Dan Stevens appeared on this morning's TODAY show on NBC and apologized to fans for the shocking death of his character, Matthew Crawley during the final moments of the Downton Abbey Season 3 finale.
"A lot of people were quite upset by that," said Stevens. "I spend a lot of my time apologizing. Yeah, I get a lot of, 'My wife was very upset by this. You have to apologize to my wife!' Then they call them over. 'Katherine! Come over here. This is the young man that upset you.' 'Say sorry!' You have to apologize, in public ... a lot, almost every day."
While it was Stevens' decision to leave the wildly popular historical drama, he was not expecting the strong emotional response that his departure ignited among fans. "I suppose it was a surprise," he said. "It's a testament to how much people love the show, how much people love the character. In a way it was nice, but it has upset a lot of people, so I'm sorry."
The actor shared that he enjoyed watching the Season 4 premiere last Sunday night, along with U.S. audiences. "It was really wonderful to see everyone again," he said. "It was very emotional, very weird watching people dealing with my own death. It was strange."
Of his upcoming film, "Summer in February," which he shot while working on "Downton." "I had these two projects set in 1913 at the same time," he said, adding that he's "thrilled" that American audiences will get to see the romantic drama.
"Summer in February" hits select theaters Jan. 17 and is currently available on video-on-demand. "Downton Abbey" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on PBS.
Stevens recently appeared on Broadway in 'The Heiress' alongside Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain.
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