The X Files star has revealed she was approached by TV bosses to play American aristocrat Lady Cora Crawley in the Emmy-winning TV series, which has become a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, the part eventually went to Elizabeth McGovern.

Anderson tells TV Guide Magazine, ""I was actually offered a part in Downton.""

However, she hopes her role in a TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations will be just as popular: ""Hopefully people will embrace it with the same love that flowed toward Downton Abbey.""