DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 4 SPOILER ALERT:
A major star is exciting this British smash, and we know who… and we know HOW. Consider yourself spoiler warned, THGers…
Dan Stevens will leave the award-winning drama following the upcoming third season, which kicks off on January 6 in the U.S.
The actor has confirmed this departure in an interview with London’s The Telegraph, which ran the day after a Downton Abbey Christmas special aired in Great Britain – during which his character of Matthew Crawley is killed in a car accident.
“We were always optioned for three years,” the 30-year-old actor says. “And when that came up it was a very difficult decision. But it felt like a good time to take stock, to take a moment. From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things.”
But will Stevens miss the series? Most definitely.
“It is a very monopolising job,” he tells the newspaper. “So there is a strange sense of liberation at the same time as great sadness because I am very, very fond of the show and always will be.”