Elizabeth McGovern: 'Downton fans are puzzled by my band's music'

Elizabeth McGovern has revealed that the Downton Abbey fans who come to watch her folk band play are often rather surprised by their sound.

The actress, who plays stately lady of the manor Cora, in the hit period drama, is the lead singer with Sadie and the Hotheads, and she told TV Times that since she made her debut in Downton, the band has gathered a new following.

"I look out at the audience and there are all these people with Downton Abbey books to be signed. They’re look puzzled by our music, they probably expect a string quartet! But by the end they are happily singing along," she laughs.

In recent years, Elizabeth's band has gone from strength to strength.

"Downton has created new opportunities for the band," she says. "We opened for Sting at a jazz festival, I would never imagined I would be doing that at 53! Then we toured this year with Mike and the Mechanics while we were doing Downton, so I filmed as Cora by day and then I had to tear off my wig to become Sadie by night. I go a bit burnt out, but it was fun."

But would she give up acting to go on the road for good?

"I'd love it, but it's a rough business to make a go of and very expensive," she says. "I don't really want to be rock star, but music is my happy place."

 

Caren Clark

Caren has been a journalist specializing in TV for almost two decades and is a Senior Features Writer for TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and What’s On TV magazines and she also writes for What to Watch.


Over the years, she has spent many a day in a muddy field or an on-set catering bus chatting to numerous stars on location including the likes of Olivia Colman, David Tennant, Suranne Jones, Jamie Dornan, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi as well as Hollywood actors such as Glenn Close and Kiefer Sutherland.


Caren will happily sit down and watch any kind of telly (well, maybe not sci-fi!), but she particularly loves period dramas like Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and The Crown and she’s also a big fan of juicy crime thrillers from Line of Duty to Poirot.


In her spare time, Caren enjoys going to the cinema and theatre or curling up with a good book.