Michelle has joined the cast of Non Stop, a new thriller along side Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy and Liam Neeson. No word yet on what her role will be…but definitely exciting news! Congratulations, Michelle!

Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”) and Scoot McNairy (“Argo”) have also joined key cast of the air-flight action-thriller that is budgeted at about $50 million, according to Studiocanal chairman-CEO Olivier Courson.

“Non-Stop” initiates principal photography Nov. 1 in New York. Collet-Serra directs from a screenplay by John Richardson and Chris Roach.

Silver, Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman produce. Studiocanal is fully financing the action-thriller, owns world rights and will distribute directly in U.K., France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Studiocanal will also handle sales for the rest of the world.

For the U.S., “Non Stop” will be a major studio release, Courson said.

“Non Stop” is the biggest-budgeted film Studiocanal has ever fully financed, alongside “Paddington.”

“After ‘Taken 2,’ ‘Non Stop’ will be a big catch for any studio,” Courson added.

Dockery (“Hanna”) broke through playing Lady Mary Crawley in “Downton Abbey.” Named as one of Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch in 2012, McNairy came to attention at Cannes in The Weinstein Co.’s “Killing Them Softly.” Casting of another Variety Actor to Watch, Nate Parker (“Arbitrage”), was announced Friday.

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Several members of the Downton Abbey cast have been nominated in the first round of nominees for the National Television Awards. On October 11th, this round of voting will be closed and the list will be condensed into the actual list of nominees. The next round will open in early January.

Michelle has been nominated in the Drama Performance: Female category, along with co-star Joanne Froggatt. Hugh Bonneville and Brendan Coyle are nominated in the Drama Performance: Male category.

Let’s get those votes rolling in for Michelle and secure her second round nomination!

You can vote here.

Matthew (Dan Stevens) and Mary (Michelle Dockery):

It’s not all happily ever after for this star-crossed pair. “Although they have the engagement at the end of the last episode, they are two very, very forceful characters in their own right,” said Neame. “It will always be a very volatile relationship. There will always be some spark in it.”

Dockery agreed, and hinted that Matthew and Mary may not make it to the altar in the end. “It’s not plain sailing with Matthew and Mary,” she said. “Downton comes into trouble financially and Matthew discovers that he could inherit money from Lavinia’s father and he’s too proud to take the money because she passed away. Mary’s saying, well, you can save Downton if you go through with this. There’s a lot of disagreement between them. Whether they get married or not, I’m not going to give that away.”

“I just love that Julian hasn’t said it’s all perfect now and they’re smiling and skipping along around the estate,” continued Dockery. “It’s like any kind of relationship. It’s not always easy.”

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Thanks to our family site, Jessica Brown Findlay Online, we have some scans from “Saturday.”

Daily Mail has a new article which discusses the character of Lady Mary and how she’s grown so much over the past three seasons. The article also includes a new promotional image which has been added to the gallery!

When we met Mary in the first series of Downton Abbey, she appeared to be a cold and ambitious elder daughter of an earl.

Blighted by her gender, she had to prove she could be as successful as any male heir. However, finding herself engulfed in a potentially ruinous scandal when her one-night lover, the Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk, died in her bed, she was forced to see that even upright and good people make mistakes.

Ultimately, the scandal was Mary’s salvation, softening her and opening her up to true, honest love. Of all the characters, she is the one who undergoes the greatest metamorphosis.

Mary was taken by surprise when she fell for Matthew, who is in line to inherit the family home. She knew it would be convenient for everyone if they married, but she didn’t think she could love a man born outside the aristocracy.

A man who worked for his living was not her type, but Matthew’s kindness of heart, his love for her and his good looks and charm won her over.

Still, it was hard for Mary to relinquish her dream of securing a powerful and rich society figure for a husband. When it looked as if there was a chance Matthew might not be the heir – during Cora’s brief pregnancy – Mary wobbled a little.

She had been schooled in the success of a financially astute match, following her own parents – the future of Downton seemed assured when the Earl married American heiress Cora, who brought a huge personal fortune with her.

Mary was quickly punished for her doubts: Matthew sensed her wavering and called off the engagement, and by the time she saw him next, he was in love with Lavinia Swire.

‘The thought of losing Matthew had a huge effect on her,’ says Michelle Dockery, the actress playing Mary. ‘It made her a nicer person in the end.’

And now she has her own wedding to look forward to. But with Mary’s stubborn temperament and Matthew’s desire to toe the moral line, we should not expect events to be free from drama.

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All next week on Meridian Tonight we catch up with the stars of the ITV drama Downton Abbey.

The new series starts next weekend and promises lots of twists and turns, upstairs and downstairs.

Fred Dinenage has been meeting some of the main characters and, throughout the week, we’ll be learning about their secrets on and off the screen.

Check out the sneak peek at ITV’s website, here!

Production on Michelle’s new project Restless is officially underway. Michelle filmed some scenes over the weekend with her co-star Michael Gambon (it’s Dumbledore!)!

She’s rarely seen out of a corset thanks to her most famous role as Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey.

But now actress Michelle Dockery is trying out a different type of costume as she starts shooting a new BBC drama.

The 30-year-old star was seen wearing a Seventies-style ensemble of light denim flared jeans, with a stomach-baring white top and disc belt as she shot scenes for Restless alongside her co-star Michael Gambon.
Michelle was also seen carrying a hippy-style patterned bag, and sporting a pair of retro sunglasses as she prepared to shoot scenes for the series – an adaptation of William Boyd’s bestselling book.

The actress, who can also soon be seen in Anna Karenina alongside Jude Law and Keira Knightley, also had red hair for the shoot – a far cry from the sleek brunette style Lady Mary has in hit show Downton.

In a recent interview, Michelle said that the costumes she wears in Downton are not as glamorous as they may seem.

She said: ‘The corsets are made for us. And there are things you don’t get to see, like the microphone packs that are strapped to our calves and the wire [that] goes right up.

‘When it is raining, we wear Ugg boots underneath our dresses. It’s not as glamorous as it may seem.’

In Restless, Michelle will star as Ruth Gilmartin, a young woman who finds out that her mother worked for the Secret Service during the Second World War, but has been in hiding since a failed mission.

Michelle will play Ruth as a young woman, while Hayley Atwell and Charlotte Rampling will both take on the role of her mother Sally, at different stages of her life.

As it was announced that Restless was going to hit the small screen, author Boyd said of the project: ‘To have the chance to film a novel like Restless over three hours is the sort of opportunity that only a television adaptation can provide.

‘It represents the most enticing and alluring of possibilities – not only to tell an enthralling story of wartime espionage, love and betrayal but also to lift the lid on one of the last secrets of the Second World War.’

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Our host does not allow Splash News pictures to be displayed due to copyright issues, but view some images of Michelle on set by visiting the link above!

ITV has released their Press Pack for Season 3 of Downton Abbey. Not much in terms of new information, but we get our first glimpse of Michelle (or Mary!) fully embracing the 20′s! Love the hair!

Lady Mary Crawley. (Michelle Dockery).
Mary broke off her engagement with the rich and powerful newspaper proprietor, Sir Richard Carlisle. Now happily engaged to the heir, Matthew Crawley, and planning their life together, Mary finds her loyalties tested when the future of her beloved Downton is under threat. When Lavinia?s father offers a chance of salvation, Matthew is unable to free himself of a sense of guilt and obligation that prevents him taking advantage of the opportunity, which Mary cannot understand.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE DOCKERY
“The big difference for Lady Mary in this series,” says Michelle Dockery, “is that she’s very happy!”

After several series of scandal, strife and a long-running will-they-won’t they with Matthew Crawley, Mary is finally getting married. Dockery for one is a little relieved.

“As much as that angst between Matthew and Mary was enjoyable to play, I must say it’s lovely now to be finally settled in some ways. Of course, like all marriages it’s not completely perfect. Let’s just say they have their teething problems at the beginning.”

First though, there’s the wedding of the decade (with apologies to a certain royal couple). Episode one is all about the nuptials, which means Michelle Dockery gets to wear possibly the second most anticipated wedding dress of the last few years.

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“I guess she becomes a woman in the third series. The way it’s written it feels that even though Mary maintains that pragmatic side to her – which can be quite bossy at times – she’s really grown up. That’s highlighted in Edith and Mary’s relationship. I think it’s fair to say that things have softened between them. They look out for each other a little more. Of course, they still disagree on things, like sisters do. But Mary is a little more mature now.”

Download your own Press Pack!

During the interview, Michelle, and her co-stars Jessica Brown Findlay and Joanne Froggatt, also discussed their delight at having received nominations in this year’s Emmy Awards, which will be screened next month.

Michelle said, “I was watching the live [nominations] stream with one of the girls. We were all over the moon. I haven’t even planned my outfit yet.”

And Joanne, who plays maid Anna, added, “I think it will take me about a week to get ready!

“There will be lots of make-up and hair tests and ‘what am I going to wear?’ moments, so that will be really exciting.

“When I found out I was nominated [for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series], I jumped up and down and cried a bit.

“I went a bit red in the face. It was amazing.”

And finally, Jessica Brown Findlay, who of course plays the rebellious Lady Sybil – who ran off to Ireland with Downton chauffeur Tom, who’s played by Allen Leech – revealed that she’s just glad she wasn’t axed from the period drama!

She said, “I did get a bit worried when Sybil left, and Allen was convinced he wasn’t coming back.

“We’ve never known how our story lines would pan out.”

And when asked if the rumours that she and Allen are dating, are true, Jessica said, “No, we’re just good friends and we laugh about it.

“He texted me when it was reported. Maybe it just came about because we have good chemistry on screen.”

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The Emmy Awards will air on September 23rd…can’t wait! #TeamDockery

Michelle Dockery had a “great” time working with Keira Knightley in ‘Anna Karenina’.

The ‘Downtown Abbey’ actress found it a “real experience” to make her big screen debut alongside such high profile names such as the 27-year-old actress, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson, and she was in awe of the ”extraordinary” set used to film the 19th century period drama.

She told BANG Showbiz: “The cast were all great to work with. I didn’t ask them if they were fans of ‘Downton’!

“It was a real experience, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the result. I don’t think it will be what everyone is expecting, that story. The camera literally moves in between each room in the building, it’s an extraordinary set.”

While Michelle enjoyed shooting the drama movie – which is directed by Joe Wright and also stars Kelly Macdonald and Matthew Macfadyen – she admits it was an “intense” and “brilliant” experience working alongside dancers for two weeks.

She added: “The whole process was brilliant, we worked with dancers for two weeks in an intense rehearsal process as Joe Wright used them within the film quite intensely.”

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SO excited for this film! Are you?!