dontbesodroopy:

“Alastair Bruce, our historical advisor, has always left me slightly outside the group in relation to etiquette,” Leech said. “I’ve never been given the full brief. So if you ever notice, sometimes I do accidentally pick up the wrong cutlery. And Tom should do it wrong.“

“Actually, the best at this is Maggie (Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess), because she’ll throw a look. It’s often in the show, where I pick up the wrong cutlery, and she’ll go, ‘Hmmm.’ There’s a reason for that. She doesn’t do that accidentally. Because she knows. She sees it.”

“But oh my God, she’s the most fun ever. Between takes, she has me in fits. We all make mistakes with our lines, but the first person to enjoy that and make fun of it is Maggie. It puts you at ease immediately. And when she does it, she’s the first to go, ‘Oh my God, this is going terribly.’ She is a legend, she really is.”  - Allen Leech (x)