Beauty and the Beast Star on the Challenges of Playing the Beast

"It's a very different mode of working."

By Terri Schwartz

Dan Stevens, best known for his role as Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, is readying for a huge 2017. He stars in FX's forthcoming Marvel X-Men series Legion as David Haller, and also takes the title role of the Beast in Disney's live action Beauty and the Beast.

Coming from a British period drama background, both Legion and Beauty and the Beast required significantly more physical acting than Stevens was used to. The role of the Beast required Stevens to act on 10-inch stilts and wear a creature mask, and performing as that character changed how he's worked ever since.

"Physically, the Beast is the most challenging role I've taken on," Stevens told IGN at the 2017 winter TV Critics Association press tour, where he was promoting Legion. "The condition I had to have my body in to puppeteer that suit on stilts was like nothing else I've ever experienced, seriously. The kind of engagement -- and actually a lot of dance involved in that role, albeit on stilts; it was a very, very intense dance training process -- has gotten me more physically engaged with all of my performances in everything else since."

Preparing for Legion also required dance training, though not in quite the same vein as Beauty and the Beast's iconic ballroom sequence. But Legion also filmed most of its stunts practically, meaning Stevens needed to do wire work and other more physically challenging stunts to bring to life the show's more extreme sequences.

Dan Stevens as David Haller in Legion (left) and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast (right)

"There was the dancing. It's quite a physical role in that way. There was a certain kind of physical engagement," he said. "There's a musical number or two that required some special, special skills -- I don't want to give too much away. Scripts would suddenly pop up and it's like, 'Oh, he plays the banjo.' It's like, do we have a banjo? Someone give me a banjo."

The work Stevens has been doing has evolved a lot over the past five years, he said, and it's been a learning process moving away from period dramas, which "tend to be from the neck up ... under three layers of tweed or plush velvet."

"It's a very different mode of working," he said. "Coming over here and getting to work with a number of different directors from all over the world, not just America, and the kind of demands they put upon you, it's been great to expand the range of it."

Legion premieres on February 8 on FX, while Beauty and the Beast hits theaters on March 17.

Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN and is probably too excited for Beauty and the Beast. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.

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