Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesDownton Abbey just took home top honors for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a TV Drama at the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, but as Lesley Nicol admitted as she accepted the award on behalf of her cast, the stars from across the pond are just thrilled to have been invited to the big American party all these years.
Can I just say before we even address this thing, this issue, that we've been coming here for six years and we've encountered only the most amazing kindness and generosity from American actors," she began. "Thank you. To be nominated in this category is mind-blowing for us. We're a British show, what the heck are we doing here? We're up against your TV royalty, so thank you for that. That is a deep, deep honor to win this. Just phenomenal, thank you."
She went on to share her gratitude for the folks behind the scenes on the long-running series. "Everyone in this room knows that acting is a collaboration, and this cast is the best you could possibly imagine. But we have all those other people around us, they make us look good," she continued. "The extended Downton family, all top of their game, brilliant people committed to the show. We have to share this with them.They were stunning. Julian Fellows who wrote every single word of this. What an amazing writer. And as we all know, if we don't have a good script, we're screwed, aren't we? So, thank you Julian."
Wrapping things up, Nicol went from thanking her crew to embarrassing some of them with an amusing anecdote from the final days of filming. "I'm gonna do a little extra shout out to two of our big, burly crew Duncan and Bobby, who on the last day of filming, we did our last scene, they were found in the corner, sobbing," she concluded. "I know. Where does that happen? So, we love you."
Nothing says love like a little public embarrassment!
Don't miss the Fashion Police Screen Actors Guild Awards special Monday at 8 p.m. only on E!