Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens was apparently very set on getting out of the show by the end of series 3.
Show creator Julian Fellowes says in a new interview that he tried to get lead actor Stevens, who played Matthew Crawley, to stay on for the Downton Abbey series 4 premiere episode so he could give him a proper send off. The actor wasn’t interested.
“I tried to persuade him to come back just for one episode of the next series so we could give Matthew and Mary a happy ending but he wanted to go off to America and now I believe he has a three-movie deal. He’s doing very well,” said Fellowes to Express.co.uk.
While he has kind words for the actor and we’re sure he left on good terms, this is the latest interview proving that Stevens was set on leaving once his contract was up with Downton Abbey.
In the Downton Abbey series 3 finale, following the birth of he and Lady Mary’s son, Matthew gets in a car accident and he dies.
Fellowes’ latest comments are interesting because we wonder what kind of “happy ending” he had in mind. Would Matthew head off to America for work and leave Lady Mary behind? Would they both head off somewhere together, and we’d only see Lady Mary when she visited Downton?
Downton Abbey series 4 is currently filming, and you can check out our previous article for some great on-set photos. Be sure to check out the first official promo image, too.