|Â Â Rebecca Macatee 1. Dezember 2014 – 13:36
So George Clooney and Lord Crawley are bros now?!
Well, your eyes are not deceiving you: That really is the 53-year-old newlywed standing alongside Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville on the set of the period drama. But don’t rush to Highclere Castle quite yet—George is only filming a Downton Abbey sketch for ITV’s Text Santa Christmas Charity!
The full bit will air Dec. 19 on ITV, during the annual fundraiser benefiting six U.K. charities. According to a report, it was Hugh himself who asked his Monuments Men co-star to take part in the philanthropic project.
Snapped on set, Downton Abbey
George, who reportedly plays a wedding guest, filmed all his scenes for the spinoff sketch back in September. According to the Telegraph, the clip features Dame Maggie Smith (aka the Countess of Grantham) fainting after she gets a kiss from George!
Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith on Downtown Abbey, described “a very brilliant moment” between George and Dame Maggie, gushing, “George plants a kiss and Maggie ends up on the floor, it’s wonderful. He was hilarious.”
“It’s amazing and we didn’t even know if it would actually happen until he turned up,” she later added on This Morning. “We were filming away and then heard ‘he’s here, he’s here, he’s arrived’….But he was wonderful and so brilliant and I’m very excited for everyone to see it.”
ITV teased a preview of George’s Downton Abbey appearance, showing a few seconds of the actor in character. “George has done his bit, now you can do yours,” reads a graphic, urging viewers to Go to Itv.com/textsanta to donate to the Text Santa charity campaign.
Downton Abbey’s OMG moments