On Downton Abbey (PBS, Sundays, 9 P.M.) Robert James-Collier, 37, plays scheming butler Thomas Barrow. Here, he has nothing to hide, revealing to Us Weekly 25 things you might not have known about him.
1. I’ve been knocked over by a car. Twice.
2. I’m potentially invincible (refer to No. 1).
3. I love big sharks. I’ve cage-dived with great whites in South Africa.
4. My favorite movie is Jaws.
5. I try to read one classic book a month. In keeping with the aquatic theme, I’m now on Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.
6. I lose roughly three umbrellas a year. The average U.K. male lives to age 79. That’s 126 umbrellas from this point on.
7. In April, I’m running the 2014 London Marathon for charity. Find out more at EvilButler.com.
8. My feet hurt (refer to No. 7).
9. I have tight hamstrings (refer to No. 7).
10. I use parentheses far too much during discourse (refer to this entire column).
11. I stood on Dame Maggie Smith‘s toe while waltzing with her. Never stand on a dame’s toe. It can be taken as an attack on the monarchy.
12. I love organic English cider.
13. I’m not a morning person.
14. My first role was “the donkey” in my nursery school Nativity play.
15. My top TV drama is The Sopranos. Rest in peace, James Gandolfini.
16. I drink six cups of English breakfast tea a day.
17. I’ve lost my virginity.
18. I love anything old: books, buildings, people…
19. If I were a superhero, I’d be Captain Lethargic (ask my girlfriend).
20. I can’t drive (ask my girlfriend).
21. I’m useless at DIY (ask my girlfriend).
22. My girlfriend wears the trousers in our relationship (ask my girlfriend).
23. My first crush was Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles. Fact.
24. I’m a New York Knicks fan.
25. I’ve sat in the White House’s Situation Room. That’s how I roll. Fortunately, there wasn’t a “situation.”
