Downton Abbey looks like it may be adding another Hollywood star to its list of cameo appearances… Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Lesley Nicol, who plays Downton cook Mrs Patmore posted a picture of herself with the Silence Of The Lambs star, apparently outside her dressing room on the set of the ITV period drama.

Coincidentally, Lesley has told The Sun that if Mrs Patmore was to have a love interest on the show, she wouldn’t want it to be anyone but Welsh actor Anthony.

She said: “If I could have anyone play a suitor for Mrs P, it’d be Anthony Hopkins. I do love him.

“Not in his Hannibal Lecter phase, though – in his more gentle, wounded kind of character.

“If he came into my kitchen, I’d die and go to heaven.”

Downton cook Mrs Patmore (NBC/Universal)
Downton cook Mrs Patmore (NBC/Universal)

Does Lesley know more than she is letting on? Could her dreams have come true?

The actress revealed fans of the show are always saying they’d like Mrs Patmore to find love.

She revealed: “You’d be surprised how many people say to me, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely if Mrs Patmore got a fancy man!’

“It would be lovely to play something like that for a woman like her. It shows life isn’t over once you’re over 40. I’m all for breaking the rules.

Lesley Nicol
Lesley Nicol (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

“Apparently, women were called Mrs when they were certain age whether they were married or not, so I don’t know if she has been married.”

Downton Abbey's Carson and Mrs Hughes
Downton Abbey’s Carson and Mrs Hughes (NBC/Universal)

The end of last series saw butler Carson and housekeeper Mrs Hughes (played by Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan) finally get together, so viewers will be hoping for a new downstairs romance for the next series.