Downton Abbey: Who is Matthew Goode and who does he play in Downton Abbey?

Downton Abbey is coming to the big screen and fans are already excited to see some of their favourite stars returning to the house. Lady Mary Crawley is back, with her husband who swept her off her feet in the final series of the show. Here is everything we know about the actor who plays Henry Talbot, Matthew Goode.

Who is Matthew Goode and who does he play in Downton Abbey?

Matthew Goode, 41, is an English actor best known for his roles in A Single Man, Watchmen, The Imitation Game and, of course, Downton Abbey.

Viewers may remember him on the big screen from one of his early roles as Charles Ryder in the 2008 film of Brideshead Revisited, starring Emma Thompson, before his role in Watchmen as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias shot him into the Hollywood stratosphere.

After this, he portrayed Colin Firth’s lover, Jim, in A Single Man, before taking to rom-com as Declan in Leap Year, opposite Amy Adams.

He had a small role in Cemetery Junction and Park Chan-wook’s Stoker before he returned to period drama.

Matthew had a role in Amma Asante’s Belle (2013,) The Imitation Game, an Oscar-nominated biopic of Alan Turing starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and Allied, a war thriller starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

While he was performing in various movie parts he was also a staple of British television, with his first big role in the 2012 adaptation of Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.

He performed in Stephen Poliakoff’s Dancing on the Edge, and as Mr Wickham in Death Comes to Pemberley, opposite Dr Who’s Jenna Coleman.

He also had a role in The Good Wife before he went on to land his role in Downton Abbey, joining the cast from Series 5.

Since Downton Abbey, Matthew has appeared in the Discovery of Witches in the starring role, and in The Crown as Princess Margaret’s ill-fated husband Anthony Armstrong-Jones.

In Downton Abbey, Matthew plays Henry Talbot, who started guest appearing in the penultimate series.

Mary was first very cold to him but later warmed up, especially after seeing what a good shooter he is.

While Talbot believed Mary to be a war widow, he feels guilty when she reveals how Matthew Crawley actually died in a car accident – and Henry himself is a race car driver.

This becomes a real sticking point in their relationship, as Mary is too worried about his safety and struggled to allow herself to stay with him.

But after the Carson wedding, the pair reunite and eventually get married in the penultimate episode of the series.

In the finale of the series, Mary tells Henry she is pregnant with his child, so the pair seem to have a happy relationship going into the film, which is set two years after the final episode.

What is Downton Abbey about?

The film follows the Crawley family and their loyal band of servants as they prepare for the arrival of George V and Queen Mary, on a royal visit.

The story is based on a real-life royal visit the King and Queen made in 1912 to Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, where they ate decadent stately dinners and met miners and other working people in the local villages.

Downton Abbey is out in cinemas from September 13