Julian Fellowes wants Simon Callow to play him in a biopic

29 January 2020

Julian Fellowes wants Simon Callow to play him in a biopic.

Julian Fellowes

Callow portrayed the 'Downton Abbey' creator in a 2011 Comic Relief spoof and Fellowes feels that the 'Victoria & Abdul' would be a "rather good" in the role.

In an interview with the Metro newspaper, Fellowes said: "Who is the actor who did play me in a spoof on 'Downton Abbey'? I thought he was very good. Simon Callow! I think he'd be rather good, don't you?"

The 70-year-old screenwriter - who has been busy writing new HBO TV drama 'The Gilded Age' - also revealed that he would like to play Hugh Bonneville's character Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, if he was starring in the series, as the character is based on his father.

Fellowes said: "I don't think I'd be terribly good casting for anyone. I suppose the nearest one to me would be Robert. But I'm not as nice as Robert, though I think I'm probably a little bit brighter. I love Robert because he's based on my father."

Explaining the similarities between his late dad and Robert, he added: "He just has a similar moral viewpoint. Like Robert, he was a good man who would try to do his best and be a decent citizen and all of those things but never question the world in which he was born.

"Robert never wakes up and thinks, 'Why am I the Earl of Grantham? What have I done to deserve this house?' His thing process is, 'I owe my duty to this position. I must do my best in it. I must look after this house, look after the people who work on this estate.' But he'd never challenge the system. My father was rather similar."