Two weekends ago, Cressida Bonas was in LA for some Golden Globes events. She was there on behalf of her small part in a Weinstein Company film, Tulip Fever, plus she’s the newest face of Mulberry. So she wore Mulberry to two events, she gave some interviews, and she let it be known that she was eager to jumpstart her career as an actress. This has caused some of the most mixed coverage I’ve ever seen from the British press. Some people are falling all over themselves to paint Cressida as the next great British actress and It Girl, and some are accusing Cressida of using her past relationship with Prince Harry as leverage for a celebrity career. I don’t know what to tell you – she’s 25 years old, which is young enough to start a new career, but it does feel like Cressida has parlayed her thing with Harry into what she really wanted: fame on her own terms. In any case, people are showing an interest:
While her romance with Prince Harry has come to an end, Cressida Bonas may soon be mingling with other aristocrats after all – at least on the small screen. According to the Daily Star Sunday, the 25-year-old actress has met with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to discuss a possible role in the popular period drama.
‘Cressida is trying to break into Hollywood and knows a Downton role would do wonders for her profile, not only in the UK but also the US,’ explained a source. ‘She met Julian in the run-up to the Golden Globes. While it was a very informal chat, Julian was said to be hugely impressed with her. He even promised to set up a meeting with the show’s casting director in the UK to talk about a possible cameo in the next season, which may lead to a more permanent role.’
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Cressida Bonas for comment. The talks come shortly after the blonde beauty was cast in the new Harvey Weinstein movie Tulip Fever, which also features the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Cara Delevingne. Film-maker Harvey has insisted she’ll go on to have a success acting career, explaining: ‘People will see what a fantastic actress she is. It will be the first of many roles for her.’
He praised Cressida – who split with Prince Harry in the spring after two years together – for not trying to use her fame to secure roles, saying: ‘She is not taking advantage of any media profile.’
Joining Downton Abbey? As what though? Some new mysterious relation? Isn’t that why they hired that other blonde, Rose? And yes, maybe I’m just using this post as an excuse to complain about this season of Downton Abbey. It’s not good… at all. Poor Lady Edith trying to take care of her secret baby and no one even cares enough about Edith to put it together that Marigold is her daughter? Or Lady Mary being an icy bitch, even after she took a lover? This whole mess with Bates too – enough! Where would Cressida fit in? Rose’s society friend, perhaps?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Yeah, not loving DA right now either, especially the Miss Bunting character and her constant faux pas. But if she goes then maybe Cressy could be Tom’s new love interest? Although right now I’m starting to think maybe Tom and Mary should hook up.
Ugh, Miss Bunting is the worst. Why would Tom be attracted to her? And I love DA, but if they do another Bates In Jail moment, I may have to set my TV on fire. I guess Lord Gillingham wasn’t all that in bedroom, huh? Mary seems to be having second thoughts.
As for Cressida, I guess we’ll see. I don’t think she started out seeing Harry hoping it would launch her career, and I guess there’s nothing wrong with her using her moment in the sun to advance it, but the whole thing feels a little stinky to me.
Agree about Cressida, I think it would feel like stunt casting if they brought her on. I just can’t imagine her disappearing into the period.
And no idea why Tom is attracted to the abrasiveness that is Miss Bunting. She seems less like a real person than a device to remind Tom of his rebellious roots. As for Mary, I got the sense she was second guessing Gillingham even before their tryst, when she ran into the other guy whose name escapes me and who seems virtually interchangeable with Gillingham. Lastly I’m with you all the way on no more Bates in jail! Please.
He was only drawn to her because she represented a fire he thinks he’s lost. If he’s really leaving… I might not be watching anymore.
Yeah, did they have to cast twins to play Mary’s love interests? It’s so confusing.
Goodnames: Thank you! I thought it was just me. I keep getting them confused. Why couldn’t they just throw in a ginger? Maybe Harry can guest star next season?
Visits to my Mom seem to coincide right when Downton Abbey is on. I love British period pieces but Donwton Abbey sucks, IMO. It’s not bad, per se, but neither does it rise to all of its hype. I hate to say it but I just cringe when Cora / Elizabeth McGovern is on screen. Her acting is so canned and her speech is soooooooooooo pronounced (I guess that’s the right word) in places that she really sounds ridiculous. But the thing is that I can’t seem to pull my eyes away from the train wreck . It’s period-piece lite is what it is, so Cressie might just fit in. Just don’t pit her against Maggie Smith. She’d be caaaaatnip. Oh, did I just sound like Cora😔?
I used to cringe about Cora too! I think her accent is valid, though. American accents were pretty varied up until the 50’s. I can’t get away from it either, even though it has lines like ‘I’m just going upstairs to take off my hat.’
ITA agree that DA is kinda crappy. Definitely not awards-worthy but I stick with it because the characters have become familiar and the costumes and settings remain swoon-worthy to me. So beautiful.
U two will probably never see this but in addition to Cora’s speech, what’s up with all the head-tucking she does? I’d be so embarrassed to be her as a real life character.
Honestly, if Maggie Smith were to take ill, the series would fold. Buckle maybe. As I was writing that I used my Cora voice with a head tuck. Lol. Oh, God. Help us. Help me.
Season 5 haven’t aired yet in my country. I like period movies and I like Downtown well enough. However, I must admit that I mainly watch it for Maggie Smith – her zingers are priceless!
Miss Bunting is a rude a–hole. I hate that Tom likes her.
Seriously. Those Russians barely escaped their country chased by mobs with torches bellowing for their heads after the royal family, including the children, were heartlessly executed, leaving behind all of their money and possessions and their home, and she starts lecturing them on how inappropriate it was for them to exist. Sensitive.
I’m starting to think he doesn’t like her that much anymore. Thankfully. I was really feeling the love between him and Mary this last episode. Just sayin.’
I think something is developing between Tom & Mary too. And I swear I have no interest in Downton Abbey.
Right?! I’ve been wanting that to happen for forever. It might seem a little incestuous, but they’re so close anyway. Just the way they talk to each other as equals, without all their walls up, it would make perfect sense. I hope Mary ditches Lord Gillingham for good and goes with Tom. And would someone PLEASE tell Marigold’s adoptive mother that Edith is her birth mother so she’ll get her petticoat out of a bunch?! Pretty please? And can we quit with the murder plot? And can Daisy ditch Downton and go head up her father in law’s farm and be the bad@ss we all know she is? Is that too much to ask? Yes? Okay then. Guess I’ll keep watching. Begrudgingly.
Yeah, just tell Marigold’s adoptive mother already.
Don’t you think that would make her (adoptive mom) feel worse, not better? Unless she’s ok with an “open adoption” type arrangement.
Well, that’s possible. She might feel more threatened. But she’s on my last nerve.
When I first learned that my great great grandfather married the younger sister of his deceased wife (in 1857) I flinched as it did seem rather incestuous. (BTW, they were were devout Presbyterians.)
But after some research on the topic, I learned that Puritan era colonists were not in agreement about it. Some believed it was incest. Others believed certain Bible passages encouraged it which made it virtuous. By mid 1700’s, the practice was widely accepted until the early 1900’s.
Mary with Tom crossed my mind too. But I think that even though she has a good friendship with him, she’s too much of an elitist for that. Plus her unvirtuous reputation has been replaced with respectable widow. With her reputation back and she won’t settle for anyone but a rich aristo who is good in the sack.
I don’t understand if we’re supposed to hate Ms. Bunting or not. I mean, she has “good” politics perhaps, but she’s so insulting and abrasive to people. Is she meant to be so unlikable?
I think maybe she’s supposed to highlight the position Tom is in – stranded between two completely different worlds, neither fish nor fowl kind of thing. I’m not sure if we are supposed to think she’s a spunky firebrand (is that a word?) or a shrill, annoying not very cute bad dresser. (Guess which one I think?)
I can’t tell how we are supposed to feel about Ms. Bunting too. She plays her character fine, I just don’t feel/see any chemistry with Tom – at all. (So glad we have this thread so I can chat with some other people with the same thoughts!) And he is a good character. Can’t they find something for him to do and a lovely women to go with him?
Sharon Lea, I thought she was promising when they first introduced her but they quickly turned her into a one-note caricature. I hope they find a way to get rid of her soon.
I agree with you Esmom, definitely a one-note caricature. What a shame.
Good for her. Work it.
Go after your career gold Cressida. Good for her.
I started noticing last season that Downton had become even more cheesy brand soap opera than previously. The stories are flat. Thomas being evil has run its course and, especially with co-conspirator Ms. O’Brien gone. Ana and Bates’ relationship is barely shown now, as is Bates! Notice how little air time he gets, YET a re-hash of him being a “nice criminal’ AGAIN! And the set up for the diaphragm or condom or whatever it was…eye roll. Lady Mary is so icy and yet has endless suitors while Edith is too pathetic to be believed season after season. Even downstairs, Daisy and her maths… I dunno, I watch for the elements of English life that make me understand my father better. Maggie Smith is still genius, but overall, meh.
I hope she will now at least learn to clean her shoes and snickers, very dirty all the time.
Heehee. Snickers! I sneakered at that! 😉
Is it possible to already be sick of hearing about Cressida?
Also, is Downton Abbey still even popular? Not trying to be rude, but I stopped watching several seasons ago – I just stopped understanding the hype about that show (plus they killed off a bunch of characters I liked……).
I’m still hanging in there out of a kind of loyalty/nostalgia. I recognize that it’s not great material, but I enjoy the relationships between some of the characters and the costumes. Ever hopeful that it will improve.
I am forced to hang in there by Mr Sixer, who, unaccountably, LOVES Downton. I’ll never understand why.
It’s funny reading you guys because, for once, I am the one in the know and not the one avoiding spoilers because the British TV schedule is lagging behind the American one!
My husband loves it, too! And thanks for not spoiling. I knew all season before last about the two deaths, and it was so hard not to say anything.
Haha
Your husbands love British soap operas more than the wives *snickers*
FLORC stop snickering over there. Lol
It is definitely possible to be sick o Cressida Bonas.
“features the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Cara Delavigne” . . . . . does someone at the DM hate Judi Dench or something? Cara Delavigne and Judi Dench in the same sentence when it comes to acting?
Bluhare
You were sick of her the day she came about 😛
I still like her. Mostly because I think Cressida was with Harry looong before it was public news. Paps struggled to get them in the same shot and refused to declare they were dating. Cressi could have outed that ages ago if this was her game plan.
And I feel for Dame Dench although I approached it differenty. That someone tried to elevate Cara to Dame Dench’s level. Blasphemer!
Not the first day, FLORC! Maybe the first week. 🙂
Carson’s love-child, fresh from a career in the music halls, elevated to high society by an improbable aristocratic marriage to a scion of a baronet, who is now working to get back his inheritance, which pater removed as soon as he learned of said improbable marriage, turns up at a Downton weekend, only to be recognised by Carson as the spitting image of her mother, his long-lost lover, who died a tragic death, the nature of which is yet undetermined, and may be revealed at a later date, or may simply join the humungous list of dropped plotlines.
(Long sentence. I’m imitating what I imagine to be a Fellowes plotting sheet).
There. Cressy’s role.
That’s it! They need you on the show. Make her kill Miss Bunting and the ratings will go through the roof.
Sixer, I believe you missed your calling! This is brilliant.
Miss Bunting = living proof that you can’t let the plebs into the dining room.
The results are most distasteful.
I like that idea!
Maybe Cressy can play an Anstruther now that Lady Anstruther has arrived 😉
Or, maybe she can be a royal mistress-in-hiding heh heh
Love it Sixer! And sadly, in the realm of the actual Downton plot-lines.
But remember, they already did Carson’s long lost love story…the drunken Carny who stole her away. Are we to believe that Carson could actually manage two?! LOL…
” turns up at a Downton weekend”
what IS a weekend???
Yeah, Downton has gotten pretty ridiculous. But as long as Maggie Smith is stays on it, I’ll keep watching.
Cressida: Edith’s secret baby’s nanny, has an affair with Lord Crawley, perhaps! His wife Cora almost had a thing going with other one, didn’t she? Revenge affair of Mr.Crawley with the young one…Hehe…
The Earl already had an almost-tryst with a servant (kissed her), and he is more unbearable every season! I wanted to smack him (hard) this week when he told Cora that he could not understand why anyone would seek her opinion (about art). We’re about to get a Cora story-arch that could be interesting, except the acting is so cringe-worthy.
Maybe the Earl could spurn Cressy, she kills him, leaving Mary and Tom run Downton . . .
and realize their deep abiding love for one another! When Tom said, “if you love me,” this week I almost hollered, Yes! Love him!
I would like to see Tom and Mary together too! Although their sibling relationship is sweet. And if Tom and Mary got together, they would have to end up killing him I guess.
Lucretia, I agree that Robert has become more insufferable than ever. And Cora refuses to see how awful he is. And I also loved the “if you love me” line from Tom to Mary, such a sweet scene that just begs to be taken further, imo.
Oh, I think Cora’s starting to feel the insufferable along with us . . . That’s what’s going to be fun. That whole bit about “at least during the war I felt useful . . .”
She’s screaming, “SEE ME!” and he’s like, “Where’s Isis?”
My hubby brought up a good point; Robert is capable of being put in his place if cora would just do it already!
Also: I kinda want downton to get into the late 30s, if only to see Robert blow a gasket over Wallis Simpson and the fallout.
I just can’t get past her music festival/70s lovechild Farrah Fawcett super tan look.
Sorry, it just doesn’t work for crusty 1920s Downton.
Cressida should be the new kitchen maid. Ivy left and they haven’t replaced her so poor Daisy is stuck doing 2 jobs. I’d love to see Daisy pick on Watercress the way she picked on Ivy.
Too bad Fellowes would never put Cressida in a downstairs role b/c we’d get a glimpse of whether or not she really can act. In an upstairs role, she’ll just more or less play herself.
Total fan fiction from the DM, but I like the creative spin on this one.
I find Watercress to be far prettier in her actor incarnation than in her dating-royal incarnation. She does have the proverbial English rose complexion.
I think she should play a guttersnipe in DA so we can really evaluate her acting chops.
It’s obvious, I think, that I haven’t watch DA since season 1 with that comment. I had to jump ship when it started veering into pure soap opera early on.
LOL, Suze. Maybe she’ll change her name to Allthruster-Bonas to be taken more seriously. 🙂
She is the meh-est of the meh. Don’t know if she has any hidden acting talent though.
I am only watching DA because of Dowager. Love her lines.
Just seen the first Cressida picture from the movie Tulip Fever. She looks great!
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/16/24C33A2D00000578-2913630-Debut_The_first_picture_of_Cressida_Bonas_in_the_movie_Tulip_Fev-m-36_1421429852592.jpg
I wonder if there is any truth to this. Downton Abbey is a well oiled machine at this point with all the main characters firmly in place.
It would seem more plausible that she would get some role on his new project, The Gilded Age. I read he is just starting up production on that.
My problem with Downton is that storylines tend to drag on and are not consistent. I also don’t understand why all these men are enamored with Lady Mary. She is so mean and an ice queen and all around b**ch, evenwhen she was with Matthew (she was only nice to him, she barely cares about her kid).
I was rooting so hard for Lady Edith last season but she is always getting the short end of the stick and unlucky in love. So she has pre-marital sex once and ends up pregnant but Mary gets away scot-free each time (the Turk, Lord Gillingham)? And she is so mean to Edith and there really is no reason.
And there are other storylines that grate my nerves. But all scenes with Violet and Mrs Crawley (can’t remember her name) are amaZing! Love their love-hate relationship.
Also just catching up on season 4 finale in which Shirley Maclaine and Cora’s brother show up. Americans come across this show as clueless and backwards. We are not so oblivious when it comes to good manners Mr Fellowes!