How ‘Downton Abbey 3’ Will Pay Tribute to Maggie Smith and Her Character Violet Crawley

Dowager Countess Violet Crawley died in Downton Abbey: A New Era, but the upcoming third movie will still pay tribute to the late Maggie Smith.

“The fact that Dame Maggie herself has now passed away since that time, I do think, has given a real added poignancy to a story that we would have planned anyway,” Downton Abbey executive producer Gareth Neame shared in an interview with TVLine on Tuesday, December 24. “The loss of the dowager, it now feels far more significant that you see actors playing characters mourning the family matriarch. But I also see actors mourning the matriarch of the show, and it feels more genuine and more meaningful.”

Smith died at age 89 on September 27, not long after production on Downton Abbey 3 finished filming earlier this year. While the plot of the series’ third film is currently unknown, it will likely address the aftermath of Violet’s death. Smith’s iconic character died surrounded by her family at the end of the second movie, which hit theaters in May 2022.

Neame, 57, called Smith’s death “the end of an era,” telling TVLine that “we will never see the like of Dame Maggie Smith ever again.” He went on to note that the Downton Abbey cast and crew’s “huge respect for her … will come across in the next movie.”

Smith portrayed the Crawley family matriarch on all six seasons of Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015 and in the 2019 film Downton Abbey and its 2022 follow-up. The sharp-tongued character earned the actress multiple accolades, including two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and a 2013 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series.

Throughout her legendary Hollywood career, Smith won a total of four Emmys, two Oscars, three Golden Globes and one Tony Award. She portrayed a number of memorable characters in addition to Violet, including Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter film franchise and Mother Superior in the Sister Act movies.

Smith’s sons, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens, confirmed her death in a September 27 statement to the BBC. “She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September. An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother,” they shared. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.”

Smith’s cause of death was not revealed at the time, though she battled breast cancer while filming 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Back in October, Smith’s Downton Abbey costar Hugh Bonneville called the upcoming film “a wonderful sort of closing of all the stories” in an interview on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio U.K.

“It’s very much set in the house and saying goodbye to all these characters and we obviously say goodbye to Dame Maggie, which was very poignant on screen and now in real life,” Bonneville, who plays Robert Crawley, added. “She’ll be sorely missed. But the final film will obviously be a great lasting tribute to her.”

Downton Abbey 3 is set to hit theaters on September 12, 2025.