Meet Toby Stephens, late Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith's actor son
Maggie Smith with her younger son, fellow thespian Toby Stephens. Celebrity children Last year, the world lost Dame Maggie Smith and we're yet to recover from the heartbreak. But now, the storied actress' younger son, Toby, 55, whom she shared with her ex-husband, actor Sir Robert Stephens, is revealing more details about her final moments.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Toby expressed his regret about not being with his mother when she took her last breath at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, in September. 'The last two years of her life had been a decline: she would get worse, then she would get better, then she would get worse,' he recalled. 'So I said, 'Look, I've got this film,' and before I could even ask her, she said, 'Go do it. God, you don't want to hang round here, I'm fine.'' Maggie Smith celebrates winning her best-actress Oscar (for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) with husband Robert Stephens and friends in 1970. Photo: TNS The film was Taratoa Stappard's Marama , a Māori gothic horror movie set in the 1800s, reports Variety. But a day before the project wrapped, the beloved Harry Potter actress died. Her elder son, Chris Larkin, was by her side. 'I was so sad not to be with him, I found that very difficult,' Stephens told The Sunday Times.
Who is Toby Stephens, who gave up alcohol to turn his life around and who says he feels 'incredibly lucky'? Toby Stephens is an actor Toby Stephens as Poseidon in the 2023 Disney+ TV series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Photo: IMDb
Stephens' parents never pushed him towards acting. In fact, they questioned him about his motivation for wanting to work in the industry. Still, he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda), says the Daily Mail, graduating in 1991. Three years later he played the lead in a production of Coriolanus by the Royal Shakespeare Company. After breaking into the film industry he became the youngest Bond villain, starring as Gustav Graves opposite Pierce Brosnan's 007 in Die Another Day (2002). His extensive resume also includes a stint as Mr Rochester in the 2006 TV adaptation of Jane Eyre , the evil Prince John in 2009 BBC series Robin Hood and appearances in Netflix's One Day and Lost in Space . He was subjected to nepo baby allegations Toby Stephens as Damian Cray in Amazon TV series Alex Rider. Photo: IMDb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- South China Morning Post
As Studio Ghibli turns 40, fans worry about its future once Hayao Miyazaki retires
Japan's Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month with two Oscars and legions of fans young and old won over by its films' complex plots and hand-drawn animation. The studio behind the Oscar-winning Spirited Away has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fuelled recently by a second Academy Award in 2024 for The Boy and the Heron, with a voice cast including Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli films around the world. Play In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in its distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator – raising questions over copyright.
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
HBO's Harry Potter TV series producers cast Harry, Ron and Hermione roles
The spell has been cast, and so too have Harry, Ron and Hermione in HBO's new Harry Potter series. Dominic McLaughlin will sport the lightning bolt scar as the titular chosen wizard, while Arabella Stanton – who recently starred as Matilda in the West End's production of Matilda: The Musical – and Alastair Stout will round out the trio as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively, Variety magazine reports. 'The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together on-screen,' showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director-executive producer Mark Mylod said. 'We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned.' (From left) Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson in a still from the Harry Potter film series. They were the first to play the magical roles, across eight films from 2001 to 2011. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures Variety reports that over 30,000 hopefuls tossed their sorting hats in the ring since the autumn.
RTHK
14-05-2025
- RTHK
'Kramer vs Kramer' director Robert Benton dies aged 92
'Kramer vs Kramer' director Robert Benton dies aged 92 Benton was also known for the 1984 film "Places in the Heart". File photo: AFP Robert Benton, the Oscar-winning writer and director of "Kramer vs Kramer," has died in his US home, his representative said on Tuesday. He was 92. Benton was also known for the 1984 film "Places in the Heart" and had extensive writing and directing credits for influential movies throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The New York Times reported Benton died on Sunday. Hillary Bibicoff from the law firm Feig Finkel, which represented him, confirmed his death to AFP. Benton co-wrote Arthur Penn's groundbreaking crime thriller "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) -- starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty -- with David Newman. But he is probably best known for his script and direction on "Kramer vs Kramer," the 1979 film that offered an unflinching look at divorce and became one of the most awarded films of its time. It picked up nine Oscar nominations, and brought home five -- Benton's Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep and the year's grand prize of Best Picture. He and Newman co-wrote Peter Bogdanovich's "What's Up, Doc?," which was released in 1972, the same year that Benton made his directorial debut with "Bad Company." In 1978, Benton teamed up again with Newman and Newman's wife Leslie to write the screenplay for "Superman" (1978) starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando and Margot Kidder. Despite coaxing Oscar-winning performances out of a host of 20th century legends of the silver screen, Benton was known in Hollywood as a self-effacing director. "There are directors who can get great performances out of actors. I am not one of them," the filmmaker once said. Appearing at a fan event in Hollywood in 2018, he remained modest about his stellar career. "I have found actors -- through luck, through the judgment of casting directors or through my own instinct -- that are extraordinarily good," he told the crowd. "There's a thing you've just got to gamble with, and when you see it and it works, it's brilliant." Asked how he got some of Tinseltown's biggest stars to perform for him, he deadpanned: "I tried not to get in their way... that's not so easy." The Times reported Benton is survived by his son, John. His wife of six decades, Sallie, died in 2023. (AFP)
