‘I LOOK FOR LESSONS IN EVERYTHING I DO’

From Downton Abbey to Beauty And The Beast, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, Dan Stevens is racking up the hits. He tells Arielle Tchiprout about his love for challenge and variety

Actor Dan Stevens is a long way from Downton

Are you speaking to him over Zoom?’ a colleague asks when I mention I’m interviewing British actor Dan Stevens. ‘I don’t think I’d be able to look at him,’ she sighs. ‘He’s just so mesmerising.’ As it happens, this isn’t an unusual response when it comes to Stevens. From the moment he stepped into the shoes of the ‘impossibly good’ heart-throb Matthew Crawley in ITV’S Downton Abbey 10 years ago, he enchanted audiences everywhere, gaining a horde of adoring fans, and international acclaim. His character was so beloved, that when he left the show after three seasons – with Matthew’s tragic death – there was international uproar.

But Downton’s loss turned out to be Hollywood’s gain. After relocating from London to the US, Stevens accumulated an eclectic portfolio of roles. From a manipulative soldier in the thriller film The Guest, to a misunderstood Marvel hero in the FX series Legion, and the Cgi-enhanced beast in the live-action remake of Beauty And The Beast opposite Emma Watson, his performances have been praised by critics, solidifying him as one of the most skilled actors in the industry.

And this year, his success has turned up a notch. He unabashedly stole the show as flamboyant Russian singer Alexander Lemtov in Netflix hit Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga, alongside Will Ferrell and Rachel Mcadams. Next up, he’s playing tortured writer Charles Condomine in the new film adaptation of 1940s play Blithe Spirit. The story follows Condomine who, with the help of medium Madame Arcati (Judi Dench), accidentally summons the ghost of his ex-wife Elvira (Leslie Mann), much to the dismay of his current wife Ruth (Isla Fisher). It’s brilliantly bonkers and Stevens adds a hilariously dramatic flair that proves he belongs in comedy just as much as any other genre.

In fact, one of the first things I notice about Stevens is that he has a propensity for fun. As I arrive on our Zoom call on a drizzly Friday afternoon, and his face pops up on my screen, I’m immediately taken aback. His background is bright red, and it takes me a few moments to realise it’s actually the Red magazine logo behind him. ‘This is my living room wall,’ he exclaims with a flourish, a glint of mischief in his remarkably piercing eyes.

Of course, Stevens is having me on. It’s actually an image projected on to a green screen (one of his ‘pandemic purchases’) in the ‘soundproof cupboard’ where Stevens is calling me from. These days, home is Los Angeles, where he’s spent the past three years with his South African jazz singer wife, Susie, and his ‘growing gang’ – daughters Willow, 11, and Eden, four, and son, Aubrey, eight.

I must admit, I’m charmed by Stevens’ party trick, and I’m sure this playful spirit goes some way towards explaining his most recent roles. ‘I have an appetite for variety and challenging myself,’ he explains. ‘I do it for myself as much as anything, but now it’s about surprising and entertaining fans, too.’ Both Eurovision and Blithe Spirit – which were filmed back-to-back in the UK last summer – certainly do just that. Though very different, both comedies are outrageous and jubilant. And Stevens tells me they were as much fun to film as they are to watch. ‘Getting to do a musical scene with all the previous Eurovision contestants was the silliest, most extravagant, wonderful thing,’ Stevens says of his role as Lemtov. And being able to give theatre stalwart Blithe Spirit a ‘zany, modern spin’ was ‘really, really fun’.

His quest for fun and enjoyment started young. Adopted as a baby, he had a ‘happy childhood’, though, he says, ‘nothing remarkable’. Stevens’ parents were both teachers, and he was raised in rural England and Wales, before earning a scholarship to Tonbridge School. It was here that he caught the acting bug, performing in plays and spending summers with the National Youth Theatre.

‘I was always on stage, either officially, or unofficially in the classroom,’ he explains. Was he rebellious, then? ‘I was never good in institutions. I always kicked against them.’ That said, Stevens progressed to the ultimate educational institution, studying English at Cambridge University. There, he became a member of Footlights, the drama club known for producing some of the country’s greatest comedians and actors. He even tried his hand at stand-up comedy, he reveals, ‘but the plan was always to become an actor’.

And that he did. In a university production of Macbeth, Stevens was spotted by a director who cast him in his first professional gig as Orlando in a touring production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It was a role that earned him glowing reviews in Britain and the US, and he soon landed parts in several TV literary adaptations, including the BBC’S The Line Of Beauty and Sense & Sensibility.

Although his early years were defined by steady success, Stevens explains that initially, he struggled to navigate the setbacks of rejection. ‘I’d start playing out the projected reality of getting the role and what it would do for me, and then when it didn’t happen, it was really gutting,’ he says. ‘I had to get better at managing expectations.’

Little did he know that it was a job offer on Downton Abbey that would seal his fate. Yet, he almost turned down the opportunity. ‘I had already done a few period dramas and literary adaptations, so when Downton came along,

I thought, “Do I want to do another one?” I very nearly didn’t do it for that reason,’ he says now.

So what made him say yes? Downton was commissioned during the financial crisis of 2008, he explains. ‘It was a pretty rough year. I was very grateful anything was being commissioned and made. So I thought I should probably do this one as we’re in a recession and I have a family. There was no telling, even when we were making it, that it would catch on in the way it did.’

‘Catching on’ is an understatement – at its peak, the show played in 250 territories and had more than 10m viewers in the UK alone. And audiences fell especially hard for the love story between Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), hence the uproar when Matthew was abruptly killed in a car crash straight after Mary gave birth to their baby.

At the time, there was speculation about a fallout between Stevens and the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, though the actor insists the reality was far less dramatic. ‘We had all signed on for three seasons, and then, when it did so well, they decided to make more,’ he says, matter-of-factly. ‘But I did the three years, had a great time, and felt ready to leave while the going was good. I was ready to explore other things. That appetite was already there before doing the show.’

Heading to the US in search of new opportunities, Stevens made a conscious effort to break away from his clean-cut period-drama image. ‘Typecasting only happens if you keep saying yes to things, and, of course, it’s quite difficult to say no,’ he says. ‘As an actor, especially at the beginning, all you really want is to work and be offered work, and to keep working. But there were some First World War drama scripts that came my way in the wake of leaving [Downton] and I had to say no, because I wanted to carve out a different path.’

Inevitably, not every project he’s taken on since then has been a smash hit, but he doesn’t have regrets. ‘I look for lessons in everything I do, irrespective of how it does in the box office or what people think of it,’ he says. ‘I can always stand by it and say I did it for a reason.’

Stevens evidently isn’t one for negativity. ‘The fact I’m still here and still going, I regard as a success,’ he says. But unsurprisingly, it has been harder to stay positive this year, as there’s so much uncertainty. Earlier this year, he’d performed previews for a Broadway play, Hangmen, that was due to open in March. But then New York went into lockdown, forcing the production to close. Stevens’ response? He changed his Twitter bio to ‘former actor’.

‘Yeah, I mean, there wasn’t much happening. So I was like, “I guess I used to be!”’ he laughs. Fortunately, he’s now a little more optimistic about the future of the industry. ‘It’s not ideal circumstances, but I think we will start seeing a huge amount of inventiveness in film-making and theatre, and that’s really exciting,’ he says. In fact, he hopes to do some film-making of his own – his next ambition is in developing and directing, and he hints there might be something in the pipeline.

For now, though, his focus is on family. He grins brightly when I mention his wife Susie; the pair met in 2006 when they were performing in different theatres in Sheffield. ‘She was in a cast of lots of young girls and I was in a cast with lots of young guys, so we spent a lot of time hanging out,’ he says. ‘There was a bit of a high-school feel to it all.’ So what drew him to her? ‘She’s just incredibly beautiful and a huge amount of fun,’ he says.

Stevens describes himself as a romantic – he loves surprises and picking thoughtful gifts – but their relationship works because it’s built on communication, patience and understanding. ‘You can take a lot for granted the more time you spend with someone, but making sure you check in is really important,’ he says. Growing their family has been a blessing, too: ‘It can be hectic and chaotic, but each child only multiplies the love.’ The couple had their first child, Willow, not long before Downton started, when Stevens was 26. ‘I had a lot of guy friends who were waiting for the “right moment”; for their bank balance to reach a certain level, or to get a specific kind of job, and I never understood that,’ he reflects. ‘If I had waited for some of their milestones, it might not have happened. I think you can live your life that way – “when x happens, I’ll do x” – but I tend to let the universe take over and enjoy the ride.’

Now that his kids are getting older, Stevens is quite happy the days of nappy-changing and night-feeds are behind him. ‘There’s a certain amount of terror that comes with early parenting that is quite extraordinary and very stressful,’ he says. ‘I remember thinking, “How can millions of people have done this but it seems completely mad and impossible?”’

He says watching his children develop their own universes has been ‘magical’; his brood are ‘imaginative, playful and resourceful’, qualities he’s immensely proud of. ‘The word “boredom” doesn’t really exist in our house,’ he smiles. ‘There’s this constant appetite for play. I love it because that’s what I want to have in my own life and work.’

LA life certainly sounds like an adventure in itself. There are lots of family hikes and camping, Stevens says, and he’s recently discovered a new hobby: stand-up paddleboarding (‘It’s very wobbly to start with, but then something switches and it’s suddenly wonderful’). It seems he finds a sense of wonder wherever he goes.

As our time draws to a close, and Stevens jokes that he should probably change his background before his next meeting, I’m struck by how quickly the hour has passed. Stevens is the kind of person you could talk to all day; he’s both interesting and interested, an actor with so much verve and enthusiasm, I suspect we haven’t even seen the best of him yet. I have no doubt that when he leaves his soundproof cupboard, a world of adventure and possibility awaits. Now it’s our turn to sit back and enjoy the ride.

‘BOREDOM DOESN’T EXIST IN OUR HOUSE’