‘Downton Abbey’: While season 4 films, Dan Stevens clearly moves forward

For fans of “Downton Abbey” all around the globe, the past few months have certainly been a time of great grieving. After all, we’ve been forced to deal with the fact that Dan Stevens is no longer a part of the cast, and has decided to move on to some other projects. At the moment, it’s hard to question the move as much as we would like to: the actor has spent a great deal of time starring in “The Heiress” on Broadway, and has also booked an upcoming film role alongside Liam Neeson and even a former star of “The X Factor” in America.

So what’s to follow of this news regarding Stevens? A change in hair color! As you can see over at the link here, the actor is now trying out a distinctly different look than what we saw from him as Matthew Crawley. His once-blonde hair is now dark brown, and from this perspective it actually makes his icy blue eyes (one of his most immediately recognizable features) stand out even more. Is this for a new role? Only time will tell.

As for the “Downton Abbey” crew, they are hard at work on what should be an exciting new season full of surprises. While just about everyone associated with production is currently opting against sharing anything that could even be remotely constituted a spoiler, we do know that there will be at least six new characters that are going to appear in order to help fill the void left by Stevens, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Siobhan Finneran, who all left either during or after season 3.

What do you think about Stevens’ new look, and are you going to miss him on “Downton Abbey”? If you want to see what Allen Leech has to say about a potential romance with Matthew’s widow Lady Mary, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ITV