No red-blooded les/bi would deny the chance to get into Meryl Streep’s pants.
But, as EW reports, Laura Carmichael actually got to do it. The actress, who plays Lady Edith Crawley on Downton Abbey, said in an interview that she enjoyed the wardrobe fitting for her brief venture into tractor driving for a local farmer.
The fun was not just in getting to wear pants instead of the usual post-Edwardian dresses with elbow-length gloves. It was trying on the trousers Meryl Streep wore in Out of Africa. Carmichael spills her thrill in this bonus clip from the Downton Abbey Season 2 DVD/Blu-Ray, which releases today.
Wearing gently used costumes is not unusual for Downton Abbey. The frightfully expensive show tries to cut costs by adapting some of the lavish clothes worn in other period dramas by stars like Uma Thurman, Emma Thompson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
This red dress worn by Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), for instance, originally was worn by Zeta-Jones in Death Defying Acts.
Even the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Dame Maggie Smith) is not immune from dress recycling. Uma Thurman first wore Violet’s teal silk in The Golden Bowl.
(You can see more here.)
Carmichael was, as she said in the clip, “gutted” to learn that the costume designers made her new pants instead of using the pair she tried on. She did, however get to wear one of Streep’s Out of Africa blouses. So, she not only got in Meryl’s pants – she got in her shirt.
Score one for Team Edith.
