Schizophrenic mutant David Haller from FX's Legion — based on the X-Men character of
the same name — is played by an English actor you swear you've seen before.
Dan Stevens has popped up to steal scenes in a wide variety of well-received, unusual
and offbeat projects in the last decade or so, making him one of those actors that's
hard to place.
Why is he so familiar?
Stevens got his very first onscreen credit in the miniseries Frankenstein in 2004, and
continued popping up in TV adaptations of classic works over the next few years, such
as Dracula in 2006, Sense and Sensibility in 2008, and The Turn of the Screw in 2009.
Stevens says he had done quite a few period dramas at this point and was ready not to
do another one, which brings us to ... another one.
Stevens' big breakthrough came in 2010 when he landed his as the lovable cousin Matthew
Crawley in the beloved BBC costume drama Downton Abbey.
Yep: Stevens almost didn't take the gig that shot him up to stardom, but he says the well-crafted
relationship between Matthew and Lady Mary compelled him to get on board.
"You've shown me I've been living in a dream.
And it's time to return to real life.
Wish me luck with it, Mary."
Stevens played Matthew to much acclaim for three seasons before departing the show in
an unexpected fashion that disappointed many Downton fans.
Shortly after his exit from the Abbey, Stevens appeared on the big screen in 2013's The Fifth
Estate, a fictionalized account of the founding of the ever-controversial online outfit Wikileaks.
Playing a small but important role opposite fellow English heartthrob Benedict Cumberbatch,
Stevens played Ian Katz, a real-life editor from the Guardian.
"Anyone can take a bundle of information and toss it up on a website and call it news.
People buy our papers for something a little more discerning."
"People still buying your paper?"
Next, Stevens appeared in two standout installments of the character-driven series High Maintenance,
playing a cross-dressing stay-at-home dad, stoner, and struggling writer named Colin.
"Can I top anyone off?"
“I’m good.”
"I love this."
"Oh this?
Thank you."
Stevens appeared both in an episode in the original web-based run in 2014 and the second
episode of the HBO incarnation, landing the gig after publicly praising the series as
"brilliant" in his monthly column for the Telegraph in 2013.
Stevens had a busy year in 2014.
One of his most memorable film roles came in Adam Wingard's fantastic thriller The Guest,
where he plays an intensely charming but very bad man.
Employing deadly fighting skills and a flawless American accent …
"Get him out of here."
… Stevens plays an ex-military houseguest with an unknown past who charms his way into
a family's good graces, looking like the best thing to ever happen to them … before the
dark, disturbing truth comes out.
Stevens also has a role in one of Adam Sandler's weirdest movies, The Cobbler.
It's about a shoe repairman with an inexplicably magical stitching machine who can literally
become another person if he wears their shoes.
The poorly -received 2014 film does provide viewers with the distinct pleasure of watching
Stevens play Adam-Sandler-in-another-body, an unusually layered acting challenge ...
"Get in here, cute boy."
"Me?
Really?
In there?"
"Yeah."
"With you?"
"Really.
Your friends can wait."
"Oh yeah."
But when he wasn't hanging out with Adam Sandler, Stevens found himself acting opposite Liam
Neeson in the meditative 2014 crime drama A Walk Among the Tombstones.
Stevens plays a man named Kenny Kristo who enlists Neeson's ex-cop character to help
him solve a mystery ...
"Someone kidnapped my wife."
"When did this happen?"
"Yesterday."
"You should be talking to the F.B.I."
"I'm talking to you."
It's another change in look and accent for Stevens — a big departure from his dressed-up
Downton days.
But that was nothing compared to his final big role in 2014: Night at the Museum: Secret
of the Tomb.
For the second Night at the Museum sequel Stevens joined an eclectic cast of historical
figures come to life as Sir Lancelot, and his performance steals the show ...
"Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America."
"I have no idea what that means!"
Stevens plays the Arthurian legend as an affable dimwit in search of the Holy Grail, with stops
along the way to battle and tame re-animated dinosaur skeletons.
Most recently, Stevens was instrumental in bringing Disney's animated classic Beauty
and the Beast to live-action, playing the Beast to Emma Watson's Belle in this 2017
adaptation.
Aside from the opening scenes prior to his transformation, Stevens spends most of the
movie as a computer-generated creation — but the animators didn't do all the work.
Stevens had to essentially perform the role twice, once on the physical set, doing body
work while wearing stilts, and once alone, surrounded by cameras capturing every nuance
of his face.
"Have you really read every one of these books?"
"Some of them are in Greek."
The result was a performance hailed by Variety as "alive with forlorn longing," with Stevens
playing the Beast as "a kind of royal version of the Elephant Man" … proving yet again
that his talents ... are legion.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!