Elizabeth McGovern
Elizabeth McGovern
Elizabeth Lee McGovernis an American film, television, and theater actor, and musician. She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the 1981 film Ragtime. She is also known for her performance as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham in the British drama series Downton Abbey, for which she has been nominated for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award. Her other films include Ordinary People, Once Upon A Time In America, The Handmaid's Taleand The Wings...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth18 July 1961
CityEvanston, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Most people grow up dreaming of going to Hollywood and some of them work and work and work and finally end up in Hollywood.
I had reconciled myself to being happily out to pasture, a bit.
I'm someone who's done the opposite of whatever the received wisdom is, to keep your career going into your 50s.
I miss sometimes the buzz of America. A sense that anything can change at the drop of a hat. In a way, it's an exhausting thing to live with.
That feeling of being 19 or 20 and 'hot' in Hollywood was so intense.
We lack rituals in this modern world.
If I feel I can play a part I do everything in my power to try to play it.
I don't believe in villains - just people who channel their energy in the wrong way.
I like writing letters and receiving letters. It's a shame that we've lost the art of letter-writing and saving correspondence. I mourn that.
England as a culture has endured so much more than America has as a culture, so it's given them a different perspective.
Honestly, I am always shocked when I see myself in the mirror because I feel exactly the same as I did when I was 18 getting off the plane to go to Juilliard in New York.
I turned down the opportunity to be in some films that went on to be blockbusters.
I've got my private life - that's sacred - and I didn't have that before.
By definition, an actor's life is a recipe for regret. There are always roads you could have taken. But I've lived long enough to realise that each road has its own rewards.