Noticed today, in the New York Times, a great interview with Shirley Maclaine, one of my heroes, re: her new star turn in the TV series “Downton Abbey.”

Maclaine’s Next Life

In this interview, she mentions that, without thinking, she said, in public, that she and her co-star Maggie Smith had been lovers in a previous life — as a joke? Maybe not. She says those words just flew out of her mouth. Intuition? Who knows? Who knows what’s real? BTW: she calls her views “comedic metaphysics.” That should make any skeptic relax and not take her seriously. But what if we do take her seriously?

Here’s Shirley on ETs, in 2007.