Fans of Downton Abbey are patiently counting down the days until season 3’s January 6 premiere, and on Monday, Britain’s ITV helped whet their appetite with a teaser trailer from the upcoming episodes.
In the clip above, the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) has one of her first exchanges with Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine).
“You Americans never understand the importance of tradition,” snaps Smith to MacLaine, dressed in ’20s period garb. “Yes we do. We just don’t give it power over us. Maybe you should think about letting go of its hand,” fires back MacLaine as Levinson before storming off.
MacLaine says now that she’s taken part in the hit period drama, she’s as hooked as everyone else — including her friends at the hair salon. “I walked into my hairdresser lady in Malibu and they were all talking about [Downton Abbey]. [I thought], ‘What do they mean? I better go look.’ . . . then I saw it . . . and I was just as addicted as everybody else,” the actress has said.
Once MacLaine heard a description of Lady Grantham’s mother, she knew she had to take part. “All the ladies in my hairdressing place said, ‘Oh, [Martha] is Jewish and she’s from Long Island and she has a lot of money and she’s looking for a tight old man,'” MacLaine explained. “I thought that might be worth investigating.”
Watch the season 3 Downton Abbey teaser above now!
