When you let Dan Stevens be weird, that's when the magic happens
April 24, 2024 4:50 AM Subscribe
The Mary Sue joins me in welcoming actor Dan Stevens' sleazier weirder side. (slTheMarySue)
Posting something fun and silly, but yeah, I have been low-key obsessed with Dan Stevens when he gets to play off-kilter characters. Polished Matthew Crawley? Miss me with that. Pornstache, unhinged, and funny? MORE PLEASE.
Posting something fun and silly, but yeah, I have been low-key obsessed with Dan Stevens when he gets to play off-kilter characters. Polished Matthew Crawley? Miss me with that. Pornstache, unhinged, and funny? MORE PLEASE.
Dan Stevens compares his collaboration with director Paul Wingard to the actor-director partnership enjoyed by Rutger Hauer and Paul Verhoeven as a source of inspiration he’s had for many years.
“You could see them go, ‘Oh, we’re going to do a medieval epic now, or we’re going to do an intense domestic drama now… it was just point a stick and go, ‘Let’s make one of those,’” he says.
posted by fairmettle at 5:32 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
“You could see them go, ‘Oh, we’re going to do a medieval epic now, or we’re going to do an intense domestic drama now… it was just point a stick and go, ‘Let’s make one of those,’” he says.
posted by fairmettle at 5:32 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
Make sure you watch Stevens' first great post-Downton role as an unhinged veteran intent in "helping" his late war buddy's family.
That one was produced by MeFi's own Keith Calder.
It's got a razor's edge antihero performance by Stevens, an early Maika Monroe star turn, and a badass synth soundtrack.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:50 AM on April 24 [6 favorites]
That one was produced by MeFi's own Keith Calder.
It's got a razor's edge antihero performance by Stevens, an early Maika Monroe star turn, and a badass synth soundtrack.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:50 AM on April 24 [6 favorites]
In The Guest, that should say above.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:58 AM on April 24 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:58 AM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Dan Stevens occupies that niche in that if he's in something where he's required to be classically handsome or posh or a romantic lead, I am not interested. But when he lets his freak flag fly? Jesus christ, please wear me as a hat.
It's sort of like Robert Pattinson in that I love it when conventionally handsome actors deliberately choose weird or off-putting roles. (Alas, Pattinson is just not my type in any capacity but he is a good actor to watch.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:04 AM on April 24 [8 favorites]
It's sort of like Robert Pattinson in that I love it when conventionally handsome actors deliberately choose weird or off-putting roles. (Alas, Pattinson is just not my type in any capacity but he is a good actor to watch.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:04 AM on April 24 [8 favorites]
His performance as a robot in I'm Your Man was so amazing. I saw it years ago and still think about it quite a bit!
posted by dawkins_7 at 7:30 AM on April 24 [2 favorites]
posted by dawkins_7 at 7:30 AM on April 24 [2 favorites]
Weird Dan Stevens is the best Dan Stevens.
posted by mrphancy at 7:38 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
posted by mrphancy at 7:38 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
Legion is still some of the best work he's ever done. In that show, Noah Hawley (the mind behind the TV version of Fargo) took an incidental Marvel character and made a truly bonkers, borderline psychedelic show about him.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:13 AM on April 24 [13 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:13 AM on April 24 [13 favorites]
Wow, I watched all of Legion so it's weird that I never notice the actor in other projects.
Actually it's not weird, Aubrey Plaza sucked up all the air on that show. And then Jemaine Clement. And then Jean Smart. And then Jeremie Harris. And then Amber Midthunder -- you know, Legion was kind of a mess, but I'm suddenly realizing why I stuck with it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:16 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
Actually it's not weird, Aubrey Plaza sucked up all the air on that show. And then Jemaine Clement. And then Jean Smart. And then Jeremie Harris. And then Amber Midthunder -- you know, Legion was kind of a mess, but I'm suddenly realizing why I stuck with it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:16 AM on April 24 [5 favorites]
I confess I did nope out of Legion at the end of S2 when rape became part of the storyline. Until then, I was having a delightful time with it.
posted by Kitteh at 8:26 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 8:26 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
I can understand noping out of anything with that content.
I will say it didn't end up being gratuitous. It was a deliberate breaking point that indicated a dark road ahead. It not only didn't get hand waved later, it served as the "you should have known for sure by that point" marker ever after.
Though maybe we should decamp to a Legion thread on FF if we dig into that much further...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:29 AM on April 24 [4 favorites]
I will say it didn't end up being gratuitous. It was a deliberate breaking point that indicated a dark road ahead. It not only didn't get hand waved later, it served as the "you should have known for sure by that point" marker ever after.
Though maybe we should decamp to a Legion thread on FF if we dig into that much further...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:29 AM on April 24 [4 favorites]
In addition to all of the above (I also was a fan of Legion and stuck it out through all of the WTF parts) I'd like to give a shout-out to Steven's recurring role in High Maintenance, during which, in at least one episode, Stevens just casually... wore a dress. That's when I realized that Legion wasn't a fluke for him.
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:42 AM on April 24 [4 favorites]
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:42 AM on April 24 [4 favorites]
Whoops -- missed the editing window: "Stevens' recurring role..."
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:48 AM on April 24
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:48 AM on April 24
haha I never even realized that charismatic weirdo in Legion was Matthew Crawley. lol. day and night. I'll take night.
posted by supermedusa at 9:25 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by supermedusa at 9:25 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
He's also superb in the animated series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, on Netflix. He plays Scarlemagne, a hyper-intelligent mandrill with mind-controlling pheromone sweat.
Trust me. It's an amazing series and he's great in it.
posted by skullhead at 9:58 AM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Trust me. It's an amazing series and he's great in it.
posted by skullhead at 9:58 AM on April 24 [3 favorites]
I like Stevens' ability to just flit back and forth across the line between warm and icy. I'm really looking forward to Abigail and Cuckoo partly because of him. Sounds like I need to watch Legion, if my brain will accept a TV show.
(Hm maybe he'd be good casting as Maturin... a little too good-looking but it'd be fine; gdi Heath Ledger would have been a great Aubrey I bet.)
His performance as a robot in I'm Your Man was so amazing.
German robot Jesus no less! I suppose that's as square as it gets.
posted by fleacircus at 10:05 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
(Hm maybe he'd be good casting as Maturin... a little too good-looking but it'd be fine; gdi Heath Ledger would have been a great Aubrey I bet.)
His performance as a robot in I'm Your Man was so amazing.
German robot Jesus no less! I suppose that's as square as it gets.
posted by fleacircus at 10:05 AM on April 24 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure where it's available anymore (used to be on Vimeo, now possibly on HBO Max) but Dan Stevens' first appearance on High Maintenance was in a short back in 2014 called "Rachel" and it absolutely opened my eyes to his power and subtlety as an actor (though his American accent has to be forgiven 🤣).
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on April 24 [2 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on April 24 [2 favorites]
I'm getting a lot of additions to my watch list here, but I can't resist mentioning that the thing that screamed out to me while reading that story was the sidebar teaser that Akiva Shaffer is remaking Naked Gun with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Could be great!
/derail
posted by rhizome at 12:24 PM on April 24
/derail
posted by rhizome at 12:24 PM on April 24
Sounds like I need to watch Legion, if my brain will accept a TV show.
Legion is VERY limited run. Each season is sort of stand-alone but they do all interconnect. It begins fairly normally and by the beginning of the Third season has abandoned any connection with reality whatsoever. It's the television show I've watched that felt most like reading a series of graphic novels or maybe comics seasons.
I enjoyed Legion enough that I purchased it digitally and have watched it maybe six times. It and Mr. Robot are two series about people going insane that I somehow connect with on a level deeper than I like to admit.
posted by hippybear at 12:58 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Legion is VERY limited run. Each season is sort of stand-alone but they do all interconnect. It begins fairly normally and by the beginning of the Third season has abandoned any connection with reality whatsoever. It's the television show I've watched that felt most like reading a series of graphic novels or maybe comics seasons.
I enjoyed Legion enough that I purchased it digitally and have watched it maybe six times. It and Mr. Robot are two series about people going insane that I somehow connect with on a level deeper than I like to admit.
posted by hippybear at 12:58 PM on April 24 [3 favorites]
Wait a minute! Author I love Noah Hawley is That TV Guy Noah Hawley?! I may have to watch Fargo after all!
posted by epj at 2:53 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
posted by epj at 2:53 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
I've had the conversation more than once about how everyone thought Dan Stevens was making a huge mistake for leaving Downton Abbey and then, wow, his career has basically been the most interesting of all the "unknowns" from the show.
I like that he just picks chaos. It's a thoughtful chaos but I love how much he's just willing to go big or weird or big weird.
I agree on his performance in I'm Your Man. It's so physical! He is acting with his entire body in that role and it's fascinating. (I also just recommend that movie in general because it's good. As I said "Dan Stevens plays a sex robot in a German movie!" sounds funny but it's so much more than that.)
I really love when actors get a bit of money and just decide "OK, time to go do whatever random things appeal to me." More of that.
posted by edencosmic at 6:10 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
I like that he just picks chaos. It's a thoughtful chaos but I love how much he's just willing to go big or weird or big weird.
I agree on his performance in I'm Your Man. It's so physical! He is acting with his entire body in that role and it's fascinating. (I also just recommend that movie in general because it's good. As I said "Dan Stevens plays a sex robot in a German movie!" sounds funny but it's so much more than that.)
I really love when actors get a bit of money and just decide "OK, time to go do whatever random things appeal to me." More of that.
posted by edencosmic at 6:10 PM on April 24 [4 favorites]
I really love when actors get a bit of money and just decide "OK, time to go do whatever random things appeal to me." More of that.
Okay, so Dan Stevens, Daniel Radcliffe, and Elijah Wood all need to do a project together?
posted by hippybear at 6:19 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
Okay, so Dan Stevens, Daniel Radcliffe, and Elijah Wood all need to do a project together?
posted by hippybear at 6:19 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
Okay, so Dan Stevens, Daniel Radcliffe, and Elijah Wood all need to do a project together?
Shut up and take my money.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:27 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
Shut up and take my money.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:27 PM on April 24 [7 favorites]
Okay, so Dan Stevens, Daniel Radcliffe, and Elijah Wood all need to do a project together?
They could just sit in a room and read random things at each other and I would watch it.
Or I also imagine a weird movie where they're all versions of the same character.
I imagine there's already fanfic about this and now I feel weird. (I am not going to look for it. Not judging anyone's fanfic to be clear.)
posted by edencosmic at 6:36 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
They could just sit in a room and read random things at each other and I would watch it.
Or I also imagine a weird movie where they're all versions of the same character.
I imagine there's already fanfic about this and now I feel weird. (I am not going to look for it. Not judging anyone's fanfic to be clear.)
posted by edencosmic at 6:36 PM on April 24 [1 favorite]
There is a fanfic of it, like just above these comments, in this thread. It's rather short, but it's sitting right there on your screen.
posted by hippybear at 6:37 PM on April 24
posted by hippybear at 6:37 PM on April 24
I agree with all of this. I love Dan.
posted by kcalder at 9:54 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
posted by kcalder at 9:54 AM on April 25 [1 favorite]
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