- Maggie Smith.
- Mags.
- Maggie.
- Maggie Smith.
- The notorious M-A-G.
G-I-E, yeah you know me.
- The Magster.
She doesn't like me to say that.
That's not a thing.
(jaunty music)
- My most memorable moment with Maggie,
for better or worse,
is one of my first scenes with her.
- The first scene that we, that we shot with her,
and the first time I ever worked with her,
and I was absolutely terrified.
- My first memory of Maggie Smith
was when she got in the car, a 1910 Renault.
I was playing the chauffeur.
It's one of my first days,
and I had to drive down the drive
and deliver her to the house.
And they gave me a very specific mark to hit,
and I panicked,
and I pulled the handbrake very hard,
turned the car, managed--
basically handbrake turned a 1910 Renault,
with basically a national treasure in the backseat.
And stopped, obviously, went,
"Okay, we're gonna have to reset the car,
"just reverse it back there,"
and Maggie went, "I think I'll get out first."
- All I had to do was put a cloak on her,
and when she turned around, I give her her handbag.
I was like, "Okay, I can do this.
"This sounds appropriate to my level of footman-ing."
And we said "action."
I put the cloak on her but kinda brushed her--
maybe punched her in the face (chuckles),
and then she sorta went, "Oh God,"
and then they shouted "cut" and then I pulled the cloak off
and it was attached to her dress,
so it pulled her in another direction,
and then she turned around
and I closed her fingers in the handbag.
So it was the worst of times,
but the thing was that--
I love about her is that Maggie was so awesome about it.
She didn't make me feel bad at all.
I shall never forget it,
but I don't think it was my finest hour.
- It was a dining room scene,
and us three girls,
me, Jessica and Laura, Edith and Sybil,
we were all very nervous,
and she immediately kind of made us feel at ease.
She did this funny thing of kind of, you know,
sort of, walking out with her walking stick like a granny.
- Then when I got to join the upstairs cast
in season three, really, she--
on her way in the first day, she was back,
she stopped at the doorway, she was passing me,
and she went, "I'm glad you're back.
"I'm glad to see the smiler."
- My favorite Maggie quote is,
"I never argue.
"I explain."
- "Machiavelli is frequently underrated.
"He had many qualities."
- There's a couple of very good lines that Maggie
has to Edith when she's feeling a bit blue
and she's moaning and moping a bit, and Violet says,
"Don't be defeatist, dear, it's very middle class."
- I've never had a put-down from Maggie except in the movie,
and I say,
"It wasn't a contrived meeting, we met by chance,"
and she looked at me and said,
"What simpletons men are."
- One of my favorite Maggie lines is the classic,
"What is a weekend?"
And I've seen them on T-shirts,
so I think it's the kind of classic
that everybody remembers and loves.
- How would I describe her?
Wise.
- Brilliant.
- Hilarious.
- Iconic.
- Skilled.
- Witty.
- Naughty.
- Sharp.
- But there's so many moments with Maggie that I couldn't--
I'd be here all day if I told you all of them.
- ♪ Ain't nothin' like a dame ♪