Dan Stevens was first introduced to American audiences as Matthew Crawley on the hit PBS show Downton Abbey. All we could do was swoon. As the doomed heir, he fell in and out of love with Lady Mary, went off to war, was engaged to another, finally fell back in love with the humbled Lady Mary and produced a son. When Stevens decided to leave the show, Downton Abbey fans were outraged. Having seen him only in period dramas like the 2008 version of Sense and Sensibility and Summer in February, I agreed with the skeptics who thought he would fade into obscurity. How could it be a good idea  to leave a hit show in its prime?  He has proved us all wrong.

After co-starring in The Fifth Estate, Stevens made his foray into the American indie scene with Adam Wingard’s and Simon Barrett’s The Guest. Stevens as "David" is a marvel, turning in a performance that is equal parts charm and menace. He first appears on the doorsteps of the wholesome but unsuspecting Peterson family as a friend of their son, Caleb, who died in combat. As David, Stevens packs a bright smile, piercing blue eyes and a disarming charisma that easily gains him entry into the Petersons’ home. While he effortlessly charms Laura (Sheila Kelly), Spencer (Leland Orser) and youngest son Luke (Brendan Meyer), daughter Anna (Maika Monroe) is a tougher sell.

Stevens drains that friendly spark from his blue eyes; they become chilling windows into his cold and lethal soul.

(WARNING: SPOLIERS BELOW) From the minute David appears on screen, the audience knows not to trust him. No, it’s not the musical cues (ominous synthesizer music), but Stevens himself who makes us wary. His David is lean (all of that Downton Abbey baby fat is gone), manipulative and deadly.  His predatory inclinations are evident in subtle shades in even the simplest of scenes. Forced by her mother, Anna goes to David’s room to invite him to a Halloween party just in time to see him getting out of the shower. While the audience knows this is a calculated move of seduction, you can’t help but gasp along with Anna as Stevens’ David emerges from the steam of the bathroom, a perfect military specimen as deadly as he is beautiful.

Stevens’ evocative performance is so powerful that audiences are drawn in as he methodically carries out his purpose.  A soldier through and through, he considers it his “mission” to take care of the Peterson family while he stays in their home in the heartland. When he stands up for the bullied Luke by kicking the shit out of punk teenagers at a local bar, you can’t help but approve. After giving Luke a switchblade to defend himself from further attacks, he advises: “They take your knife, you burn down their house with their family inside.” While we the audience and Luke know David’s methods are violent and alarming, the effectiveness of his approach is strangely compelling. In his brief stay with the Petersons, he serves as both their protector and later, their executioner.  

When it is revealed that David is indeed on the run from the military after an experiment gone horribly awry, Stevens’ David goes into survival mode. Stevens sheds the charming David and shifts easily into cold-blooded killer mode. Stevens drains that friendly spark from his blue eyes; they become chilling windows into his cold and lethal soul. As the body count rises, Stevens never wavers from his portrayal of David as a constant schemer determined to complete his mission.  

With supporting roles in A Walking Among the Tombstones as a Brooklyn drug trafficker and Sir Lancealot in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Dan Stevens continues to make interesting choices as he diversifies his career, leaving Matthew Crawley far behind. We can’t wait for what he has in store for us in 2015.