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Downton Abbey Season Four: Michelle Dockery Dishes on Lady Mary's Love Life

Exclusive! The young widow has "quite a few" new men in her life

By Marc Malkin Jun 11, 2013 7:23 PMTags
Downton Abbey, Michelle DockeryNick Briggs/Carnival Film and Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE

Matthew Crawley, who?

In the upcoming fourth season of Downton Abbey (premiering Jan. 5, 2014), Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) will have plenty of men to keep her mind off the death of her husband.

"Quite a few and they're very handsome," Dockery told me last night at the Downton Abbey event at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood when I asked how many new men would be after her character. "Yes, there are a few potential suitors…[But] I don't even know where it's going yet."

Let's hope it goes in the steamy direction, because two of the said suitors are being play by hotties Tom Cullen and Julian Ovenden.

Dockery said the cast is given scripts about two weeks in advance of shooting. "Most of the time we don't really know what 's coming," she said. "It's funny because, like the audience, we all start to speculate—you know, I wonder if this happens or apparently this happens [but] none of it turns out to be true."

Dockery just hopes things turn out for the better. Not only was Matthew killed in a car accident, but his untimely death happened shortly after Mary gave birth to their first child. Season four begins six months after Matthew's demise.

"It's just when [Mary] is starting to think about getting back to life," series creator Julian Fellowes said.

"I just want her to be happy eventually," Dockery said. "She was, and now she's not again."

The casting of Downton's first black character made headlines last month when it was announced Gary Carr will be popping up in the new season as a jazz singer named Jack Ross.

Dockery laughed when we suggested uptight Mary hook up with an entertainer.

"Maybe that's what Julian's got up his sleeve," she said. "She runs off with the jazz singer!"

Maybe not, but expect plenty of Great Gatsby-like soirees at Downton. "We're really kind of moved into the 20s now so it's all very Bright Young Things," Dockery said. "There are a lot of parties."

We can't wait!

Watch: Michelle Dockery Talks Lady Mary's Love Life