Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery 'not posh' in real life as she reveals very first job

Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery has insisted that she is 'not posh' in real life. The actress, 43, has starred as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV period drama series for more than a decade and just days ahead of the general release of the film that will wrap up the entire franchise, she has insisted that she is nothing like her upper class character.

Prior to finding mainstream success with her signature role, Michelle worked extensively in theatre and then took on small television roles in series like Dalziel and Pascoe and Heartbeat.

In the years before that, she had graduated from the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, but it turns out that her very first job was worlds away from her 'posh' alter-ego as she was a waitress in a fish and chip shop.

She said: "I was the ­waitress there for two years. It had a restaurant and a front with a counter. It was owned by an Italian couple. It was fish and chips, pie and mash and Italian food. I worked there for a couple of years when I was a teenager, two or three nights a week, while I was doing my GCSEs and A-Levels, and I loved it!"

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She added to The Sun: "I’m not like Lady Mary at all. For one thing, I’m not actually posh." The TV star, who was brought up in Romford, East London, where her mother worked as a care assistant and her father was a lorry driver, had a 'very strong' Essex accent when she was younger, but doesn't think she would have landed her role of the Lady Mary, who is the eldest daughter of Robert the Earl of Grantham and Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham, if she had auditioned with it.

She said: "I had a very strong Essex accent when I was younger, and I don’t think I would have got the role of Lady Mary if I’d walked into the audition going, ‘Allo, nice ter meet yer’.”

Just days ago, the actress revealed that she is expecting her first child with husband Jasper Waller-Bridge when she walked the red carpet in Leicester Square wearing a pale blue strapless gown and showed her baby bump.

She added a matching mesh cape and touches of silver jewellery, including a dazzling band across her chest. Michelle is welcoming her first child with her husband, Jasper, who is the brother of Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Michelle and Jasper tied the knot in September 2023in a stunning London ceremony. Michelle opted for a chic and simple satin gown to walk down the aisle while Jasper opted for a traditional three-piece navy blue suit.

Celebrity guests included Mamma Mia actress Lily James and Michelle's Downton Abbey co-star Joanne Froggatt. Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Lesley Manville and Lesley Nicol were also spotted watching the happy couple tie the knot.

Her wedding came seven years on from the heartbreaking death of her fiancé, Irish publicist John Dineen. John sadly died in 2015, 15 months on from first being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer aged 34.

Michelle and John became engaged in 2013 but sadly never made it down the aisle. Speaking during a rare interview in 2017, two years on from John's death, Michelle explained how she considered herself to be a widow despite never officially marrying John.

"We were engaged, and married at heart," Michell told the Guardian, "so [yes,] I do consider myself a widow." Michelle managed to find love again in 2019, meeting her now husband, Jasper, through mutual friends after spending time together at the Rome film festival.

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