Downton Abbey the movie followed 8 seasons was a phenomenon. Elizabeth McGovern played Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham - Academy Award Nominee, Emmy and Golden Globe Nominee film actress Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey, Ragtime, Ordinary People) is also an accomplished musician, singer and song writer. Mi5 Recordings (Universal Music Group) have signed Ms. McGovern to a distribution deal, and this is the release of her new album "The Truth", produced by Grammy Award winning Guitarist/songwriter Kipper Eldridge (Sting, Gary Numan) and Ted Mason, former Modern English member, guitarist, multi genre producer--Pharrell Williams, Ne-Yo, Common, Mary J Blige, Jeff Beck, Cheb Khaled). Very Special thanks to the guest musicians on the Album include: Samuel L Jackson (The Suburbs), James Walsh (Cold Old World), Jake Morrel (The Truth), Barry Walsh (Accordian) and Smokey Hormel--with Omar Haddad, co-producer.
Elizabeth McGovern also has embarked on many new projects including the Downton Abbey 2nd movie and her own act Sadie and the Hot Heads. She is also working with Ted Mason on independent new releases duo out in Fall.
Elizabeth’s influences in music are not held captive to a certain genre and she immerses herself in Folk, American, Latin/Tango, Country and Rock in her song writing. Mr. Mason has worked with some of the biggest international World music artists (Youssou N’dour, the late Hugh Masekela, Cheb Khaled, Rachid Taha, U-Cef) and will bring those elements to the songwriting. Mr. Mason is also a bebop/classical and lead guitarist and will bring to the songwriting those elements to create a Pop explosion of diversity in a Rock, Rai/African, Americana/Country, Folk genre. Omar Haddad is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who has worked with Nikki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Elizabeth McGovern, Cheb Khaled, Souad Massi, and Kassav, to name a few.
For the last several years, Elizabeth fronted and wrote songs for the band ‘Sadie and the Hotheads’ that included The Nelson Brothers and collaborations with a wide range of exciting artists, including Samuel L Jackson, Laurent Voulzy, James Walsh, Smokey Hormel, Jake Morrel, plus Barry Walsh and, Danica Chapman, Terl Bryant, Nick Lacey, Andrew (Wal) Coughlan. They have toured USA and the UK and opened for Mike and the Mechanics on a 5 week UK tour and for Sting at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Elizabeth McGovern’s career spans theatre, film and television and music. Elizabeth is most well known, at the moment, for her role as Lady Cora in multiple award winning television show ‘Downton Abbey’, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy and has won 3 SAG ensemble awards.
Last year, Elizabeth starred at The National Theatre in the new Alexi Kaye Campbell play ‘Sunset At The Villa Thalia’. McGovern has also just completed production on ‘The Commuter’ opposite Liam Neeson and Bjorn Runge’s ‘The Wife’.
Elizabeth has also appeared in films such as Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kick Ass’ and Warner Brothers’ ‘Clash of The Titans’ alongside Ralph Fiennes. She received an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for her role in ‘Ragtime’, her second feature film, following her debut in Robert Redford’s ‘Ordinary People’ whilst she was still a student at Julliard. Other major film roles have included starring opposite Robert De Niro in ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage in ‘Racing with the Moon’. She has worked with the great film directors Steven Soderburgh, Curtis Hanson, Milos Forman, Sergio Leone, Robert Redford, and Simon Curtis (her husband). Most recently Elizabeth has just finished filming ‘The Chaperone’ which she co- produced with Downton Abbey script write Julian Fellows and also stars in as Norma Carlyle. The start of filming for Downton Abbey, The Movie, is set to begin this September.
Elizabeth has had a great presence on the West End and New York Stage, winning the 2013 Will Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Company for her work in Hamlet, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Other notable productions include ‘The Misanthrope’ at the Young Vic, ‘Three Days of Rain’ at the Donmar and David Mamet’s ‘The Shawl’ at the Arcola Theatre, new and old plays on and off Broadway and for Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre. In September of this year, Elizabeth returned to Broadway for the first time in 25 years starring in JB Priestley’s ‘Time and the Conways’.
