Theo James on His Downton Abbey Debut: 'I Played A Turkish Guy Who Corks It Mid-Coitus.'

Kemal Pamuk sneaks into Lady Mary's bedroom, coercively seduces her, and dies of a heart attack mid-act in season 1, one of Downton Abbey's most infamous early scenes and one of Theo James's first jobs. He brought it up on a press round for The Gentlemen season 2, after an interviewer told him she'd didn't know he'd been on the show. 'Yes, you did,' he teased as she insisted she'd never heard about it. A scene from Downton Abbey, the period drama where Theo James made one of his earliest acting appearances. Credit: Downton Abbey. The connection came back around because Hugh Bonneville, who played Robert Crawley on Downton, now co-stars with James in The Gentlemen. 'I have met Hugh before, but I really didn't know him at all,' James said. 'So, it was nice to actually know that he was a nice guy and not a d*ckhead, and he's a lovely bloke.' He also praised Bonneville's Downton performance, saying he 'plays it very foppishly' in a way that lands. Christopher Raphael/Netflix Thanks for spending time with Thought Catalog. Connect with us on Facebook and browse the rest of our website.