To play a conspiracy provocateur, Dan Stevens submerged himself in MAGA podcasts

22:54Dan Stevens watched hours of MAGA podcasts to play a conspiracy provocateur

When Dan Stevens left the British historical drama Downton Abbey in 2012, he knew he was taking a big risk.

After starring on the show for three seasons, he chose not to renew his contract, resulting in his character Matthew Crawley being killed off in a car crash.

In an interview with Q's Tom Power, Stevens looks back on his decision to "build the plane as we fly it" and divulges what he learned from consuming political punditry in preparing to play the conspiracy minded Evan Green on the miniseries Zero Day, streaming now on Netflix.

He says in the 13 years since he left Downton Abbey, not every job has been fulfilling, but that there still are moments that remind him, "Oh yeah, this is why."

"The whole point of risk is that there's a chance of rewards, and people are terrified of risk. They're terrified of looking at other people taking risks — like walking a high wire or skydiving or whatever it is," says Green.

"I love that I never get stuck in one job for more than six months, really. I'm constantly moving around the world. I'm getting to experience things. And that delights me, that keeps me alive, that excites me. I get to hear stories from all over the world. I get to meet people from all over the world," he explains.

In order to play a conspiracy theorist political commentator, Stevens says he consumed content from both right-wing pundits like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones and Ben Shapiro, and left-leaning YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen.

"There's a common thread in terms of the way that they present their material, the things that they're trying to provoke. I think if you watch enough of these guys — and I really did — there's a common thread to the way in which they go about their outrage mongering."

After listening to Steve Bannon's War Room podcast — which Stevens never thought he would want to do — he realized punditry operates by throwing information at you all at once. 

"I'm sure if you sit in a room with Steve Bannon for half an hour and he talks at you nonstop and you have no right to reply, you'd probably come away believing one or two things he says. Unless you're really clued up on your game, you're going to come away a little bit convinced. I think it's really dangerous."

While studying the tropes and techniques political commentators use to influence the public as a performer is fascinating, Stevens says it was crucial to hold on to his "critical faculties" while listening to them.

"Some of these guys, Bannon included, are very well read. They can present their arguments very coherently. And there's a real persuasiveness to the way that they talk."

The full interview with Dan Stevens is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power, where he talks more about his role in Zero Day. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Dan Stevens produced by Catherine Stockhausen.