Downton Abbey star takes centre stage in A Walk Among The Tombstones

Downton Abbey star swaps Downton Abbey for Downtown New York!

Of all Downton Abbey’s Lords and Ladies, Matthew Crawley was the one most aware of the world beyond the walls of the stately home.

So it’s apt that the man who played him is making a success of branching out to other things. A Walk Among The Tombstones is Dan Stevens’ second film release in as many months.

And, as with The Guest, his character is very different from that which he played while under Downton’s roof.

Set in 1990’s New York, Kenny Kristo is a drug trafficker whose wife is brutally murdered by two men who are targeting people of Kenny’s profession.

Although he ships heroin for a living, the grisly end to his beloved wife means Kenny is not the villain of the piece.

“There are worse guys than Kenny out there, men who are kidnapping and killing women,” reasons Dan, who lost 30lbs or “two or three chins,” to play the gaunt, grief-stricken drug supplier.

“It’s convenient the role and the look are so different from Matthew so soon after leaving Downton but it wasn’t intentional.

“I’m always looking for different things and part of the motivation of leaving the show was to try new things.”

Unable to call the police for help, Kenny turns to unlicensed private detective Matt Scudder (played by Liam Neeson).

Wracked by his own demons but able to differentiate between the morally ambiguous guys and the out-and-out bad ones, Scudder agrees to help Kenny.

Dan also found working with Neeson a real help with his fledgling film career.

“It’s not something I could pin down to a specific lesson where he’s taken me aside and gone, ‘Listen, Dan, this is how you do it’,” says the 31-year-old actor. “It’s more where you watch them work.

“With Liam, the manner he has on set is pretty cool. I’m always impressed by that in people, the ease and command they have, but also friendly and nice to work with.”

A Walk Among The Tombstones is one of 17 novels with Matt Scudder as the lead character written by Lawrence Block.

Filming took place on the streets of Brooklyn which, coincidentally, is where Croydon-born Dan currently resides with his wife, jazz singer Susie Hariet, and their two children, daughter Willow, aged 5, and two-year-old son Aubrey.

It’s a home Dan can’t have spent much time at since the 2012 move, as he has been a man in demand with five different movie roles as well as appearing on Broadway.

The two movies he can currently be seen in at cinemas will be followed by roles in the upcoming Night at the Museum sequel, playing Sir Lancelot, The Cobbler with Adam Sandler and Criminal Activities with John Travolta.

But no matter how successful he’s becoming, Dan insists there’s no better feeling than spending time away from work.

“Family is hugely important to me,” he says.

“Having kids is the best possible way to shake off any kind of darkness that might accompany a role that you’re playing. You step in that door and everything melts away very quickly, which is a good thing.

“I’m just enjoying exploring all manner of roles and travelling and seeing a lot more of the States than I ever dreamed of, and taking them with me sometimes, which is cool. Showing the kids all different areas is great.”

A Walk Among The Tombstones is at cinemas now.

A Walk Among The Tombstones Our verdict: 4/5

In films such as Taken and Non-Stop, Liam Neeson has carved a niche for himself as a sawn-off antihero haunted by past misdemeanours.

Thankfully, the strength of Lawrence Block’s story means this is not just more of the same with time spent away from the action to make Scudder a far more interesting character than Neeson’s previous outings in this genre.

As such, I’d be far more “taken” with the idea of a sequel for this character than the bloke who keeps losing members of his family in continental Europe (a third Taken is due out next year).