Hugh Dancy “I’ve Been Able To Have My Cake And Eat It”

The British actor on living in New York, wife Claire Danes and the nostalgia of playing a quintessential Englishman in the new Downton Abbey film

In a career spanning two decades, Hugh Dancy, 46, has largely flown under the radar, carving out a solid career as a versatile actor who chooses weighty roles. After catching our eye as Daniel Deronda (2002) and the arm-candy of goofy heroines in movies like Ella Enchanted (2004), Dancy moved toward meatier roles like that of FBI profiler Will Graham in the cult psychological thriller Hannibal (2013-15) opposite Mads Mikkelsen, and of a charismatic spiritual leader in The Path (2016-18) with Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul.

Half of a reluctant showbiz couple—dancy’s wife is Homeland powerhouse Claire Danes—dancy will have to start getting used to the

20 spotlight. He’s just joined two of the world’s biggest franchises, landing a role in the second Downton Abbey movie, A New Era, and in the revival of the US warhorse TV drama Law & Order. Being stopped for selfies on the school run in Manhattan’s West Village will soon become a daily event.

As Dancy explains his approach to accepting roles, it sounds rather unconventional. “What I tend to do is look for reasons not to do something,” muses the actor, 46.

“Not in an ego kind of way, but, What is it about this that I should recognise is going to make it a bad experience? And if those things fall away, then even if I don’t quite have a handle on something, I think, OK, I should do that thing.”