Actor Jim Carter, who plays butler Carson on the hit British-American drama, Downton Abbey, recently came clean that he prefers the opportunity to be "less formal" in his character's scenes with Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery).

According to Yahoo, Carson "has always been like a surrogate father to Mary" and will play a pivotal role supporting her in the upcoming season, which will follow the death of husband Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens).

"Michelle is smashing. I love her. We have a lovely relationship, she's great to work with. And I like our scenes together, because I spend a lot of time in public scenes, being a butler on duty, seeing everything and keeping quiet about everything," he said.

Carter also elaborated on his participation in emotional scenes, which will surely be taking place with Lady Mary now a widow.

"So when you get a quiet personal scene, they're nice to play, and it accesses a little bit of emotion in this rather buttoned up character," he added.

Downton Abbey will be kicking off its fourth season in the United States on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. For more of the latest info on the popular TV series, be sure to keep checking back with Enstars.

A video trailer for season 4 can be watched below.

Tags: downton abbey iTV PBS television