DOWNTON ABBEY Casting Update: Villainous Housemaid 'Obrien' to Exit!

Producers of Downton Abbey have confirmed that actress Siobhan Finneran, who plays villainous house maid Sarah O'Brien in the wildly popular historic drama, will not return for the fourth season of the show.

In an interview done just prior to the airing of the series third season in the U.S., the actress commented that the scheming lady's maid we all love to hate has been grievously misunderstood. "I love her. She is funny and witty, also I think a lot of the time what gets misconstrued as being rude or unhelpful in a lot of ways is her making sure jobs are done properly. Yes she is cruel and all of those things but also a lot of things she will does are for the good of the house, and for the good of the whole of the staff. I love her because she is not backwards at coming forwards about saying something. I admire that quality in a lot of people in real life"

Yesterday it was announced that Shirley MacLaine would reprise her role as Martha Levinson, Lord Robert Crawley's freewheeling American mother-in-law. Also joining the cast in the upcoming season will be New Zealand-born soprano Te Kanawa in the role of a house guest. According to the report, she will perform during one episode of the show.

The fourth season of Downton Abbey is currently in production.