Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery looks unrecognisable as she transforms for Peaky Blinders boss’ gritty new drama
DOWNTON Abbey star Michelle Dockery looks the complete opposite of her Lady Mary character in the first-look trailer for Peaky Blinders boss Steven Knight’s gritty new drama.
The 42-year-old actress will be portraying an alcoholic singer in the upcoming six-part Midlands-based series.
Michelle looks worlds away in her role as struggling alcoholic Estella in the new BBC drama This Town, set in Birmingham in 1981.
The forthcoming series tells the story of four young people drawn into the era’s explosive and iconic music scene.
Set against the backdrop of riots and IRA activity, the music acts as an escape from the backdrop of their very complex family issues.
In the newly-released trailer, the Downton Abbey star dons a backcombed perm, heavy eye makeup, and of course 80s-era fashion.
Michelle switched up her posh accent for a Brummie twang, showing off her incredible voice while performing a rousing rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
And like the rest of her cast members, the actress did all her own singing with no help.
Speaking about the role after a special screening of the first episode, Michelle explained: “Estella, at the beginning [of the show], she’s kind of an outsider.
“She’s been exiled from the estate for talking too much. She’s a struggling alcoholic, so she’s not spending as much time with her son as she would like to.
“But gradually, as the story goes on, she’s integrated much more into the narrative, and she’s a singer. So that kind of gives you a clue as to how she gets involved.
“She’s an amazing character, I just loved her. When I read the script for the first time, I just fell in love with all of the characters in this, it’s just so beautiful and relatable.”
She added: “They’re a real family, and you start to see that as the episodes go on, they come together when the characters begin to come home. It was instant. I just fell in love with her, and every character has so much heart.”
Estella is the estranged mother of Bardon Quinn, played by Ben Rose, who is trying to build a relationship with him after not seeing him in years.
The two are pulled together by tragedy, but despite her promises, she finds it difficult to keep herself together and sober.
Michelle added: “She’s always trying. But it’s a real struggle, and because of the situation that she’s now been put in, there is so much guilt that she carries.
“And she beats herself up for what she said and what she’s done.
“So naturally, the drink helps. But like all of these characters, the music helps them in some way express how they feel. Estella is the same.”
She continued: “There are times in the show where you see her sober and times when you see her drinking, so I just kind of immersed myself into it, depending on what stage she was at when it came to her addiction.
“I approached it in the same way that I would any other role actually, a lot of it comes in the writing and the circumstances that the characters find themselves in.”
The Downton Abbey star teased: “And then it’s just working with [director Paul Whittington] and whoever I’m playing the scene with as to how I’m sort of playing her physically.
“So I guess that’s all I can tell you as to what you see of her as the show goes on.”
Line of Duty’s Ben Rose, actors from Peaky Blinders, The Book of Boba Fett and Sex Education will also be starring alongside Michelle in This Town.
This Town begins on BBC One on March 31 at 9pm and continues the following night April 1.