Jeeves in P.G. Wodehouse books. Hobson in “Arthur.†Hudson in “Upstairs, Downstairs.â€
But is Carson in “Downton Abbey†the most beloved butler of all?
“People do seem to take to Carson â€" because an English butler is an iconic role, isn’t it?†Jim Carter said in his sonorous baritone, musing with requisite British modesty on his character’s popularity.
With his upper lip as stiff as his starched collar, Carson stands watch over the Crawley family with a mix of hauteur and humility: meeting the gaze of his employer, Lord Grantham, square on, while accepting his place in the hierarchy.
The role has earned Mr. Carter, 65, two Emmy nominations for supporting actor in a drama series. He will attend Sunday’s ceremony with his wife, Imelda Staunton, who is nominated for supporting actress in a mini-series or a movie for her portrayal of Alfred Hitchcock’s wife in “The Girl†on HBO.
In a phone interview, Mr. Carterâ€" whose substantial resume includes productions at the National Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company and films like “Shakespeare in Love†and “My Week With Marilyn†â€" unleashed the occasional un-Carson-like guffaw as he spoke about the man inside the tailcoat; the series’s popularity; and what excites him at this point in his career. These are edited excerpts from the conversation:
How’s the weather in London today?
It’s cold, and I’m sorely exhausted because I run the Hampstead Cricket Club, and I had a big event yesterday. I’m just lying around the house absolutely useless today.
Your Emmy submission, Episode 8, is centered on Downton Abbey’s annual cricket match with the village. How are you as a player?
Oh, rubbish. Absolutely rubbish. But you wouldn’t expect the chairman of American Airlines to fly the plane, would you? It’s an amateur cricket club, but we play at a very high level, just one level under the professional level. So as chairman I do all the behind-the-scenes stuff and I let the players play. But it’s a great antidote, a bit of real life. And we’ve won the league for the first time in our history, so we’re very pleased with ourselves.
Episode 8 was lovely partly because it was cricket, of course, and also one of my lads from the cricket club came down and doubled up for one of the actors because he’s a good cricketer and the actor wasn’t. And it was the first time in three series that I’d been able to dress myself because, with all those studs and shirtfronts and stiff collars and bow ties, I always have someone help me get dressed.
Season 4 is about to be broadcast in Britain. What are we going to look forward to?
I can’t tell you anything. [laughs] More of the same. Romance â€" will she? Won’t she? Will they fall in love? The whole point is not knowing. Well, of course, it’s no surprise that we start at a fairly low point, with the death of Matthew, which was very shocking in England because that episode was shown on Christmas Day. People were furious and poor old Julian Fellowes got hate mail because he ruined their Christmas, all because of Dan Stevens [wanting to pursue a film career]. Then, as he said, perhaps Dan did him a favor in a funny way because it’s quite difficult to dramatize happiness. It’s much easier to dramatize tragedy and conflict, isn’t it? So there’s where start from, with the mourning for Matthew, and the whole house is obviously affected by that. And then we pick up the pace and romance comes along possibly, he said.
For you?
Not for me. Carson’s too old. Mind you, I think everybody wants Carson and Mrs. Hughes to â€" yeah, it’s got to happen, hasn’t it, really?
Has there been a discussion of it?
Well, we don’t get to discuss much of it. We sort of get presented with the scripts. I have dropped very, very heavy-handed hints that Carson and Mrs. Hughes should ride off into the sunset together. But that’s the kind of thing we’ll save for the very end of the whole thing. Because in real life the butler and the housekeeper were always unmarried. So we’ll have to wait until we’re ready to retire.
It boggles the imagination, doesn’t it? Because ideally, my fantasy â€" Jim Carter’s fantasy â€" is that Carson and Mrs. Hughes would sedately get married and have a little cottage on the estate. But could you imagine what it’s like? He’d still call her Mrs. Hughes, because Carson’s so English. And what kind of husband would he be? He knows how to decant wine, but I can’t imagine that he knows how to do anything else very practical around the house. But maybe he’d be perfect. I don’t know.
Don’t you think that underneath all that formality is kind of a lion?
A. Hmm. A pussycat, I think. We do hear in this series that once upon a time did beat a romantic heart in Carson’s chest. A figure comes up from his past and there was a little romance way back, but it’s deeply buried now. Mrs. Hughes is very sweet. She tries to remind him of it, and she encourages him to remember it and talk about it. Have you seen any of Series 4? Oh, you’ve got an exclusive!
I don’t know if you remember back in Series 1 there was a chap turned up, who â€" Carson to his shame had been in a music hall dancing and singing act called the Cheerful Charlies way, way back. And his old partner re-emerges in very bad times, just bringing back memories of Carson’s younger self. And after that my lips are sealed. [laughs]
I understand that in the first episode Carson comforts Mary to the point of overstepping.
Carson is sort of like a second father to Mary. That’s how he sees himself, anyway. And I loved that moment in Series 3 when Mary came down the stairs in her wedding dress, and her father and Carson were waiting at the bottom and both looking at her so fondly. And this is not giving anything away at all, but Mary is in deep mourning, and Carson is sort of persuaded to probably overstep the mark by saying it’s time for her to pull herself together. And initially she tells him, “That’s too personal, you’ve gone too far.†But then she listens to what he said. And it’s funny because those little intimate moments are very precious because everybody was so formal and so aware of boundaries.
I imagine Carson is the role with which you’re most identified. I’ve read that Chinese state TV is now broadcasting the series.
I’ve told this story before but last winter I went cycling in Cambodia, in the temple of Angkor Wat, in the jungle, in my unpleasant cycling gear, and I was recognized by a group of Chinese tourists. I thought, “That’s very odd.â€
You’re married to Imelda Staunton. Do you perform together often?
We met in “Guys and Dolls†way back in ’82. Because we had a daughter [Bessie] 19 years ago who started at drama school today â€" it’s her first day today, isn’t that lovely? We’re dying to find out how she’s doing. And so because we had a daughter and we really didn’t want to have child care, we’ve always juggled work around each other. We take work on its own merits, really. And we both have slightly different agendas as actors.
Do you feel competitive with your wife?
Not in the slightest. We’re both very supportive of each other. Of course, Imelda’s so much better than me that I’d be in a very bad place if I felt competitive.
It’s your second nomination. Is it still exciting for you?
Uh, Kathryn, I’ve been acting for 40-odd years. I get excited about cricket and gardening.
