Downton Abbey star Allen Leech has said Niall Horan could play his character as a “young Branson” – if there was ever a spin-off series of the show.
Downton Abbey: A New Era has opened in cinemas and stars Dubliner Leech as character Tom Branson, chauffeur turned estate manager.
But Leech joked that if there was ever a spin-off series created around Branson’s life, he would love to see One Direction singer and Mullingar native Niall Horan play the role as his younger self.
Speaking about if there was ever a spin-off show set in Ireland about Branson, he said: “A spin-off, or we go back in time, and Niall Horan could play young Branson; everyone keeps saying we look alike.”
In 2013, Leech joked about the pair’s similarities.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, host Andy Cohen brought up the fact that the actor bares a striking resemblance to Horan.
"He's my son," Leech joked at the time.
"I had him really young. I had the choice to give him to the circus or a boy band, I chose a boy band. He's done much better there because his backflips are terrible."
Leech also revealed to movie website, movies.ie, about the reasons why Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes chose Branson to be from Bray in Co Wicklow.
He said: “Julian has a connection to Ireland; his brother lives in Kerry. He wanted Tom to be from Bray because he wanted him to be closer to some of the larger estates in Wicklow. Branson talks about how he used to drive for a family in Ireland.”
Leech previously told how he got bosses to change the script in the early days to fix details about Ireland that “didn't ring true”.
“That was true in the early seasons, especially when Tom mentioned Ireland,” he told the RTE Guide.
“There were times that I was like, I don’t think this quite rings true when he is talking about Dublin, so there were a couple of things that I definitely changed.
“I also changed a name or two. I said, if he’s going to talk about people in Ireland, I don’t think that they’d be called that.
“In terms of dialogue thought, I realised early on that if you trust Julian [Fellowes] even if sometimes it doesn’t feel quite right, it will come around.”
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