Role: Harry Potter’s fearsome house mistress reigned as the harsh yet soft-hearted Downton matriarch, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. What she did next: When the TV drama ended, her ladyship slipped down the social ladder to play the scraggy and cantankerous homeless woman Miss Shepherd in The Lady in the Van (2015), and took a 3D-animated promotion to Lady Bluebury in the chirpier pun-filled Sherlock Gnomes (2018). Despite having slated Downton Abbey as “meandering” and having described plans to turn it into a film as “squeezing it dry”, Smith softened to join the 2019 Downton film cast. Staying power: Bow down before acting royalty★★★★★Hugh Bonneville JOSS BARRATTSponsoredRole: Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, an early tech enthusiast who modernised the Downton residence with telephones and electricity.

Source: The Times February 25, 2021 17:26 UTC