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Dan Stevens\u2018 career arc after his turn on Downton Abbey<\/em> as the awkward, romantic, and ultimately doomed Matthew Crawley has been surprising. Clearly, he wanted to avoid being pigeonholed into any one type of character\u2014although what has<\/em> emerged is a performer who dearly loves challenging himself with genre projects.<\/p>\n His latest is playing a deeply troubled man who\u2019s plunged into terrifying circumstances in AMC and Shudder\u2019s Ridley Scott-produced anthology series, The Terror: Devil in Silver<\/em>. Before that, he was a maniac with Terminator-like determination in Adam Wingard\u2019s The Guest<\/em>, Beast in Disney\u2019s live-action Beauty and the Beast<\/em>, a former missionary on an anti-cult quest in Gareth Evans\u2019 The Apostle<\/em>, an over-the-top Russian pop star in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga<\/em>, a German-speaking humanoid robot in I\u2019m Your Man<\/em>, a scene-stealing veterinarian in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire<\/em> (reuniting him with Wingard), and a crook-turned-vampire-prey in Abigail<\/em>.<\/p>\n Those are just some<\/em> of Stevens\u2019 big-screen performances in recent years\u2014we didn\u2019t even mention his TV triumphs in Legion<\/em>, Solar Opposites<\/em>, and many more. Devil in Silver<\/em>, based on the book by Victor LaValle, looks to be another addition to Stevens\u2019 list of strange and unusual projects; it focuses on a man confined to a psychiatric hospital, where he faces frights that spring from his mental health issues (and the dubious treatment he receives), as well as a possible supernatural threat.<\/p>\n In a new interview with Variety, Stevens spoke about his new series, calling it more than just a \u201cstraight up horror show with a monster\u201d since it has \u201ca social critique going on underneath.\u201d He also talked about what attracts him to the genre sphere.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the genre space because it affords a great deal of creativity and playfulness,\u201d Stevens told the trade. \u201cWhat interests me within that space is the opportunity to, in parallel, have a conversation about something that needs a different lens on it \u2026 we need to shed some light on it. We need to throw the conversation into a different paradigm in order to look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued. \u201cAnother thing I enjoy about genre is the dialogue within the genre itself. There\u2019s a push for originality by definition. Filmmakers within the space are in dialogue with each other: like, \u2018You did your zombie movie, your shark movie, your whatever it is movie like this, I\u2019m going to do it like this.\u2019 There is a very strict set of rules, but it\u2019s like, which ones are you going to break this time in order to surprise people?,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that excites me about about genre. We want to be constantly showing you things that you haven\u2019t seen before and championing that originality. Genre really invites that. Audiences are learning that. And ultimately, distributors, networks will follow. They have to.\u201d<\/p>\n The Terror: Devil in Silver<\/em> premieres May 7 on AMC+ and Shudder.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n