Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens talks about being adopted at birth and his rebellious youth

From: The Daily Telegraph

A rebellious youth... Dan Stevens, pictured with Michelle Dockery in TV series Downton Abbey, is seen as the natural successor to Colin Firth. Supplied: Channel 7 Source: Supplied

HE HAS impeccable manners, Oxbridge education and the well-cut features of a natural aristocrat.

"Not a lot of people would think that I spent most of my early years totally rebelling against anything I could, getting suspended from school, going on demonstrations. I was a pretty difficult teenager," the 28-year-old Stevens told Mail Online.
"I was never very happy at school. I didn’t get on with the other kids, I didn’t fit in. My parents (both of whom are teachers) thought it was an amazing opportunity for me (he was awarded a scholarship to the highly prestigious Tonbridge School, Kent) but I felt quite isolated. There were a lot of very rich children there and that did something to me. I spent most of my time running away, causing problems.
"At primary school I behaved terribly. I was always in trouble, always causing trouble. When I went to Tonbridge I just continued along the same path. Anything I could do to rebel, I would.
"At the age of 11 I was about 6ft tall and my voice had completely broken. That caused problems. I was this gangly, spotty, very unattractive kid. I wasn’t cool and I wasn’t a nerd. I didn’t even want to fit in with anyone."
His impressive examination results (despite scant revision) set him apart, as did his precocious ability as a performer.
"At 13, in my first year of Tonbridge, I went up for the part of Macbeth. I was up against the 17 and 18-year-olds, but for some reason I got the part. It made me incredibly unpopular with my peers, but it was the English and drama teachers who stepped in to save me when others wanted me kicked out of the school.
"When I look back I have a hell of a lot to thank them for. I think there were a lot of people steering me – including my parents - which I didn’t quite realise at the time because I was pushing against everything."
Asked if he feels that being adopted played any part in his feelings of isolation, he nods slowly.
"That’s probably true. But I also believe it was just within me. 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."
It was Stevens’s decision to go to Cambridge - to read English at Emmanuel College - despite having joined the National Youth Theatre and being set on a career as an actor. His decision has paid off - he has just completed his first Hollywood movie Vamps, with Alicia Silverstone and, of course, Downton Abbey.
"I’m incredibly proud to be part of it. I think it’s an amazing series and I also believe that, in its own way, it does have the element of the subversive. It’s not the average costume drama. It’s not adapted from a 19th-century novel; it’s a period drama written in modern times, which means subjects like Lady Mary’s affair can be explored. That’s something completely radical.
"The new series starts off with World War I. It’s a very different landscape from the manicured lawns of Downton. I spend a lot of time in the filthy trenches."
Stevens has at times found himself in bother with the Downton bosses. A Twitter obsessive, he blurted out details of the Christmas special before the project had been announced.
"I was very definitely in trouble," he says. "I completely gave the game away.
"It’s quite incredible for an actor to have the opportunity to speak to, and hear directly from, the audience …"
"I think viewers will notice that I’ve lost a stone-and-a-half since the first series. It’s pretty much down to the fact that I had tons of comments on Twitter about how fat Matthew was looking. It was true; I’d put on weight, stopped going to the gym. I took it as positive criticism and started back at the gym and watched what I ate. I’m definitely looking fitter thanks to Twitter."
There’s a bond between the actors on the show.
"We all get on very well because we spend so much time together," said Stevens.
:Filming days are very long, and in the evenings Hugh Bonneville, myself and most of the cast come down to the pub and have a few drinks. We mainly stay in local hotels, except Maggie (Smith).
"Maggie is the real star of the show - we all accept that. She’s also a tremendous actor to work with. She does have an incredible sense of humour. She has this way of rolling her eyes when things are just taking that bit too long.
"The filming is definitely tougher on the women than the men because of their corsets. It’s pretty hard for the girls even to eat lunch - all the men have to worry about is red marks on their necks from the incredibly stiff collars.
"The most interminable scenes are those with food, when we have to sit around doing take after take chewing on pork in congealed gravy. But there are also real high points, like playing football, which really upsets the costume department because the clothes can get damaged. Then we have to switch to cricket.
"For the new series we shot a lot of scenes in Oxford and Suffolk, where the Somme trenches were built by World War I experts. I bought a vintage football so we could play during the breaks. No one cared how filthy we got our costumes this time."
Married with a baby daughter, Stevens appears to have come full circle, embracing the conformity he once rebelled against. He grins.
"There’s still some rebelling in me to be done. Maybe I’ll now rebel against my own career. For my next part I should choose something completely out of character to what everyone expects. I don’t know what - but you should always expect the unexpected."