Matthew Goode insists Downton Abbey remark ‘was not meant to be derogatory’

Matthew Goode caused a stir among Downtonians earlier this month when he said something that might be perceived as a slight on his beloved Downton Abbey character Henry Talbot.

However, he has insisted that the comments he made were not intended ‘in a horribly derogatory way’.

The actor – who is currently starring in the new Netflix thriller Dept Q, out today – clarified his remarks in an exclusive interview with Metro.

Goode recently confirmed he will not be returning for the third film of Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey, having starred in the melodrama for two seasons.

Speaking to Radio Times, he quipped that his character, racing driver Henry Talbot and Lady Mary’s second husband, had become a ‘wet lettuce’, so it is probably for the best if he disappeared into the sunset.

Addressing the wisecrack at Henry’s expense, Goode told Metro: ‘I didn’t mean it in a horribly derogatory way. I just meant actually, wouldn’t it be more exciting if [Lady Mary] didn’t need a man so she might end up on her own?

‘Some people look up to her as a modern feminist or a pillar of modern feminism.’

While Goode never read the script for the third film, since he was working on the TV show The Offer, he suggested his own alternative ending for Lady Mary.

‘I would hope that, if she does have a happy ending, maybe one of her earlier suitors could come back and whisk her off,’ said the 47-year-old.

He then suggested perhaps Lady Mary’s ending could involve ‘something surprising other than good old Henry’.

So what does he think Henry is doing now? Replying without a beat: ‘Drinking, probably.’

While Goode is most familiar to his fans as a bastion of the period drama, with Downton, The Crown and Brideshead Revisited likely his most well-known roles, his latest IMDb entry is something wholly different. 

Goode stars as detective Carl Morck in Netflix’s new cold case psychological thriller Dept Q, in which he has grown a grey-speckled beard and installed a chip on his shoulder to inhabit the frame of a tortured detective forever on the case.

Based on the Danish crime novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept Q follows Goode’s Mock as he joins forces with other down-and-out coppers in the Edinburgh precinct to try and crack long-unsolved cold cases.

It turned out playing against type was something The Imitation Game star quite enjoyed, albeit admitting it did start to creep into his off-screen life during the ‘seven-month grind’ of filming the show in Scotland.

His schedule included 4am wake-ups to run dialogue and prep for the day’s scenes and weekends that were spent catching the Caledonian sleeper to visit his wife and children in Exeter, emerging bleary eyed at Euston Station at 5am.

‘After seven months it does compound upon you slightly, playing someone with PTSD and working on the murder squad,’ he said. ‘But very nice problems to have.’

He added: ‘You get into a rhythm. The thing about doing long form television is that there isn’t really any switching off, because it’s a constant process.’

When he wasn’t running lines in the bath or filming the nine-episode show’s high-octane scenes, he enjoyed moments to himself with a pot of coffee and a sports documentary – Ken Burn’s Baseball being his favourite.

Goode said all his roles have been challenging in certain ways, but did single out inhabiting the grizzled psyche of Morck as particularly demanding. 

‘The darkness of it was relentless. It’s up there,’ he said, momentarily wracking his brain. ‘Once you finish, I just jettison everything from my memory banks. I control, alt, delete a lot.’

He then added: ‘But we’re not saving lives. We’re not in a war zone operating on children. It was tough, but let’s keep it within the realms. It was a wonderful challenge.’

Dept Q is available to stream on Netflix from today.

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