Sue Johnston wants more acting roles for women.
The ‘Downton Abbey’ actress – who plays the role of Lady Maid to Dowager Countess of Grantham (Dame Maggie Smith) in the ITV period drama – has confessed that although things have changed a lot since the early days of her career, she still thinks there aren’t enough parts for female actors.
She said: "It’s certainly improved, Julian Fellowes [the ‘Downton Abbey’ creator] obviously writes great parts for women, he’s fond of a matriarch and he’s very good at writing for women.
"It has got better but the majority of work is for men. I went to the theatre the other night and there was one girl in the cast of about 20 men and you think it still hasn’t rocked back properly but it certainly has improved.
"There’s still a lot of room for improvement, for women, really there is."
The 70-year-old star also spoke about the excitement of having Hollywood superstar George Clooney on set while filming a special charity episode.
Speaking to Kate Garraway on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, Sue admitted: "There was a huge buzz about him being around as you can imagine. Since it broke that he was in [the show] my phone has been going mad with my friends going, ‘Did you see him?’ He’s married, gone, forget it girls!"
Sue Johnston wants more roles for women
