Julian Fellowes was born on August 17, 1949 in Cairo, Egypt as Julian Alexander Fellowes. He is an actor and writer, known for Downton Abbey (2010), Gosford Park (2001) and The Tourist (2010). He has been married to Emma Joy Kitchener-Fellowes since April 28, 1990. They have one child.
[on the negativity towards Downton Abbey (2010)] All we get is this permanent negative nit-picking f...Show more »
[on the negativity towards Downton Abbey (2010)] All we get is this permanent negative nit-picking from the left. You just want to say relax! It's a show that might not appeal to the left. I mean, why is it that it's "The Independent on Sunday" ringing me up about this? There are plenty of shows on television I don't like but I don't go on about them. Show less «
What I dislike about movie culture is that it often presents a parable of our problems - but the iss...Show more »
What I dislike about movie culture is that it often presents a parable of our problems - but the issues are all straightforward and the people are either nice or they're not. In real life, everyone falls between those perimeters, but not many American films operate in that gray area. Show less «
I think I'm more fearful of the future now. I always feel that there's some giant hand about to lean...Show more »
I think I'm more fearful of the future now. I always feel that there's some giant hand about to lean in and snatch it all away from me, saying, 'That wasn't meant for you.' Emma has this completely different quality of living in the present. It's just been very helpful to me to live with someone who doesn't think, Oh, my God, what if it all stops tomorrow? Of course it's absurd to live your life dreading some unspecified disaster. Show less «
I have an absolutely phobic horror of controlled relationships. I despise controllers. And when I se...Show more »
I have an absolutely phobic horror of controlled relationships. I despise controllers. And when I see that slightly patronizing relationship going on in front of me, as you often do in our industry, where the man who quite deliberately takes a partner who is less sophisticated, younger, from a less advantaged background or whatever, and he is becoming a kind of Higgins to her Eliza, I just want to punch him. I really hate it. Show less «
[on simplifying Shakespeare's dialogue in Romeo & Juliet (2013)] To see the original in its abso...Show more »
[on simplifying Shakespeare's dialogue in Romeo & Juliet (2013)] To see the original in its absolutely unchanged form, you require a kind of Shakespearian scholarship and you need to understand the language and analyze it and so on. I can do that, because I had a very expensive education, I went to Cambridge. Show less «
I was rather a lazy student. My interests were drama and taking girls to parties. However, they lock...Show more »
I was rather a lazy student. My interests were drama and taking girls to parties. However, they locked the college gates at 11 o'clock, and if you were out later than that, the girls would take off their party dresses, climb over the gates and then re-assemble themselves on the other side. A rather charming sight! Show less «
[on the detractors of Downton Abbey (2010)] The real problem is with people who are insecure sociall...Show more »
[on the detractors of Downton Abbey (2010)] The real problem is with people who are insecure socially. They think to show how smart they are by picking holes in the programme to promote their own poshness and to show that their knowledge is greater. Show less «
Advice from his upper-class father: If you have the misfortune to be born into a generation which mu...Show more »
Advice from his upper-class father: If you have the misfortune to be born into a generation which must earn its living, you might as well do something amusing. Show less «
There are limits to what any of us can achieve in life. If I wanted to be a catwalk model, I would b...Show more »
There are limits to what any of us can achieve in life. If I wanted to be a catwalk model, I would be in trouble. But the greatest limit of all is when we do not know ourselves and when we do not admit that truth about ourselves to ourselves, and that buggers up our life. Show less «
[being accused of plagiarism in Downton Abbey (2010)] Who can say what is lodged in one's brain? I a...Show more »
[being accused of plagiarism in Downton Abbey (2010)] Who can say what is lodged in one's brain? I am not conscious of lifting either, but it doesn't mean [the viewers] are wrong. Show less «
We have this funny, ambivalent feeling about success and about achievement, so that all we usually g...Show more »
We have this funny, ambivalent feeling about success and about achievement, so that all we usually get is some actress standing up in an evening dress and bovver boots telling you that winning doesn't matter. We can't give ourselves to these things and they're only fun if you give yourself to it. Whether you're doing a job or making love, you've got to let go of the side, and the Americans just do. Show less «
When you make your first film, there is a hell of a lot to think about, and you've got to have a gut...Show more »
When you make your first film, there is a hell of a lot to think about, and you've got to have a gut understanding of your material. It's not enough to say, 'I've met people like this.' You've got to know them inside out. So with Separate Lies I placed my characters in a class that I understand, but it doesn't mean that this is a film about class. It's about being trapped, about the consequences of our choices, and about lying. Show less «
[on portraying the homosexuality of Thomas Barrows in 'Downton Abbey'] He was always going to be gay...Show more »
[on portraying the homosexuality of Thomas Barrows in 'Downton Abbey'] He was always going to be gay. I don't know about in America, but here there are so many people under forty who were hardly aware of the the fact that it was actually illegal until the 1960s. Perfectly normal men and women were risking prison by making a pass at someone. Their whole life was lived in fear, and ruin and humiliation, and career after career would be smacked down. I think it's useful to remind people that many things that they take for granted are, in terms of our history, comparatively new. Show less «
We live in an era of tremendous dishonesty where people, even nice people, will say things they know...Show more »
We live in an era of tremendous dishonesty where people, even nice people, will say things they know are not true because they want to be perceived as someone who thinks they are true. But I think this is dangerous. I think personal dishonesty in a society is as dangerous as it is in an individual. For most of us the biggest journey in life, and certainly the toughest journey, is towards self-knowledge. Show less «
[on the enduring appeal of 'Romeo and Juliet'] There is something about the ultimate sacrifice to pr...Show more »
[on the enduring appeal of 'Romeo and Juliet'] There is something about the ultimate sacrifice to preserve your love, which is completely pure and takes over your life, that we find very appealing - perhaps because it's a sort of ideal that most of us don't live up to. There is a moment in some incredibly unhappy pursuit where most of us think, 'Oh, the he'll with it' and then we just go home. But what we love about these lovers is that they don't think that. They go all the way and in the end they would rather die than be apart. It somehow chimes with the memory of first love and early love which we've all been through. And I suppose I respond to it as much as anyone else does, really. Odd as it may seem - looking at this porky old fellow, bald and fat - once inside there was a lover. Show less «
[on what the potential timing might be to end the 'Downton Abbey' series] I'd prefer to do everythin...Show more »
[on what the potential timing might be to end the 'Downton Abbey' series] I'd prefer to do everything on my terms. The business of life is learning that you can't lay down terms. My own belief is that these things have a life. And one of the tricks is to recognize when it's time to come to an end. But we haven't made a decision when that will be. Some things go on for twenty years, don't they, but I just don't see 'Downton' as being one of them. Show less «
The wonderful thing about King Oscar is he makes all things possible, although a lot of the time you...Show more »
The wonderful thing about King Oscar is he makes all things possible, although a lot of the time you do keep thinking, 'Moi?' Show less «
Upon receiving the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 2002: I feel as if I'm in A Star Is Born and an...Show more »
Upon receiving the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 2002: I feel as if I'm in A Star Is Born and any moment, Norman Maine will come up and whack me in the mouth. Show less «
This whole business of love ending in death - I grew up on it. I mean, you remember those songs - 'T...Show more »
This whole business of love ending in death - I grew up on it. I mean, you remember those songs - 'Tell Laura I Love Her' and 'Leader of the Pack, and 'Terry' - they were all ending up with the guy dying on the motorbike or being smashed in the car race or whatever. And that was really my adolescent culture. So in a way I got there before 'Twilight'. Show less «
