Smith: I’ve never seen Downton Abbey

Dame Maggie Smith says she has never seen Downton Abbey.

The 78-year-old actress tells CBS’s 60 Minutes that despite the costume drama’s worldwide success, she has never actually watched the show.

Maggie, who plays cantankerous Dowager Countess Violet on the award winning drama series, says she has never seen it for fear she would be annoyed with her performance.

"It's frustrating. I always see things that I would like to do differently and think, ‘Oh, why in the name of God did I do that?'" she says.

"I haven't actually seen it. So I don't sit down and watch it.”

The star admits that she may watch the series when the whole show is over.

Downton Abbey, about the lives of an aristocratic family and their servants in the early 20th century, has been popular all over the world, attracting around 7.9 million viewers for its third season premiere in the U.S.

But Maggie says she has no interest in the new level of celebrity the show has brought her.

"Absolutely none," she declares. "I don't feel any different to the way I felt before and I'm not quite sure what [being a star] means.

“I am familiar to people now, which is what I was not before. That is entirely due to the television set."