Downton Abbey icon lands major role worlds away from ITV period drama

Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, who shot to fame for his role as Matthew Crawley on the ITV period drama back in 2010, is set to join a massive sci-fi franchise.

Disney Plus has announced that Stevens is set to join Star Wars' latest series, which debuts on the platform on September 19.

The upcoming sequel series, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past, will see Stevens portray Solitus, a fallen Jedi who sought out access to Forcehold - a secret realm full of discarded pieces of the past.

The LEGO Star War animated sequel series is a continuation of the story that began in 2024 with Rebuild the Galaxy.

Dan, who has also previously starred in Marvel show Legion as lead character David Haller, will now be a part of another hugely popular franchise.

The synopsis from Disney Plus for the upcoming series reads: "A new threat rises in the galaxy, and Sig Greebling and Darth Dev must combine their powers of Force Building and Sith Breaking to stop it.

"Alongside Jedi Bob, Yesi Scala, and Servo, they will journey into the deepest corners of LEGO Star Wars lore, uncovering pieces of all the galaxies that have come before.

"Returning voice cast includes Gaten Matarazzo as Sig Greebling, Tony Revolori as Darth Dev, Bobby Moynihan as Jedi Bob, Marsai Martin as Yesi Scala, Michael Cusack as Servo, Ahmed Best as Darth Jar Jar, and a special guest appearance by Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.

"The four-piece sequel series welcomes Dan Stevens as Solitus, Ashley Eckstein as LEGO BrickHeadz Ahsoka Tano, and Ben Schwartz as Jaxxon."

The show is written and executive produced by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit and directed by Chris Buckley.

Stevens has enjoyed a wide variety of roles since leaving Downton Abbey in 2012.

As well as starring in all 27 episodes of Legion between 2017 and 2019, he has also appeared in films like Beauty and the Beast, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Most recently, he starred opposite Robert De Niro in Zero Day on Netflix.

Downton Abbey fans were devastated when Stevens unexpectedly exited the drama, with his character Matthew's storyline coming to a particularly shocking conclusion.

Stevens has since lifted the lid on his decision to leave the ITV show early, explaining that he was keen to explore other opportunities and avoid being typecast as a period drama actor.

He told The Guardian: "There were definitely creative itches left unscratched, genres I hadn't worked in.

"Three years were up, that's what we'd initially signed up for, and the appetite to explore further was too great."

Speaking about his departure, he added: "It's not something I expect people to readily understand.

"Some admire it, others think I was mad, that the part was the greatest thing that could ever happen to me."

Downton Abbey is returning one final time for its third film, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, on September 12, 2025.

Lucasfilm and the LEGO Group's LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past debuts on Disney+ on September 19, 2025.