The stars of the British drama "Downton Abbey" have gotten quite emotional after they have finished filming the sixth and final season of the show, and they said that it has been heartbreaking to say goodbye to Highclere Castle, which has served as the Crawley family home for several seasons straight.
"It's strange saying goodbye to the castle," Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith on the show told Entertainment Weekly. "It felt like, for a split second, it wasn't our home anymore - and, of course, it never was our home, but it felt like it. As soon as they said 'cut' on that day, you realized it was just pretend. It was very emotional; we didn't want to leave."
Michelle Dockery, who plays her on-screen sister Lady Mary said that she will miss the entire cast and crew, and this sentiment is shared by all of the other cast members too.
Elizabeth McGovern, who plays their on-screen mother Lady Cora said that she will also miss the peaceful time period of the story. "In today's world we're inundated with information all the time, there's so many choices we have to make, so much opportunity," she said. "I miss the peace of this world where everybody knew their place and accepted it. Life seemed so quiet by comparison. I think that's part of the appeal and escape of the show. In today's world, we contend with more information than we can actually absorb."
The brains behind the show, writer and producer Fellowes said that they might have wrapped up the series, but that does not mean they are closing down the doors for a possible TV movie or two. Should there be one, they will take the story to the end of the 1920s, since the final season is set in 1925.
"If we had gone to a season 7 or 8 we would have taken it that much further," he said. "There's speculation about whether we'll ever make a 'Downton' movie, we might, but there are no firm plans. But it means there's a lot of rich remaining territory."
He strongly believes that they are ending the show at the right time, and the best thing fans can say about their decision is "I don't want the show to end."
"If we had finished at season 5, that would have been short-changing a global audience," said Fellowes. "And if we tried to do 8, that would have felt like running out of ideas."
The final season of "Downton Abbey" will air on January 3, 2016.
