Talent runs in Downton Abbey star Phyllis Logan’s family as her husband is a fellow actor
Phyllis Logan played Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey(Image: ITV)
Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan isn’t the only famous member of her family.
The 70-year-old actress is best known for playing the resolute yet compassionate housekeeper Mrs Hughes in the hit period drama.
She played the character across all six seasons of the ITV series and also returned for the subsequent feature films, including Downton Abbey (2019), Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022), and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025).
Mrs Hughes, also known as Elsie Carson, ran the entire servant branch of Downton Abbey alongside Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier), after he replaced her husband, Charles Carson (Jim Carter), as butler.
The character was involved in a number of memorable storylines during her time in Yorkshire, including a cancer scare, and her slow-burn romance with Mr Carson.
It turns out that talent runs in actress Phyllis’s family, as her husband is also an actor who appeared in Downton Abbey. Phyllis is married to English actor and writer Kevin McNally. They met in 1994, before marrying in August 2011.
Kevin began his acting career in the BBC’s TV adaptation of I, Claudius, but is best known for playing Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
That’s not all, as he also shared the screen with his wife in Downton Abbey. Kevin notably played Horace Bryant in the series, who was the father of Major Charles Bryant (Daniel Pirrie).
Charles fathered a child with housemaid Ethel Parks (Amy Nuttall) before dying in the war. Horace initially refused to acknowledge or support the child, before later stepping in.
Fans have been left speechless after realising Phyllis’s real-life connection to Kevin, whose Downton Abbey character looks completely different from his role in Pirates of the Caribbean.
“Just found out that Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) is married to Kevin McNally (horrible Mr. Bryant)!!” one person wrote on Reddit. Another added: “The dude from Pirates of the Caribbean? That’s awesome,” while a third said: “I had no idea they were the same person. He looks so different in DA.”
Someone else wrote: “I had to google who Mr Bryant was as I’d forgotten and wow I didn’t recognise the actor at all,” with another similarly sharing: “The fact that so many are amazed at how different those two characters are attest to McNally’s acting skill.”
Downton Abbey is streaming for free on ITVX