Downton Sixbey

Jimmy Fallon and company spoof 'Downton Abbey.' Watch »

'Downton' Remix

'Sh*t The Dowager Countess Says.' Watch »

'Downton Abbey'

Which character are you? Read More »

You can make him recite the Emancipation Proclamation, but you cannot get Daniel Day-Lewis to sit through an episode of Downton Abbey.

While roughly eight million Americans tuned into the PBS season premiere on Sunday night, Oscar nominee Day-Lewis got his kicks elsewhere.  BBC America‘s Anglophenia reports that the English-born actor (who is both a British and Irish citizen) scoffed at an inquiry regarding the Granthams and the have-nots.

8 potential storylines for a more scandalous 'downton'

8 Photos »

Showbiz 411‘s Roger Friedman asked Day-Lewis at Monday night’s New York Film Critics Circle Awards if he was tuning into the big PBS premiere.

“Are you kidding?” Day-Lewis responded with what was described as a mix of “sneering” and laughing.” 

“That [sort of thing] is why I left England!”

We can only assume that Day-Lewis was in still character during that conversation.   Thanks to his forefathers, Lincoln’s descendants will never have to be on the wrong end of merry old England’s upstairs-downstairs mentality.