Paul Giamatti is Returning to the Crawley Estate for ‘Downton Abbey 3’

It’s a Crawley family reunion: Downton Abbey 3 is officially in the works, and Paul Giamatti has joined the cast.

Who does Giamatti play in the Down Abbey franchise? Whether you’re a Downton Abbey veteran or brand new to the series, here are the details.

Who is Harold Levinson in ‘Downton Abbey’?

We first meet Giamatti’s Downton Abbey character, Harold Levinson, in the season 4 Christmas special. Harold is Cora’s (Elizabeth McGovern) brother, an American playboy who reluctantly comes to visit Cora at the family estate in England.

There’s not much news about how Harold will be involved in the plot of the third Downton Abbey film. In fact, there’s not much news about the plot at all.

What’s Downton Abbey 3 about?

The Downton Abbey TV series originally ran from 2010 to 2015. The series focuses on the aristocratic Crawley family, along with their staff, at the turn of the 20th century. While the family worries about finances, marriages, and other high-class concerns, the estate’s maids and manservants forge relationships with each other and strive for better lives. The series is set against the backdrop of a rapidly modernizing worlds, in which working-class people see more opportunities for prosperity while aristocratic landowners face the task of either modernizing or becoming obsolete.

The original series functioned more or less like a soap opera, with new drama erupting each season, and after the series ended, the first film was announced. Titled simply Downton Abbey, the film is set in 1927 and revolves around a visit from the Queen. The sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era, sees a production company come to the estate to use it as a set in a silent film.

With many cast members returning for Downton Abbey 3, moviegoers can expect plenty of aristocratic drama, although the plot is as yet unannounced.

Other Downton Abbey 3 cast members, new and returning

Along with Giamatti, Focus Features confirmed in a press release that the following cast members will return for Downton Abbey 3: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan, Robert James-Collier, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Penelope Wilton, Lesley Nicol, Michael Fox, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sophie McShera, and Douglas Reith.

The film will also feature new cast members Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan in as-yet undisclosed roles.