Key Insights
- Matthew Goode’s absence: The actor did not return for the final Downton Abbey movie.
- Character’s fate: His character, Henry Talbot, has been completely written out of the series.
- Divorce revelation: Mary and Henry are now divorced in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.
- Creator’s explanation: Julian Fellowes provided reasons for Goode’s absence and the character’s storyline changes.
Matthew Goode did not return for the final Downton Abbey movie and series creator Julian Fellowes is explaining his absence, plus how his character was written out of the movies.
The 47-year-old actor joined the beloved franchise as a guest star in season five and later became a series regular for the final season.
While Matthew appeared in the first Downton Abbey movie as Henry Talbot, the husband of Michelle Dockery‘s Mary Crowley, he did not return for the second or third movies. The second movie explained his absence by noting that he was involved in a car rally, which added strain to the marriage.
Now, he’s been written out of the story completely.
Keep reading to find out more…
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Mary and Henry are now divorced in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. Henry was revealed to be an adulterer.
Fellowes told TVLine, “For Matthew, once he’d done the series, I think he felt he’d done the job. He was in the first film for a very short time — I think he gave us three days or something — and then he didn’t want to be in the second or third, so I had to come up with a believable reason for all of that, or I would have been stuck. Matthew is a wonderful actor, so I was sorry he didn’t want to be part of it. I can’t pretend that I was glad, but in this business, you must make what you’ve got work. That’s your job.”
On the storyline of Henry being a cheater, Fellowes said, “Mary has always been something of a winner all the way through, and suddenly it’s gone against her, and she’s a kind of loser. I felt that was good for us and good for Michelle.”
Matthew previously talked about his exit from the franchise and claimed it was because of scheduling conflicts.
