Liberty Lighthouse Journal: DOSSIER: DAN STEVENS

DAN STEVENS

“I've never tried to find my real parents. I'm very grateful to my Mum and Dad for adopting me – they're completely incredible people. It was my Dad who encouraged me to question everything, to forge my own path, to think, to read. I always felt it was my right to question everything.”

BORN: October 10^th, 1982 in Croydon, Surrey, England

BIRTH NAME: Daniel Jonathan Stevens

HEIGHT: 6'

Dan Stevens as Michael Crawley - Downton Abbey

Stevens was adopted at birth by parents who were both teachers and grew up in Wales and southeast England. He has a biological brother, Jason Andrew Stevens (b. 1984) who was adopted by different parents. Stevens attended Tonbridge Boarding School in Kent. It was there he became interested in drama after auditioning for the title role in Macbeth. From age 15, he spent summers training and performing with the National Youth Theatre in London.

Stevens studied English Literature at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was active in the Marlowe Society and member of the Footlights. He was spotted by director Peter Hall performing Macbeth, in which he played the title character with Hall's Daughter, Rebecca Hall.

In 2004, Stevens began his professional acting career when Peter Hall cast him as Orlando in another Shakespeare creation: As You Like It. The production went on tour to Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames, Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2006, Stevens starred as Nick Guest in the BBC film The Line of Beauty. In the same year he played Simon Bass in Hay Fever at Haymarket Theatre in London with Peter Bowles and Dame Judi Dench. Again the director was Peter Hall. Stevens also performed as Lord Holmwood in the adaptation of Dracula for BBC and as Basil Brookes in the BBC Maxwell. He was named one of Screen International's 2006 Stars of Tomorrow.

In 2008, Stevens appeared in the BBC Sense & Sensibility as Edward Ferrars and in The Vortex.

In 2009, Stevens appeared in Agatha Christie's Marple on ITV1. He appeared in The Turn of the Screw with future Downton Abbey costar Michelle Dockery. He returned to the West End to play Septimus Hodge in Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Downton Abbey

In 2010, Stevens got his big break, cast as Matthew Crawley in the ITV series Downton Abbey created by Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes. The series became an international success, nominated for several awards. Lady Mary Crawley, played by Michelle Dockery, was popular has his central love interest. Stevens chose to leave the series after finishing the third season and the Christmas Special in 2012. His exit upset fans, expressing the anguish of the character's death. Fellowes explained that Stevens did not give sufficient notice, so he killed the character.

In November 2011, Stevens guest-hosted an episode of Have I Got News for You. In March of 2012, Stevens completed shooting Vamps and Summer in February.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

In 2014, Stevens starred in the independent film The Guest winning critical acclaim. Also in 2014, he appeared in the comedy-drama The Cobbler and in the action film A Walk Among the Tombstones. He also performed in Sir Lancelot and the comedy film Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

In 2016, Stevens was cast in the lead role of the FX series Legion. In 2017, Stevens used his voice as the Beast in the live-adaption of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon. The film earned over $1.2 billion worldwide. In the same year he appeared in Marshall with Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Kate Hudson as well as The Man Who Invented Christmas starring Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce.

In 2018, Stevens co-starred with Harrison Ford in The Call of the Wild, released in 2020, based on the American classic novel by Jack London. He also returned to Broadway to star in Hangmen.

In 2021, Stevens portrayed a robot in the German Sci-Fi romance I'm Your Man.

Stevens has narrated over 30 audio-books, including Casino Royale, Wolf Hall, Frankenstein and War Horse. Along with acting, Stevens maintains his interest in writing and literature and is an “editor-at-large” for The Junket, an online quarterly he co-founded in 2011 with some friends. He was a regular columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. He is a cricket enthusiast and played on the Authors XI team in 2012.