--- description: For the TV fundraiser Text Santa title: George Clooney Takes Over 'Downton Abbey' for Charity image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3356c3cbc5d6134c/69877041a988ca66866ab8ae/george-clooney-1024.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # George Clooney Takes Over _Downton Abbey_ for Charity by [People / Philip Boucher](/author/people/) ## People / Philip Boucher Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2014 6:57 PM CUT  Nick Briggs—ITV by [People / Philip Boucher](/author/people/) ## People / Philip Boucher Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2014 6:57 PM CUT He’s already Hollywood royalty, but now [George Clooney](http://www.people.com/people/george%5Fclooney "undefined") has become an Earl – in [the world of Downton Abbey](http://www.people.com/article/george-clooney-downton-abbey-selfie "undefined"), anyway. Clooney assumed his [long-awaited and temporary role](http://www.people.com/article/george-clooney-downton-abbey-hugh-bonneville-set-photo "undefined") in the British aristocracy in a special 9-minute episode of the show for the TV fundraiser [Text Santa](http://www.people.com/article/www.itv.com/textsanta/donate "undefined"). In the hilarious tongue-in-cheek video above, Lord Grantham – with the help of Ab Fab’s Patsy Stone! – sees what life would be like at the Abbey if he were replaced by a certain George Oceans Gravity, Marquis of Hollywood – otherwise known as Lord Hollywood. And we’ll just say Downton has been [turned upside down by Clooney’s charms](http://www.people.com/article/george-clooney-kisses-elizabeth-mcgivern-downton-abbey-tv "undefined"). In fact, Lord Hollywood had such an effect on Dame Maggie Smith’s character, the Dowager Countess, that when he kissed her hand she fell off her perch and collapsed on the floor. “That man has got the entire household behaving like fools!” Lord Grantham says, after seeing how his loved ones behave without his influence. “Downton has gone to rack and ruin without me.” Luckily, the whole thing was just a bad dream. Text Santa is a charity fundraiser that helps support a string of U.K.-based cancer and children’s charities. [Click here to donate](http://www.people.com/article/www.itv.com/textsanta/donate "undefined"). Watch the full episode, in two parts, here. [_This article originally appeared at PEOPLE.com_](http://www.people.com/article/george-clooney-downton-abbey-video-full "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3643057/george-clooney-downton-abbey-video-text-santa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3643057/george-clooney-downton-abbey-video-text-santa/"},"headline":"George Clooney Takes Over Downton Abbey for Charity","datePublished":"2014-12-20T18:57:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:02:22.585Z","description":"For the TV fundraiser Text Santa","url":"https://time.com/3643057/george-clooney-downton-abbey-video-text-santa/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3356c3cbc5d6134c/69877041a988ca66866ab8ae/george-clooney-1024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"People / Philip Boucher"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3356c3cbc5d6134c/69877041a988ca66866ab8ae/george-clooney-1024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"george-clooney-1024","caption":"","creditText":"Nick Briggs—ITV","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3643057/george-clooney-downton-abbey-video-text-santa/","name":"George Clooney Takes Over Downton Abbey for Charity"}}]}] ```