"Downton Abbey" is adding some racial diversity in Season 4 with a black character, Jack Ross.
According to The Sun, the character is described as being between the ages of 25-30 and is a singer at an exclusive club. The Sun reports the casting note says the actor should be able to sing and posses a "certain wow factor."
Lily James, Rose to "Downton Abbey" fans, said her character will help the residents of Downton get with the times. "It's nice to bring the outside world into Downton," James said. "The London world is quite exciting -- it gives it a social context. Downton's in a bubble with their morals and the world they uphold, so it's nice to see the more rebellious London world [as well]."
Other new characters in Season 4 include a new love interest for Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) named Lord Anthony Gillingham. Season 4 kicks off six months after the death of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), so viewers will not see his funeral and Mary will begin to move on.
"I’m not giving anything away by saying that one of the main themes is the rebuilding of Mary, that Mary has to rebuild her life in a society which is changing," "Downton" creator Julian Fellowes told The New York Times about Season 4. 'We would see women’s roles in the ’20s as being very much behind women today. But it was a big advance on what it had been 30 years before. And that’s all explored in the show."
A rep for "Downton Abbey" co-producer Masterpiece declined to comment on the possible casting news.
"Downton Abbey" Season 4 starts filming in late March with a fall 2013 premiere date in the UK and a winter 2014 premiere date in the US.
