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Michelle Dockery on life after Lady Mary and her new movie, "The Sense of an Ending"

Michelle Dockery on new film
Michelle Dockery on new film "The Sense of an Ending" 05:12

Michelle Dockery made her name playing Lady Mary on hit period drama show “Downton Abbey,” but the actress is taking on a more modern role in the new movie “The Sense of an Ending,” in which she plays the pregnant daughter of a man haunted by his past. 

Dockery explained to “CBS This Morning” Tuesday, “It’s a beautiful film about memory. It centers around Tony Webster, played by incredible Jim Broadbent, about how we can fabricate memory. We tell ourselves a story and it’s about unraveling the truth and how that then affects his life once he unravels that and how it affects relationships with his daughter and ex-wife.” 

She added of the movie: “It really stays with you.” 

Dockery admitted that after playing an American con artist on her show “Good Behavior,” she’s excited to play a British character again in “The Sense of an Ending.” 

“It was lovely to go back and play British again and play sort of more me, a character closer to me,” she said.

In fact, the actress said she isn’t trying to stray away from Lady Mary.

“I would never push her away, but I was very fortunate after ‘Downton,’ ‘Good Behavior’ came along. I play an incredible character, Letty, in that show,” she said. Dockery added that speaking in an American accent was fairly easy for her because she grew up watching American TV shows like “My So-Called Life” and “Happy Days.” 

“I’ve been very lucky to have gone from Mary to Letty,” she said. 

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