‘I’m loving my life at 60 ’
Her bright blue eyes are welcoming and her skin is porcelain, but the most striking thing about Elizabeth McGovern is her delicate poise and strength of character. We meet via video call from a ‘borrowed’ dressing room at a theatre in London’s Shepherd’s Bush after rehearsals for Ava: The Secret Conversations, her show about Hollywood legend Ava Gardner, also starring Anatol Yusef. There’s no publicist, no hovering stylist, which is a matter of course for actresses of Elizabeth’s calibre. The absence of an entourage is a nod to her down-to-earthness, which is particularly obvious when she talks about Matilda, 27, and Grace, 23, her daughters with film director Simon Curtis, whom she married in 1992.
Of course, Illinois-born Elizabeth has another family – the cast, with whom she reunited last summer to film – the sequel to the 2019 blockbuster and six staggeringly successful TV series. Elizabeth, who plays American heiress Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, alongside telly husband Hugh Bonneville, has been central to the Julian Fellowespenned drama since it launched 12 years ago. Her
