We ladies of SRSLY, like most wanna-be Europeans, love Downton Abbey. We love the costumes, the vibrant upstairs/downstairs story lines, the sassy zingers from Dame Maggie Smith. And we LOVE the actors. Did you ever think you would be so turned on by a middle-aged cripple ala Bates? Or that you would relate to a snooty, criminally sheltered oldest child like Lady Mary? It’s all thanks to the amazing cast. We love them!

But, like everything foreign that Americans love, this means that in due time, Hollywood studios will get their grubby mitts all over the rights for a Yankee remake. These remakes range from being decent (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, The Office), to mostly pathetic (Breathless, Point of No Return… and every other American remake), but that doesn’t stop the suits from churning them out year after year.

So, before the inevitable happens, we wanted to suggest our ideal casting for the American remake of Downton Abbey, which will presumably still take place in England, but be filmed in Southern California, or at NBC studios(you know it’s inevitably going to be on NBC).

Lady Mary - Amber Heard. American studio execs are all about hiring hot actresses, and let’s face it, even we were turned on by Ms. Heard in the trailer for The Rum Diary. Since we predict the US Downton will make everyone blonde, we pick Amber in the hopes she can pull a Betty Draper in the acting dept.

Lady Edith - Mamie Gummer. Looks like from she’s from ye olden days already, so they’ll save money in the art department. They’ll also save money by having at least some Streep Blood(™) to add legitimacy to the period piece without coughing up Meryl’s fee. [Read more...]