She got out the car, this Hollywood icon, and she was kind of looking for someone. And everyone was there, the entire cast, and she went, ‘It’s you!’ pointing at me. She came over to me and she’s like, ‘The evil one! Why are you so evil?’
And I was like, ‘Hello Shirley, nice to meet you, I’m Rob, how you doing?’ and she was like, ‘Never mind that, why are you so evil?'”
—Actor Rob James-Collier, a.k.a. vindictive gay butler Thomas, describing first meeting Shirley MacLaine on the set of Downton Abbey, in the Belfast Newsletter
queertypie
Bates returns; thomas may need to find a new job.
gjg64
Thomas is a Footman, not a Butler. A Footman is like an assistant Butler. He would LOVE to be the Butler or, better yet, a Valet. Sorry, but I’m one of those people who watches costume dramas to find the mistakes……not someone you’d want to watch Downton with!
Niall
Wow just noticed, but in that pic, the guy kinda looks like an older, more sinister Chris Pine, or maybe it’s just me.
seventhtreenyc
Actually, gjg64, Thomas is a valet. He became Lord Grantham’s valet when Bates went to jail.
gjg64
Did he? The show got so awful near the end that I honestly can’t remember what happened….I remember he came back to the household but that was it.