Dan Stevens

“I don't see money or a particular status as an actor as a goal, but I want to do the best work I can in as interesting a range of roles as I can.”

“I've been a lucky boy.”

“My dad's family were pretty working class, actually.”

“I'm a huge fan of Eighties music.”

“As long as I am given the opportunity to keep performing and keep exploring in whatever medium, I'll be happy. As long as I get to spend time with my family, I'll be happy. As long as I can write in some form, I'll be happy. It is the essential things like that I equate with happiness.”

“I haven't done as many films as I would have liked. A lot of my contemporaries have done more. I don't have 'I will be a movie star' emblazoned on anything, but I'd like do a bit more screen stuff and then when the time is right come back to theatre. When it is good, theatre takes a lot of beating both to watch and perform.”

“It's nice to get your glad rags on for awards like the Baftas, but it doesn't happen all the time.”

“The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.”

“Coming back to theatre is something I'm keen to do for the rest of my life. It recharges my batteries, so to speak.”

“At the age of 11 I was about 6 ft. 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.”

“People look at me, they know I've appeared in costume dramas and they automatically assume I must be a Tory, I must be a certain type of person.”

“What was interesting was talking to older gay men about what it was like being gay in the Eighties.”

“All my early school reports from the age of 5 were 'Daniel must learn not to distract others.'”

“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’s not a bad lesson to learn in the bleaker months: how you view a storm is a question of perspective; provided you find the right rock to watch it from, it could be the most incredible thing you’ll ever witness.”

“I would like to do something modern and possibly funny.”

“Everything's so accelerated now.”

“I saw Mercury Prize-winners Alt-J for the first time recently, touring their debut album 'An Awesome Wave,' and I'm still riding the high: they're the most musically dynamic and exciting band to have poured tune into my lug holes live since Bellowhead.”

“In the 21st century, I think it's fair to say, homosexuality is more accepted in Britain and it's wonderful that my generation has been able to grow up with that.”

“None of us had any idea of how successful Downton was going to be. I thought I was signing up for another period drama that had a slightly modern feel. It had a freedom about it because it was coming out of the head of Julian Fellowes. Anything could happen and generally did.”