Laura Carmichael and Michelle Dockery attend the Mulberry Autumn/Winter 2012 runway show during London Fashion Week at Claridge’s Hotel on February 19, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole)

“But then Michelle [Dockery, Brown Findlay’s co-star in Downton Abbey] just knew, in that very big sister way, that I had my eye on the other dress and just told the stylist that ‘Actually I think Jess really loves that one’. She knew I’d never say anything…”

“I hang out with Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay [who play her younger sisters] watching Mad Men on our laptops.”

“‘We all come from families of just girls, so there was that instant connection,’ she says. ‘We’re all obsessed with Beyonce, so to pass the time we break out into song, and did the Single Ladies dance in costume once. We’re working on the Run The World routine now.’”