| dancing in the rain |
12-23-2014 05:51 AM |
Matthew Crawley/Dan Stevens #5: He's our very own Knight in Shining Armor!
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3 7. Captivating
Matthew Crawley is the son of the late Dr. Reginald Crawley and Mrs. Isobel Crawley. He is Lord Grantham's third cousin, once removed. A qualified solicitor working in Manchester, he finds himself the heir presumptive to an earldom and a large estate and he is invited to move there and to become part of the local community. He eventually agrees but only if he can continue to work, at first finding it difficult to adjust to his change in lifestyle.
After initially acting in a lukewarm fashion to each other he and Mary begin to fall in love. It is thought the two will marry, though when Cora becomes pregnant and there is a chance that Matthew, the heir presumptive, will not inherit the earldom after all, Mary is advised by Rosamund to refuse his proposal. Unfortunately, Cora miscarries when she slips in the bathroom, and so there is no longer any doubt about Matthew being the heir to the earldom, Matthew withdraws his proposal from Mary after she hesitates to accept him. He remains unsure if she loved him or just wanted him because he was once again the heir.
He later becomes engaged to Miss Lavinia Swire, daughter of a London solicitor. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteers to join the British Army where he is injured whilst serving alongside William Mason, who saves his life by shielding him from an explosion and who later dies from his wounds. Matthew is paralysed from the waist down, and despite being told that he can no longer have children, Lavinia continues to care for him and does not call off the engagement.
Following a miraculous and happy recovery, he and Mary realise that they are still in love, but he informs her that Lavinia's efforts to recuperate him even when it was thought that he could not have children mean that he cannot break up their relationship, for he is indebted to her. When Lavinia dies of Spanish influenza at Downton, he is plunged into grief and vows that neither he nor Mary deserve the happiness they want by being together, because it would be an insult to Lavinia's memory. He is later persuaded to think differently, and proposes to Mary in January 1920, she accepts.
Matthew finally marries Lady Mary in the spring of 1920. It is discovered that at some point prior, his father-in-law, Lord Grantham, made a disastrous financial investment in a Canadian Railroad and has been mismanaging the running of the estate for many years, leaving it on the verge of bankruptcy. Matthew, with the help of brother-in-law Tom Branson, tries very hard to make Downton financially secure for Mary and their assumptive future children. Matthew brings his background in law and the private sector to bear in managing Downton, along with taking on Branson to direct the estate due to his pragmatism and having some knowledge of farming from his grandfather. Lord Grantham, who has agreed to make Matthew joint owner of Downton, is very slow to accept that Matthew and Branson make a brilliant team. Although Mary and Matthew sometimes disagree on various issues, they have a very happy marriage. Mary tells Matthew in bed, "we must never take us for granted; we don't know what's coming." Matthew ominously responds, "I will love you forever until the final breath leaves my body."
Although only a few months have passed since their marriage, Mary is still not pregnant and both secretly think that they have fertility problems. A year later, Mary finally gives birth in September 1921. Lord Grantham finally admits in the final episode of series three that Matthew has saved Downton, and he trusts his business and legal instincts. He seems to finally accept Matthew as the son he never had. While Lord Grantham is telling his family how thankful he is for Matthew and the new baby, Matthew is driving home to tell the waiting family about the baby. Matthew is gloriously happy (telling Mary after meeting his newborn son, "I feel like I've just swallowed a box of firecrackers"). While still awash in the glow of his love for Mary and his baby son, he looks at the surrounding trees as his open-air AC car speeds up the narrow road to Downton Abbey. Not paying attention to the road, he swerves to avoid another vehicle and tumbles down an embankment (not shown, except for tire tracks in the soil). The car flips over on top of Matthew, crushing his body. Blood is shown pouring from his ear. The driver of the other vehicle rushes to Matthew's aid, only to find him already dead from his injuries.
Stevens has worked extensively in theatre in Britain and the United States, alongside Peter Hall. He was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award for his portrayal of Orlando in Shakespeare's As You Like It for the Peter Hall Company in 2005.
In 2006, Stevens starred as Nick Guest in the BBC Television adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize-winning novel The Line of Beauty.[13] Later that year he played Simon Bliss in Hay Fever by Noël Coward at London's Haymarket Theatre, alongside Peter Bowles and Dame Judi Dench; the director was Peter Hall. He also performed as Lord Holmwood in an adaptation of Dracula for the BBC, and as Basil Brookes in the BBC Emmy-award-winning film, Maxwell.
In 2008, Stevens appeared in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, Sense & Sensibility, playing Edward Ferrars, and the West End revival of Noël Coward's The Vortex. In January 2009 he appeared on New Year's Day in Agatha Christie's Marple: Nemesis on ITV1 in Britain. In June 2009 he returned to the West End, playing Septimus Hodge in an acclaimed revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre.
In 2011, Stevens guest-hosted an episode of Have I Got News For You, which aired 25 November of that year.
In March 2012, he completed shooting two films: Vamps, the latest film from Amy Heckerling, and Summer in February, an Edwardian romance set in an artist colony.
Stevens played Matthew Crawley in the ITV series Downton Abbey, written by Julian Fellowes.
Stevens has narrated several audiobooks, including The Angel's Game, Wolf Hall and War Horse.
Stevens was a member of the judging panel for the 2012 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, editor-at-large for The Junket, an online quarterly which he co-founded,[19] and is a regular columnist for the Daily Telegraph.
"When it comes to cousin Mary, she
is quite capable of doing her own
flinging, I assure you."
Season 1 - Episode 3
"War has a way of distinguishing between the things
that matter and the things that don't."
Season 2 - Episode 1 "I hardly know him, but I'm sure I'll like him
when I do. That's if he's good to you. If he's
not, then he has me to answer to."
Season 2 - Episode 4
"I am a cat that walks by himself, all places are alike to me.
I have nothing to give and nothing to share."
Season 2 - Episode 6
"I know it's cliché, but I believe she died of a broken heart."
Season 2 - Episode 8 http://i49.tinypic.com/1pgco8.png
Dan Stevens - Big Questions
Dan Stevens - MSN Interview
German Interview
Downton Abbey Returns - Dan Stevens
Downton Abbey introducing Series Three
On The Box Exclusive: Downton Abbey's Matthew Crawley
Dan Stevens: Good Morning America
Dan Stevens: BBC1 The One Show
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#1 • "He wants to change our lives"
#2 • "Because he's the future Earl of Grantham
#3 • "Love him by all means, but believe in me."
#4 • "I would never be happy with anyone else as long as you walk the earth."
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