British actress Dame Maggie Smith blames Downton Abbey for making her too famous to walk the streets.
The veteran actress has enjoyed several acclaimed roles during her 62-year career, but she has always managed to maintain a low public profile.
However, on a recent trip to Paris she was mobbed by admirers, and Smith puts her newfound high level of fame down to her role as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, in the hit period drama.
She tells Review magazine, "That's never happened to me before. It's television that does it. It was awful. I love wandering round on my own and I just couldn't ... I don't go to places, and if I do, I nearly always have to have a friend. It's very difficult when you're on your own because you have no escape. [I] run away mostly. What do they do, these huge movie stars? What the hell do they do?"
- AAP
