Moving from the UK to the US completely changed Dan Stevens’ career after ‘Downton Abbey’

“I think career is defined as much by what you say no to as what you say yes to,” Stevens tells Business Insider.

Stevens knows how to say “no,” even when it hurts. He famously devastated “Downton Abbey” fans by requesting to leave the beloved period drama, which necessitated killing off his fan-favorite character Matthew Crawley. But he was eager to try something new after mostly appearing in costume dramas; he credits moving to the US from his native UK with cracking his career wide open.

“There was a real openness to see actors try things that they’ve not necessarily been seen in before over here, and that was very, very appealing to me,” Stevens says.

Ultimately, he realized the US could provide “a more interesting path for me.”

That path most recently led Stevens to “Cuckoo,” a trippy horror film in which he plays the villainous Herr König, the aforementioned weirdo flutist who terrorizes ‘”Euphoria” actor Hunter Schafer. Stevens gives a delightfully unhinged performance, where you can tell he’s having loads of fun — and that he’s come a long way from his Cousin Matthew days.

Stevens goes full psycho in “Cuckoo.”
Felix Dickinson, Courtesy of NEON

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Beware his evil flute-playing.
NEON

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Over the last decade, Stevens has been leaning into discomfort when it comes to choosing roles, preferring to stretch himself than to play it safe.

“Taking those kinds of risks does involve an element of terror and discomfort, and part of the journey is sort of finding out what that’s going to mean and how that’s going to progress,” Stevens says of how he felt leaving “Downton Abbey.” “I didn’t know the answer to any of those questions when I left, and it’s been fun answering them bit by bit over the years.”

For the latest interview in Business Insider’s “Role Play” series, Stevens looks back on his “Downton” departure, wearing stilts to play the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” and fulfilling a lifelong ambition by working with Al Pacino.

On the excitement and terror of leaving ‘Downton Abbey’

It’s been more than a decade since you departed “Downton Abbey.” With all that time, is there anything you look back on and view differently about the show or your experience on it?

Not especially. I think what’s lovely is how the fan love for that show has endured and people are still discovering it. I still get messages every other week where somebody hits the end of season three and can’t believe what’s just happened, but there’s just such an enduring love for that show and I have very, very fond memories of it.

Do you still keep in contact with anyone from the cast? I know several of them have reunited for the third “Downton” movie coming soon.

Yeah, yeah. I keep in touch with a few of them and every so often, one or two of them will pop over to LA and I’ll see them as they come through town.

Was taking that leap of faith to leave “Downton” at the peak of the show scary for you?

It’s absolutely terrifying, but that’s kind of what’s exciting about it as well.

In terms of career regrets, is there anything you regret turning down in retrospect?

I think I can stand by all the choices I’ve made. I try not to regret too many things in my career. I think whether something is ultimately successful or not, if you’ve got a good reason why you sort of jumped onboard in the first place — it could be you just wanted to try something or there’s a particular person you want to work with, or there’s a filmmaker or an actor — there should be a reason that you can say that you are there.

And what happens to that project ultimately is so out of your hands very often. When things succeed or don’t succeed, you sort of roll with those punches, really. And as I say, I try and find a good reason for doing most everything, and enjoying what I do along the way.

On the commotion over his MoCap suit for ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Clips of you wearing that motion capture suit on the set of “Beauty and the Beast” went viral when that movie came out in 2017. How did you feel about seeing those photos out there and the reaction?

I think what surprised me was that all the headlines were like, “How did Emma Watson keep a straight face opposite this?” rather than, “How the hell did Dan Stevens walk on those stilts?”

I guess it’s a less attractive headline, but for me, that was the story from those images, not the other way around.

I mean, in retrospect, Emma had also just come off of “Harry Potter” and had been around much weirder things on set, I would imagine.

Yeah, definitely. No, she was quite unfazed by all of the technical wizardry, which a lot of people might not have been.

Was wearing that MoCap suit as awkward as it looked?

I love that kind of thing. I love technical innovation combined with a creative storytelling, I think it’s tremendously exciting and something that I’d be up for doing again.

I think it’s a really, really fun way to create a character and to kind feed off the energy of that whole team behind doing it the way that they did it. Every day felt like we were sort of pioneering something. It was cool.

On bringing Legion back to the Marvel universe

There’s a pretty big overhaul of the MCU happening right now, with movies like “Deadpool and Wolverine,” where it seems like the door could be open for your Marvel character Legion to appear in films in the future. At this point, would you ever consider stepping back into that role?

I think “Deadpool, Wolverine, and Legion” would be a great next step. We’ll see if we can make that happen.

The people love a good cameo.

Exactly.

On working with Al Pacino, watching his own movies, and the role that has a special place in his heart

You’ve filmed yet another horror movie, “The Ritual” with Al Pacino, that’ll be coming out. What was something you learned from working with him on set?

It was incredible to get to work with him. I mean, that’s a real lifelong ambition fulfilled, and he was such an incredibly sweet man and still such a lively actor. And his attitude and the energy and the sort of subtle nuances he brings, it is incredible to watch at work, and I will treasure that for a very, very long time.

You’ve worked with so many incredible directors already on both film and TV. Is there anyone that you haven’t worked with yet that you’re hoping to?

I’m a big fan of Robert Eggers. I think he’s terrific. “The Witch” is one of my favorite films of recent years.

And I really enjoyed “Lisa Frankenstein.” I think Zelda Williams is a very exciting new voice and has a great sort of stylistic sensibility.

We’ve talked about a few of your most memorable roles, but you’ve also been a Russian pop star, Charles Dickens, and King Kong’s dentist, among other things. Is there a particular role of yours that you feel is underrated or that you wish had gotten more love from fans?

The thing I sort of enjoy about the way that modern media is being consumed is that people discover things at the oddest times and the unlikely ones can really kind of endure and pop up. And so it’s always interesting what people choose to kind of come up and say, “Hey, I loved you in X, Y, and Z,” and it’s always a treat when they say something that’s perhaps not one of the usual two or three.

And one that I particularly enjoy is when people say how much they enjoyed “High Maintenance,” which was a show that I really really loved being a part of. I thought it was such an incredible family of creatives on that job and such a lovely character to get to play and just had such a lovely time making it. And that particular role has really meant something to a lot of people. It spoke to people in a particular way. So when people say that they’ve enjoyed that, that means a lot.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.