Richard E. Grant found starring in ‘Downton Abbey’ very "odd".
The ‘Withnail and I’ actor has long been a fan of the ITV period drama so jumped at the chance to play art historian Simon Bricker in the upcoming fifth series of the show, but once he found himself on set with the likes of Dame Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern, the experience became totally surreal.
Speaking at the Fragrance Foundation Awards 2014 in London last night (15.06.14), he explained: "It’s just slightly odd when you’ve been a fan of the show and you suddenly find you’re one of the characters. It’s like going through the fourth wall. I had a really enjoyable time."
Richard revealed he had already finished filming his guest role, which spans four episodes and sees him play a friend of the Crawley family.
However, he denied recent reports he had got into trouble with show creator Julian Fellowes for being "very naughty" by posting pictures of himself on set on Twitter.
He said: "That was fabricated. There’s an embargo on the storylines but I didn’t actually reveal anything."
Following on from his recent guest role on hit show ‘Girls’, Richard revealed he has landed yet another major US TV gig.
The 57-year-old actor teased: "I’m about to go to Israel for five months for an American TV series."
Richard was wearing a snazzy Union Jack print jacket at the fragrance event to celebrate the success of his first scent, Jack.
He joked: "My perfume’s called Jack and it comes with a Union Jack bag, so I’m a one man brand."
Alesha Dixon, Jodi Albert and ‘Strictly’ dancers James and Ola Jordan joined Richard on the red carpet at The Brewery last night.
Richard E. Grant: Downton Abbey was surreal
