Some people delight in being hated and Downton’s Siobhan Finneran is one.
The period drama star says she gets a kick out of playing the most-hated character at the Abbey.
The 46-year-old stars alongside Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Brown Findlay as bitter spinster Sarah O’Brien, Lady Grantham’s scheming lady’s maid. Our blood boils when we watch her onscreen, but Finneran claims that’s what she loves.
“I actually have great fun being sniffy to everyone! I love O’Brien the most when she’s spiteful and has a brilliant put-down. She’s a clever lady and a bad enemy to make,” she told Radio Times.
“Some people like to think she was just born bad, but I believe that at some point she has had some damage done to her.
“I have invented a back story for her, although whether that matches what [creator] Julian Fellowes had in mind, I’m not sure. The fact that she had a nephew and family she cared about came as a bit of a surprise.”
Oh! The sour face on you Finneran!
You might recognise Finneran from another television hit, very unlike that of Downton Abbey. Finneran has been sunning herself in Spain with her family as part of the Benidorm crew on Channel 4 for the last few years.
She’s married in Benidorm, but the Downton Abbey actress said she would like to see her period drama alter ego find romance too.
“O’Brien with a boyfriend would be stupendous! Who would be brave enough to take her on a date?
“Kevin Doyle, who plays Molesley, and I are always speculating what our characters would be like on a date, it would be hilarious,” she told the magazine.
We think that would make for a comic episode, it might even make up for the Downton devastation we’ve experienced in recent weeks!
Go on O’Brien, go find yourself a man!
