Dan Stevens

He should have got Diana over K.Stew.

I like him as an actor--DOWNTON was never the same after he left.

But I really fear he has some body dysmorphia issues, what with his weight gain, then weight loss, then RAPID weight loss. He looks odd to me in that picture but I think it's his lack of weight.

He's gone Hollywood. Of course he lost weight.

....

R2 Yes Dan was the heart and soul of Downton. It became a little silly after he left.

He has to starve himself to survive in L.A., I believe it's the law there or at the very least a city ordinance.

I don't know why he left an international smash hit show. That was the best gig an actor could get.

I'd love to see him nude.

Chin implant, for sure. In fact, he overdid it. Chin looks too long and pointy now. Also looks like he lost a lot of weight.

Another skanky Brit - ewwww

Off topic but I still can't believe Rob James Collier didn't become a bigger star after Downton either in England or the States. His good buddy Alan Leech does well for himself here in the U.S., couldn't he have opened some doors or made some calls for him.

He's never been lacking in chin. He tends towards a double chin, actually.

Starving himself.

Nose job. Chin implant.

Got liposuction on his neck and jawline, which was a good move because his weak jawline was his worst feature.

He got so much praise — and work — from his first round of weight loss and surgery that it seems he's tried to repeat the trick.

R13, it doesn't matter. Nobody needs another bland white guy. HW has tons of those. He is never going to happen.

Is that him in OP's link? What's with the Siegfried &Roy hair?

[quote]Is that him in OP's link? What's with the Siegfried &Roy hair?

Yes. It's from the Eurovision movie currently on Netflix starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.

He does look better now but he is basically devoid of any charisma and will be very lucky to have a career.

Then again, think of all the other bland actors who've made it.

He had a lot of heat behind him after "The Guest" and but the films he was in post that were, for the most part, schlock. He lucked out with "Legion" for three seasons and the creator repaid him with a shit part in the terrible "Lucy in the Sky" starring Natalie Portman.

[quote] Is that him in OP's link? What's with the Siegfried &Roy hair?

Yes, it does look like Dan's about to perform in Las Vegas. With exotic animals or maybe doing "illusions," i.e., magic tricks.

Anybody who had to work with that bitch Lady Mary has probably suffered serious psychological scarring.

R17 Dan may be bland but at least he's pretty.

And his blandness is preferable to the awful Jesse Eisenberg impersonating playing Marcel Marceau.

Stevens is 38. He's famous in America... but not really. (Did people really watch "Legion," R18? I had no idea it lasted that long.)

He's also competing for roles with every other (younger) TV actor from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, NZ... you get the idea. They are ALL in LA. That supply far outstrips the demand, and the novelty's been over for a few years now. Some American actors are fed up, and a lot of behind-the-scenes people are over it as well.

It's going to be a much leaner and meaner landscape for everyone post CV-19.

Coke diet?

It was the Watermelon Diet

I had no idea he was married and had a couple of kids.

BTW has anyone seen "Apostle?" Was it any good?

R22 Are "Some American actors are fed up"?

I'm sure Brit actors are fed up when Spacey lords over the Old Vic, when Gillian Anderson gets the pick of plum UK TV roles. When geriatric Hoffman goes to the UK and exposes his cultural ignorance and when B grade American actors since the 30s and Douglas Fairbanks Junior have been using Britain as their playground.

[quote]Off topic but I still can't believe Rob James Collier didn't become a bigger star after Downton either in England or the States.

Rob James-Collier destroyed his chances by becoming a fatass after season 1.

Allen Leech joined and immediately porked out too.

What the hell was craft services feeding the male cast?

R27, agreed. (And, BTW, I wonder how many British twinks Spacey terrorized....)

Yeah, Leech and Collier really porked out. The DA costume designers obviously tried to camouflage it as best they could with the layered period clothing.

I read an interview with Collier years ago and he said he had no interest in going to America, he wanted to stay in Britain. So that's why he's never had a career in the US.

Wether they are fat or not,Id kill to be Lady Mary in that pic ! The two hottest guys on the show . Dan neverdid anything for me,even on Dowton. Good lookingenough ,but blandly so . He looks like shit in Ops pic.

Allen Leech is an exceptional actor, whose talent has yet to be showcased in a high profile role. He really wasn't given any challenging material on Downton. But the whole show was a little low key and bland as far as I'm concerned. I gave up in the final season and never finished watching the final season.

R28 I hate women wearing bad shoes that don't fit their feet.

If you can see the cleavage between their toes it means the shoe gives insufficient support to their feet.

Very foolish ! !

[quote] He had a lot of heat behind him after "The Guest" and but the films he was in post that were, for the most part, schlock.

???

Looks like he could trans any time now.

Is he homosexual?

No, he's a boring straight guy

[quote]No, he's a boring straight guy

Thanks, I knew there was something off about him

He's lost weight but he's also obviously had a lot of work done.

R17

[quote] Then again, think of all the other bland actors who've made it.

You are being overly optimistic about the Dan chap. With the state of the world right now no-one needs another racist, misogynist Brit

How do you know he is either racist or misogynistic, r40?

Is the sky blue?

I see, r42.

You're a xenophobe.

BLOCKED

I loved him in the Guest. I agree, why was he in that horrible Lucy in the sky. That director did him no favors.

Allen Leech is hot as fuck, R28. I love his body type.

Dan Stevens has NO sex appeal.

r46 nails it

R11

We discussed this extensively on recent Downton Abbey thread.

Unlike most if not all of the main cast of DA Robert James-Collier does not have formal acting training. He took two degrees in business, became a model, then just decided to audition for a part in television series " Down To Earth". There was one other small television role, then a stint on Coronation Street.

Starting out at nearly age 30 in acting isn't bad I suppose, but Mr. James-Collier would be going up against those his own age with far more on their C.V.

You can see early on in DA Robert James-Collier's acting was a bit wooden. He obviously progressed , but others on show like Dan Stevens blew him out of water.

Not helping was that RJC began packing on weight as DA seasons continued, this did nothing for his looks. True Allen Leech put on weight too, but he carried it well, and also lost much of it before series ended.

Can't see why Hollywood would want Robert James-Collier. He doesn't have the looks nor acting chops for a lead or even co-star in film. Television might be another story, but think there are already more than enough British actors in America looking for work atm.

Dan Stevens started out about same time as Robert James-Collier with his first television break; but his C.V. since then and after DA is much different.

R25

Mr. and Mrs. Dan Stevens along with children were living in Brooklyn Heights back in 2013, don't know if they are still there or not.

Before Brooklyn IIRC the Stevens family were somewhere in Manhattan.

British actors in USA.....

If you go over to Broadway chat forums or similar sites, yes you'll read much about American actors complaining about British coming over here.

There is endless debate, words written, etc.... At some point SAG/AFTRA gets involved (again IIRC), especially when a British theater production wants to come to Broadway. Producers naturally want to bring original cast especially stars; Broadway may say not so fast.....

Basically large argument in favor of British actors is they largely are all classically trained with decent to extensive theater background, while many American actors are (or were) not. Say "were" because for a decade or so now many American actors are classically trained and have degrees.

More:

The idea that Dan Stevens' career isn't anything other than a total success is ridiculous.

He's not even 40 and has worked consistently since his early 20s.

3 years ago he played a titular role in the second highest grossing film of the year.

Who's career should he be emulating? Eddie Redmayne? Other actors the same age as Chris Hemsworth, Henry Cavill, Aiden Turner, Domhall Gleeson, Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, Jesse Eisenburg, Aaron Tveit and Julian Morris.

Mmmm I would love to pleasure both Dan and Julian Morris at the same time! Julian showed us everything in "Donkey Punch" but Dan has yet to do the same. Come on, do it for your art!

R51 TL; dr

American film people have been complaining about a so-called British Invasion since 1962 with Albert Finney, Peter O'Toole, The Beatles etc.

His career is very similar to Hayley Atwell, who got her big break in The Line Of Beauty alongside Stevens.

A mix of supporting roles in big budget films, smaller indie roles and BBC literary adaptations.

The Line Of Beauty was better as a book than the TV mini-series. Did anyone else enjoy this?

Has anyone read other books by Alan Hollinghurst? I would love an adaptation of "The Swimming Pool Library" but who would be beautiful enough to play the main character?

He’s doing just fine. He’s been part of a huge Disney hit, and is generally regarded as a talented actor. He’s definitely been earmarked as an eventual Oscar contender.

I would compare him to a Ryan Gosling. But if he wants it, some Marvel movie will snatch him up and validate his career in the eyes of the OP

R28, I think both guys carried their weight well. My mum got me hooked on 'Downton' a couple of years in, and so I started watching the then-current eps and then backtracked. Both guys looked fine to me the whole time. I always fantasized about Collier fucking me in one of the servant stairwells, with stale smoke breath. And Allen Leech...let's just say there was more cushion for the pushin'...he should've been expected to gain weight after marrying into the family, anyway.

R57 I really wanted to like 'The Line Of Beauty' because I say that Hollinghurst is one of the 3 top gay writers in the world now.

Dan was OK but the rest of the cast were flabby and lame (and the BBC luvvies made a weak joke by casting a Trotskyite actress doing a poor portrayal of Margaret Thatcher)

'The Line Of Beauty' is the only Alan Hollinghurst we're likely to see on film because his other stories are becoming increasingly obsessed with plots split over different generations.

R60 did you like The Swimming Pool Library?

R53

[quote] Who's career should he be emulating? Eddie Redmayne?

You mean living in the closet?

R61 'The Swimming Pool Library is definitely his most approachable, sexy and entertaining.

Hollinghurst is brilliant at handling the English language but the plotting on his last one was, I thought, elusively fragmentary.

With facial hair, like in Legion, he looks exactly like a young, Boogie Nights cokehead-era Paul Thomas Anderson.

Judging by that one episode of Legion, Stevens is extremely rimmable.

There's a rimming episode of "Legion"?!

Bare ass shot

There was a scene in DA in which Stevens was called upon to punch someone, and it came off ridiculously - he has all the masculinity of Bambi lost in the forest.

The new chin wrecked the proportion so his face. He's no longer as handsome.

I kind of feel a little bit sorry for him because he was genuinely handsome and especially smart (he got a first in English literature at Oxford), but he let all the Internet buzz about his weight gain and weak chin get to him and so he dramatically re-shaped his body and then even got plastic surgery, and the effects did not have a payoff--his career is not what he wanted it to be.

There have been so many broken hearts among the talented British actors who made it in the UK and who then wanted to be superstars in the US but just didn't make that final cut. James Purefoy, Kate Beckinsale, Greg Wise, Rosamund Pike, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Dancy... more of them who couldn't make that final cut then the very few who did make it big here. The smartest among the men (like Richard Armitage) did the Tolkien movies... at least those were enormously lucrative.

Dan should show his big cock

What big cock?

The big one swinging between his legs

He doesn't have a big dick. DLers want to believe all semi-goodlooking men are hung while the busted ones are all tinymeats. Sorry, but in the real world it doesn't work that way

He wants to look more like me.

[quote]There have been so many broken hearts among the talented British actors who made it in the UK and who then wanted to be superstars in the US but just didn't make that final cut. James Purefoy, Kate Beckinsale, Greg Wise, Rosamund Pike, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Dancy... more of them who couldn't make that final cut then the very few who did make it big here. The smartest among the men (like Richard Armitage) did the Tolkien movies... at least those were enormously lucrative.

Do you honestly think Rosamund Pike and Michelle Dockery should be considered failures? Again, who's careers should they be emulating?

Kate Beckinsale might have aimed for the same roles as Winslet and Blanchett and she's better than the parts she gets, but is she really a failure?

James Purefoy is 56 and Greg Wise is 54 and are both acting consistently.

It's not like they're in Hollyoaks like poor Lysette Anthony (twice raped by Weinstein) or Jeremy Sheffield, third out on Dancing On Ice.

Rosamund Pike had one hit and then all flops. She's not the ultimate failure but I wouldn't consider her a huge success, either

Michelle Dockery is mostly in flops. She works, but not usually in anything anyone cares about

Rosamund Pike won an Emmy last year and was nominated for a Golden Globe the year before.

Michelle Dockery has received 4 Emmy nominations, the last of which was 2 years ago, and has just appeared in a very well reviewed series with Chris Evans. Her last two movies were huge box office successes. Considering she took time out from her career to care for her dying partner, her career is going just fine.

Wasn't Dockery in that flop The Gentleman? How was that a hit? I doubt anyone is watching the show with Chris Evans, just like no one watched Good Behavior

Michelle Dockery was also in the severely underrated 'Good Behaviour' on TNT. I watched the first ep on a plane and was immediately hooked. They had a great set-up for a third season, but I suppose the ratings weren't what they'd hoped for. It was a great show...she and Juan Diego Botto had such amazing chemistry. Ann Dowd and Terry Kinney co-starred.

What the fuck did Pike win an Emmy for?

[quote]What the fuck did Pike win an Emmy for?

State Of The Union - written by Nick Hornby, directed by Stephen Frears

[quote] Michelle Dockery was also in the severely underrated 'Good Behaviour' on TNT

I am also a fan of GOOD BEHAVIOUR. She was fantastic in that role.

[quote]There is endless debate, words written, etc.... At some point SAG/AFTRA gets involved (again IIRC), especially when a British theater production wants to come to Broadway. Producers naturally want to bring original cast especially stars; Broadway may say not so fast.....

SAG/AFTRA doesn't have anything to do with Broadway. You're thinking of Actors Equity.

I preferred him chunky. And I usually like thin men.

Some men look horrible when they start losing too much weight. Desmond Harrington is one name that comes to mind.

Can we get any confirmation on big dick Dan?

R83

Thank you for correction, knew it was one of those unions......

He had some great work done. The neck lipo and chin implant really improved his appearance.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

That article is from 1999

I know Rose!

Asked in post if anything had changed, but DL redacted entire thing......

I loved him in Legion and I was pissed when they cancelled it. At least they let them do a 3rd season to wrap up the plot.

😜 Oh, please .........

You'd bang any one of them if they gave you a wink or a nod.🏅

R93

It's funny because it's true.

He was positively porcine.

I thought he looked better in Downton. He looked like a lead actor then, he is more character actor in looks now.

he looks way better now. he was the epitome of awg.

He can tear up a bathroom something fierce, very messy BMs.

stinky

r97, he's still the epitome of awg

No one has mentioned Hugh Bonneville was or is hardly svelte. But he wears it well, far better than Dan Stevens.

I thought Rosamund Pike did a lot of work on the stage, so was looking in to that, then I find out she is the daughter of opera singers! I hear a musical in her future

Dan would have been terrific as Simon Doyle in the upcoming, unnecessary remake of "Death On The Nile" instead of..

The entire remake of Death On The Nile would have been improved if only Downton alumni had been cast

LOVE that suit Hugh is wearing ! Ialso think hes quite fuckable .

R101 = R105, surely.

I think the guy is satisfactory at reading lines. But he's too porky and ordinary to play the HANDSOME and charismatic Mountbatten in this amateurly-directed movie.

R57/R60 - I love Hollinghurst. Agree that Line of Beauty was better as a book, but thought Stevens and Hayley Atwell were both fine in the TV adaptation. Also, R8, I thought Stevens had nude scenes in Line of Beauty, but this was the closest I could fine on YouTube

Downton On The Nile

Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley as Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot

Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawford Jane Birkin as Louise Bourget

Lily James as Lady Rose MacClare as Lois Chiles as Linnet Ridgeway Doyle

Maggie Smith as Violet Carson as Bette Davis as Marie Van Schuyler

Sophie McShera as Daisy Mason as Mia Farrow as Jacqueline de Bellefort

Allen Leech as Tom Branson as Jon Finch as James Ferguson

Jessica Brown Findlay as Sybil Crawley as Olivia Hussey as Rosalie Otterbourne

Iain Glen as Sir Richard Carlisle as George Kennedy as Andrew Pennington

Penelope Wilton as Isobel Crawley as Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne

Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley as Simon MacCorkindale as Simon Doyle

Jim Carter as Charles Carson as David Niven as Colonel Race

Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley as Maggie Smith as Miss Bowers

Kevin Doyle as Joseph Molesley as Jack Warden as Dr. Bessner

R106

Wrong! Don't know R105 from Adam, but thank you for playing...

R107 I've half-forgotten the TV series but I half remember the heroes in both 'Line of Beauty' and 'Swimming-Pool-Library' were both obsessed with large-bodied, large-penissed Africans.

[quote] I've half-forgotten the TV series but I half remember the heroes in both 'Line of Beauty' and 'Swimming-Pool-Library' were both obsessed with large-bodied, large-penissed Africans.

The rough sex scene with the cooking oil in Swimming Pool Library was quite something.

R111 I remember that! With Abdul in the kitchen! I don't know any svtor who could play Will, given how beautiful he's meant to be.

R108 bloody fantastic! My only reservation is I don't see the Daisy actress being able to pull off the main role

R111. That was horny.

Hollinghurst uses words the way a good prostitute uses his tongue.

Dan must have had to beat off a lot of American men for his part in The Guest

Has Dan ever shown more than ass?

I'm thinking he's probably hung nicely.

I love that he sports two earrings to show everyone he's no longer Matthew Crawley. He's edgy now.

Now he looks like a meth-addicted hillbilly

The first thing I saw him in was The Line of Beauty and I liked him a lot. I also read an article by Alan Hollinghurst published several years after the show where he seemed ambivalent about the adaptation overall, but had a lot of praise for Dan's performance. He was very lucky though to get the lead role in a BBC drama like that so early in his career. I remember after he left Downton Abbey he gave an interview complaining about not knowing where the story was going when doing a show like Downton and not being able to read all the scripts in advance. It felt like he didn't appreciate how lucky he had begin to be able to bypass all the soaps and long running dramas on British TV that most actors have to go through, where not knowing where the story is going comes with the territory, before they get the chance to play, or even just to audition for, major roles in more interesting projects,.

Gay author (over-)praises twinky actor from adaptation of his work? Surprise, surprise.

r118

He looks like Joey Graceffa's aging brother.

I read that he did full frontal on stage in "The Romans In Britain" at age 23. Yum

R118 Not sure where having your ears pierced is edgy? A lot of British men have both ears pierced, half of them are probably Grandfathers by now.

David Beckham will be soon enough.

At R118 he reminds me of actor Cody Linley from Hannah Montana.

THE LINE OF BEAUTY adaptation for TV was pretty terrible. Young and pretty Dan notwithstanding.

I admired (but didn't love) the Hollinghurst novel and had been looking forward to the dramatization. Unfortunately, the screenwriter was Andrew Davies who was 1) straight and married and 2) already 70 at the time. Has any TV/film writer been more overrated? Has any been less qualified to write about the lives and loves of young gay men?

TLOB is a really good case for LGBT people having (and enforcing) the right to tell our own stories.

If you liked the novel, I'm surprised you were looking forward to the dramatization.

[quote] I don't know why he left an international smash hit show.

Same reason Lady Sybil did.....Hollywood.

But Dan went about it in a smarter way. Moved to Brooklyn & started acting onstage at BAM. That brought in a large NY audience, including other actors & film directors & gave him indy cred. Hasn’t been out of work since.

Where is this.... Brooklyn?

I would love an adaption of Hollinghurst's The Swimming Pool Library, which isn't nearly as long or heavy as The Line of Beauty.

Dan was good in the 3 part adaptation but a lot of the other cast were wrong for their roles and it didn't flow as well as in the books.

Casted.

R128

That question question keeps popping up again and again; with always pretty much same answer.

British actors by and large tend to move about between stage and screen (small and large), thus aren't always interested in remaining with even a hit television series until it dies a natural death. Yes, you have actors on shows like Cornination Street, or EastEnders that began and or ended their days there; but those are soap operas, not dramas for most part.

Many actors on DA signed on the way British talent does for a television project, a contract for set number of shows. This among other things gives British actors some sort of certainty to make plans elsewhere. It also fits in well with how television dramas are done in UK; a whole season usually shot, done, dusted and in the can so to speak at a go. If a series doesn't do well with first series it likely won't be picked up for a second.....

Keeping Up Appearances ended because Patricia Routledge said "enough" and wanted to do other work, this while series still enjoyed high ratings. Richard Coyle who played Jeff Murdock in highly rated series "Coupling" left after season 3 for pretty much same reasons.

Someone like Jack Davenport is probably sort of career Dan Stevens is after; stage (UK and USA), television (UK and USA), film (ditto). Throw in voice work and producing as well..

Why America? In a word; "money".

British television and film don't nearly pay well as what actors get in USA, especially if a television series makes syndication.

Finally it should be noted it is only rather recently what British television drama series have been extended to their "hit" status. Usually once a book or whatever material show was based upon ended, so did the program. But rise of international markets (especially USA) has prompted changes. Call The Midwife, Downton Abbey, Inspector Morse/Endeavor and others continued beyond original book largely due to certain people seeing there was money to be made.

As noted above extending a series often causes problems when one or more cast members leave for various reasons. Call the Midwife like DA had changes due to actors leaving for other work.

R130 Amazon tells me that the 'Swimming-Pool Library' paperback is 352 pages while the 'Line of Beauty' paperback is 448 pages.

So I guess the latter book is longer but what do you mean by 'heavy'? Boring? Forceful, intense, turbulent? Too many scenes or characters?

R133 I mean the narrative of TSPL is pretty much focused on Will alone and is fairly linear. There aren't as many themes and motifs. It doesn't touch on death and the AIDS crisis as it ends in summer 1983 (the same time TLOB picks up).

For me, TLOB was more complex, there are more historical references and the tone was a fair bit darker. It also had a more pessimistic tone throughout and an uncertain ending.

Please tell me what you think? I would say Hollinghurst is a terrific writer (when he doesn't get too bogged down by his own artistry..!)

He took a HUGE risking leaving Downton and fortunately for him, it paid off.

[quote] the screenwriter was Andrew Davies who was 1) "straight" and married

FIFY

[quote]Many actors on DA signed on the way British talent does for a television project, a contract for set number of shows.

Siobhan Finneran made it clear from the start she would only do 3 seasons of DA and then she was out. Then Julian Fellowes got pissed because her character was very popular but she didn't want to continue after her agreed upon 3. When she left, the show never regained its mojo.

Finneran was smart to leave, she went right into Happy Valley which was fucking brilliant and gave a tour de force performance.

It lost its "mojo" when it lost Dan!

I don't get Dan's appeal. So bland. Even his name is dull.

[quote]Finneran was smart to leave, she went right into Happy Valley which was fucking brilliant and gave a tour de force performance.

She didn't need to worry, she had already been brilliant in Benidorm. She had the actor's dream of versatility in roles. A few seasons as the loud-mouthed, broadly comic wife on Benidorm and then the quietly scheming, tight-lipped servant drama of Downton Abbey. And for the years 2011 and 2012, those shows overlapped, so she could really show her versatility.

Pretty gorgeous, but can't move for shit.

Wish Dan would pork out again, I think he'd make a hot fat guy

He follows Tom Daley on Instagram and paints his nails. He’s totally gay.

He looks hot in The Rental.

He's better as a blonde with a bit of weight.

[R146] Seriously agree. I wish someone would make Dan eat for a while and he'd get nice and thicc again.

He looks great.....dear they all ! get a nip here and tuck there,,,,,,good on him....nice job.

One of the best examples of neck lipo and a chin implant I've ever seen. His appearance was dramatically improved.

I'd rim him til his eyes rolled back in his head!