Gosford Park (2001)
Robert Altman's 2001 English country house mystery with substantial class commentary. Julian Fellowes screenplay foreshadows Downton.
Actor: Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith won Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite, and had a stage career of enormous distinction alongside.
The timing is the instrument. She can make a pause into an insult, which Gosford Park and Downton Abbey both used constantly, and which younger audiences met through the Harry Potter films.
She continued working through breast cancer treatment during the Potter shoot, which she mentioned only afterward. Travels with My Aunt and A Room with a View are the ones to seek out.
