Every Freaky Lil’ Weirdo Played By Cuckoo Actor Dan Stevens, Ranked

Ahead of the release of “Cuckoo,” I asked Dan Stevens in an interview where his character, Herr König, ranked in his roster of “freaky lil’ weirdos.” Instead of being a terrible parent and admitting which child is the gold star, he took the more diplomatic route. “I mean, I love all my weird little freaks equally,” he says. “I couldn’t possibly put them in order, but he’s definitely up there in terms of how fun they were to play, largely because of the environment that was created.” I can’t argue with the answer and I respect his refusal to play favorites, but I am not Dan Stevens, and therefore, I have no qualms about highlighting all of my favorite weird performances of his, and ranking them so as to appease the almighty algorithm that requires such things. This is by no means a definitive list, but 10 of his absolute finest. 

Get in losers, we’re talking about why Dan Stevens rocks and providing plenty of watch recommendations along the way.

The third and final live-action installment in the “Night at the Museum” film franchise saw Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot, an exhibit in the British Museum who genuinely believes he is the real Sir Lancelot in search of the Holy Grail for King Arthur and not just a wax statue. This gave him the space to play a heightened version of a Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story” character, and much of the comedy is rooted in his refusal to accept reality. At one point he winds up at a theater doing a production of “Camelot,” and treats actors Hugh Jackman and Alice Eve as if they’re the real King Arthur and Guinevere. He’s the film’s de-facto antagonist because he obtains the Tablet of Ahkmenrah (which allows the museum to come to life) thinking it to be the Holy Grail, but there’s nothing malicious about him … he’s just being a himbo in knight’s armor.

After comedian and animator Justin Roiland was ousted over allegations of misconduct, it was revealed that the controversial cartoonist had reportedly believed that putting himself in lead voice roles on his shows would guarantee job security regardless of his behavior. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Ian Cardon and Harry Belden now provide the voices of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith on “Rick and Morty,” both emulating the standard Roiland set for the characters. But that left the question of what to do on “Solar Opposites,” where the character Korvo’s voice was more or less an exaggeration of Justin Roiland’s speaking voice. They could have easily cast another voice imitator (or just gave Ian Cardon another job), but the show made a more creative choice and simply recast Korvo with Dan Stevens, who sounds absolutely nothing like Justin Roiland. The show explained the change in universe with a “voice fixing ray” after Korvo was stabbed in the throat with a dart. During his first official monologue with the new voice actor, Korvo narrates, “This is what my voice sounds like now, I don’t care if it’s jarring. Get over it.” And get over it everyone did. Now the crankiest alien on earth sounds like Dan Stevens, and the show (and humanity) is better for it.

Before you Disney Adults come at me for calling Beast/Prince Adam a freaky lil’ weirdo, I need you to take a second and really think about the argument you can make against calling a cursed chimera with a house full of singing objects and a penchant for holding a woman prisoner in exchange for their father a freak and/or weirdo. Sure, a generation of millennials wore out their clamshell VHS copies of “Beauty and the Beast” only to grow up and have some very strange feelings about a hairy, beefy prince with horns and a British accent, but Beast also challenged the cartoon fox Robin Hood as patient zero for a generation of furries. For the record, there’s nothing inherently wrong about furries, but furries are one of my favorite brand of Fellow Freaks™ and I have heard many a furry wax poetic about how much they love Stevens’ interpretation of Beast. Removed from the ManBearLionGoat of it all, he’s also a loner who lives in a castle all by himself to brood like Batman with an army of Alfreds purchased from HomeGoods. Buddy, just own your new look and be like, “Hello townspeople, I was cursed and now look like this, but we should still be pals. Please don’t sing a song about me.” Problem solved!

Also if you’ve never seen what Stevens looked like on the “Beauty and the Beast” set before the CGI … I highly recommend you click on that link as soon as you finish this list.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” is a stellar horror anthology series featuring some of horror’s most interesting voices, including Ana Lily Amirpour (“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” “The Bad Batch”) with her episode “The Outside.” The story centers on a woman named Stacey (Kate Micucci), an awkward, self-conscious woman who wishes she was more like her beautiful coworkers. A coworker gifts her a skincare lotion called Alo Glo as part of a Secret Santa exchange, an all-powerful cream that promises to change your body, mind, and soul. In one of Dan Stevens’ smallest parts on this list, he plays an infomercial salesman known as the “Alo Glo Man,” who looks like the handsome version of Uncle Baby Billy Freeman from “The Righteous Gemstones.” With his white hair, white suit, white teeth, and ability to break beyond the confines of the television set and speak directly to Stacey as she watches him on TV, the Alo Glo Man is a handsome harbinger of doom and a character that could have only been played by Dan Stevens.

I’ve been extremely vocal about how much I loved this year’s “Abigail,” which features Dan Stevens as the leader of a gang of criminals named Frank. As serious as Frank appeared to be throughout the mission to kidnap and hold a little girl hostage (who turned out to be a ballerina vampire), he was the source of some of the film’s most hilarious moments. Whenever he had the chance to share the screen with Kathryn Newton’s Sammy, “Abigail” struck gold. Honestly, the delivery of “Sammy, those are f***ing onions” when she brings a bag of onions instead of garlic to ward off the pint-sized bloodsucker is at the top of the list for best line delivery of the year. Frank isn’t all that weird (except for how casually calm he is about kidnapping a child), but he is absolutely a freak who would willingly become a vampire if it meant he could have immortality and power … because that’s exactly what he tried to do. If any other actor attempted to play the character, he wouldn’t have been nearly as fun to watch all the way through to the end. That’s the magic of Dan Stevens, baby!

Okay, so in the case of Stevens’ David Holler/Legion on the Marvel Television series “Legion,” calling him a freak and/or weirdo is pretty damn problematic, as David Haller, the mutant son of Charles Xavier who would become known as Legion, was severely mentally ill. Not only is “Legion” one of the (if not the) best of the Marvel superhero shows (don’t @ me), but because Haller was constantly fluctuating between his different personalities, it gave Stevens a playground of characters to play. Hell, season 2 even included a legitimate Dance Battle against Aubrey Plaza! We at /Film (especially our treasured Hannah Shaw-Williams) are also a big fan of the time David met his own rational mind, which we know is his rational mind because he has Stevens’ British accent. Instead of calling David/Legion a freak or a weirdo, I’m including him here to acknowledge that this was a training ground for all of Stevens’ colorful characters still to come.

No one has had more fun on screen in 2024 than Dan Stevens, and his over-the-top freaky lil’ weirdo named Travis “Trapper” Beasley in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” set the stage for it all. Instead of existing solely as a source of comedic relief, Trapper is an amalgamation of a bleeding-heart animal lover, a go-with-the-flow hippie type, and an extremely curious adventurer. He’s a bit of a charming manchild, but one the audience doesn’t hate because there’s a genuine positive spirit surrounding his antics. It makes sense considering Stevens said he pulled inspiration from Bear Grylls, Dr. Doolittle, and Ace Ventura. The latter most definitely seems to be a source of fashion inspo, as Trapper loves to wear flashy Hawaiian shirts like the Pet Detective. The latest “Godzilla/Kong” movies from director Adam Wingard (more on him in a bit) have brought so much fun to the franchise, and Trapper is the perfect human reflection of said merriment. There’s no telling what the future of the MonsterVerse holds, but if there’s any justice in the world, we’ll get more Trapper.

Instead of a description, I have included a supercut video of Dan Stevens’ best moments as Alexander Lemtov from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.” He’s a lion lover and he hunts for love. Thank me later.

Of the three freaky lil’ weirdos Dan Stevens has played in 2024, his “Cuckoo” character Herr König is undoubtedly the freakiest and weirdest. Not only is he starring as the main antagonist in one of the best horror films of the year, but he’s doing it while having a delightfully weird energy, an obsession with cuckoo birds, and playing a wooden flute like he’s Willy Wonka beckoning Oompa Loompas in the chocolate factory. The man chews the scenery in this one like a baseball player with a wad of gum and revels in the bonkers circumstances of all of the characters. Everyone in the movie seems completely charmed by his eccentric behavior, except for Hunter Schafer’s Gretchen, which only makes it better. He acts weirder and weirder and Gretchen serves as the voice for the audience by rightfully calling it out for what it is. As silly as he often appears to be, there’s something quietly menacing about him that always keeps him in the realm of “this dude is scary as hell.” It’s another testament to the transformative power of Dan Stevens and has given him one of his very best characters.

Yeah, sorry, there was no way anyone else was topping this list other than David Collins in Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s “The Guest.” Every freaky little weirdo in Stevens’ Rogue’s Gallery of Characters is in direct conversation with David, and it was this performance that made him the prodigal son of genre films. When the film arrived in 2014, Stevens was known by most for his starring role on “Downton Abbey” (or Joey Van Helsing in Amy Heckerling’s “Vamps,” for the 12 of us out there who saw and loved that), a British period drama that is decidedly not the sort of bonkers genre fare he has now made his own.

David Collins is essentially what we’d get if a Terminator wasn’t a robot but instead, an all-American boy next door. Stevens commands every last second on screen, whether he’s throwing Fireball cocktails (cinnamon whiskey and Tabasco) in the eyes of high school bullies or blowing up buildings. Hell, this character is so beloved, Frank’s real name in “Abigail” is “Adam Barrett,” a nod to the team that first put Stevens on horror fans’ radars with this flick.

The truth is that he could absolutely have a career playing leading men in romance dramas until the sun burns out if he wanted to because he’s got the look and charm that makes Hollywood studios weak in the knees. But he is and has always been a capital-A Actor, and he goes where the most interesting roles take him. Fortunately, that means he stars in edgy, intriguing, and yes, freaky movies — because these are the types of stories that often offer the most complex character work. As far as I’m concerned, Dan Stevens should be classified in the same category as legends like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff for his tireless dedication to keeping horror weird and bewitching.

Check out our discussion of “Cuckoo” and my full interview with director Tilman Singer and co-stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast: