60 Minutes


Well?? What did everyone think of the interview? She came off to me as somewhat aggravated by the questions and her answers were short, the editing was incredibly choppy, I wonder if they had to do several takes because she got annoyed during the interview? She didn't come off as particularly warm and even admits to being intimidating and scary with her co workers. She seemed to "warm up" a little when they brought in Dustin Hoffman, but I was a little surprised by how non-plussed she seemed. No wonder she skips award ceremonies, she seems to have absolute zero interest in any accolades.

The only part that amused me was her saying the F word for the first time ever in Quartet. Other than that... Very disappointing.

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I think it was a pretty good interview. That's what Dame Maggie is like. She doesn't like interviews and isn't afraid to show it. I loved how she bashed the California Suite director

It's the times, what can we do...

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I was also perplexed that she claims she has never watched one episode of Downton Abbey. Isn't that a little pretentious? It's like a singer saying they've never heard any of their songs or an author having never read their books. It's almost disrespectful to her profession to disregard her own work like that don't you think?

"It's just a puzzlebox!"

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Many artists do not watch/listen to their own work. (Many don't watch/listen to other people's work either, but that's another story.) People who do often fall into one of two traps, hubris or crippling self-criticism, so it's probably wise that they don't. The only measure of an actress' respect for her profession is whether she's continuing to give good performances, and I don't think there's any denying that Maggie Smith is.

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I sum up the truth about Dame Maggie by her face lighting up when she talked about her sons and her grandchildren. The real priorities in her life, which they should be.

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Where can I watch the interview online?

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I think the same. Very disappointed by the interview (although they had made such a fuss about it on CBS). We didn't learn anything new, the questions were rather dull : one was missing though, "Why do you never promote Downton Abbey with the whole cast ?" (for the same reason she has never watched it, maybe). And the questions about finding another lover, about not using face surgery, quite rude and intrusive!... She is very private, and whatever her "very private" life is, "60 minutes" is not the place to talk about that subject ! Her answers were clever and very restrained though.

It would have been much more interesting and funny to film Hoffman and Smith having tea together and discussing friendly about their work or their mutual admiration : just compare how she feels relaxed with him and shy with Kroft.
It must have been a torture for her. I suppose it's part of the Downton Abbey US advertising policy, but they showed no admiration for her, just "Ladies and gentlemen, you love the old granny in DA, let's interview the old lady who plays it... She is very old, she is a granny too, she is very scary and spiky, she has been an actress for nearly a century, she could retire but not,etc...". I wonder if they would have done the same interview with J. Dench. Probably not.
But Dame Maggie deserved something better : Kroft was sitting in front of one of the greatest thespians of the XXth-XXIst centuries, a hugely talented actress and an amazingly beautiful (and youthful)lady, and he only talked about age, age and being spiky ! Pitiful.

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