Yahoo News Dan Stevens still feels bad over Downton Abbey exit
He may currently be starring alongside the likes of Emma Watson, Luke Evans and Kevin Kline in Beauty and the Beast, but Dan Stevens says he's "still apologising" to fans for his Downton Abbey exit.
Speaking to The Mirror, the Matthew Crawley actor said: "The way Matthew went was out of my hands – but it was rather shocking.
"There were some very upset people and I've had to apologise to a lot of people over the past four years.
"But I take it as a compliment that Matthew was so loved on the show."
His character was killed in a car accident during the Christmas special of the Emmy Award-winning ITV drama back in 2012, leaving the nation sobbing into a tin of Quality Street.
The 34-year-old continued: "I've done a lot since then though – so hopefully people are seeing what I have been up to and are beginning to understand why I wanted to move on."
Since Downton, Dan has gone on to make an impact in The Guest as a total psycho, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, where he plays Sir Lancelot, X-Men spinoff TV show Legion, and, of course, Disney's live-action blockbuster Beauty and the Beast.
Speaking on US chat show Today, he revealed of his Beast look: "It was all done by CGI.
"It was motion capture, puppeteering, the suit… and then the face was done separately using a different technology.
"So when I was on set, I was on stilts in a big muscle suit covered in Lycra. Everything else looked gorgeous, Emma Watson was beautiful, the sets were incredible... and there's me just sweating away!"
He added: "And over the months I've seen it emerge – the guys at Disney putting every digital hair on my digital face.
"To portray one of the great characters from great fairytales and bring it to life was amazing."
Beauty and the Beast opens in cinemas on March 17.
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