this series what it is.

HOWEVER, I am talking about the three heroines AND actresses that the mastery of Julian Fellowes has brought into the limelight.

The Elegance of Mary . . .

The Simple Tranditionalism of Edith . . .

The Beautiful Rebeller found in Sybil . . .

. . . is what drives this powerful drama.

MICHELLE DOCKERY

Michelle Dockery who plays Lady Mary Crawley and as a result captured the hearts of the world is 29 and every bit as intriguing as her alter ego. Her Irish immigrant father worked his way up from driving a van to becoming a surveyor; her mother delivers meals to the elderly in and around their home village of Chadwell Heath in Essex.

The youngest of three sisters, she not only acts but is an accomplished jazz singer. Although she professes to be unacademic, and felt intimidated when, aged 18 with just two A-levels, she won a place at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she exudes an emotional intelligence that shines through every performance, and after graduation was taken on at the National Theatre.

LAURA CARMICHAEL

Laura Carmichael who plays Lady Edith Crawley the character we loved to hate in Season 1 and now the character we want to find love in Season 2. Carmichael is made out to be the ugly of the sisters but that couldn’t be further from the she exudes sophistication and beauty out of costume. She graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2007 and was working as a receptionist in a physician's office about to go on tour in Dubai in a production of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' when she was asked to read for a role in Downton Abbey- she never realized she was being considered for a principle until she got it!

JESSICA BROWN-FINDLAY

Jessica Brown-Findlay is the youngest of the siblings and probably the most known. She spent her youth training with the National Youth Ballet and danced with the Kirov at the Royal Opera House for a summer season. At the end of her GCSEs, Brown-Findlay was accepted to a number of ballet schools but chose to continue with an academic education. She attended an arts educational school for two years and in her second year had three operations on her ankles, the last of which went wrong. Waking up from the anaesthetic, she was told she would never dance again. This did not deter her as she was accepted into Central for St. Martins fine arts course where she was spotted by a casting agent and the rest is history.

Three amazing women, three fantastic actresses, three unforgettable characters.

Thank you Julian Fellowes!