As Downton Abbey’s Mrs Patmore she is rarely seen beyond the darkened confines of her sweltering kitchen, preparing banquets for the Earl of Grantham and his aristocratic chums such as Lord and Lady Sinderby.
But as millions of Downton fans watched her in the show’s highly anticipated Christmas Day special, the actress who plays everyone’s favourite grumpy cook was 5,000 miles away — enjoying her own Christmas in Hollywood.
Lesley Nicol moved out to live in Los Angeles in August after filming the final episodes of Downton’s fifth series and the Christmas show.
And now she says Hollywood has stolen her heart.
“I’m having the best time of my life,” said Lesley, 61.
“I certainly wasn’t cooking. I’ve not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982. People are always asking me for recipes. I tried to do a prawn pilaf the other day but added brown rice instead of white and ended up with prawn grit.
“Instead, I’ve been seeing friends and going for walks along the beach with my dogs and have a paddle in the ocean.
“Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I’ve met as a result of Downton Abbey.”
In person, Lesley looks a decade younger than her screen character, with flawless make-up and perfectly coiffed auburn hair.
She shares a chalet-style villa in the Hollywood Hills with her musician husband of seven years, Da’aboth, and the couple’s two dogs — and the acting work is rolling in. She has landed a spot on the hit US comedy show Hot In Cleveland, alongside Frasier star and fellow Briton Jane Leeves, and will also be seen in sitcom Raising Hope and the fantasy action series, Supernatural.
Lesley’s celebrity friends include Ali McGraw, with whom she recently went to Washington to highlight the work of her favourite charity, Animals Asia. The charity rescues bears which are milked for their bile to be used in Chinese medicine.
Lesley, who has a brother in South Carolina, wants to become a US citizen. She says: “I feel a real affinity here. It’s a million miles from Downton and England but I truly feel at home. I really do.”
But the good news for Downton fans is that Lesley can’t escape the kitchen completely — she is expected to return to Britain for series six of the drama, which is rumoured to be the final one.
