Theo James Jokes About Dying After Deflowering Michelle Dockery's Lady Mary on Downton Abbey

Divergent star stops by Chelsea Lately and jokes about his "method" acting

By Zach Johnson Mar 19, 2014 11:35 AMTags

Years before he was cast as Four in the Divergent movie, Theo James had a brief but memorable role on PBS' Downton Abbey. The 29-year-old actor stopped by E!'s Chelsea Lately Tuesday, where he opened up about deflowering Michelle Dockery's Lady Mary during the show's first season in 2010.

"I first saw you on Downton Abbey and you had sex with Lady Mary and then you died," host Chelsea Handler told James, whose character, Kemal Pamuk, died of a heart attack in the throes of passion.

"We did that method style," James joked of his now sex scene with Dockery, which was inspired by true events. "Obviously not the death, but I said that I had to do it full-on and be there in the moment in the castle doing it full penetration." He added, "It's incredible sex for him to die midway through."

"Have you ever passed away during sex before?" Handler asked, smiling. "No," the Brit replied.

James starred in the short-lived CBS series Golden Boy before snagging a lead role in Divergent. Based on young the bestselling book trilogy, the first film hits theaters Friday. Early estimates put the movie on par with 2008's Twilight, meaning James and his co-stars are about to become incredibly famous.

Until the box offices results are in, however, James isn't worried about what his future holds. "I guess you have to think about it, but you never know what's gonna happen with the first one," he said.

"Yeah," the Uganda Be Kidding Me author agreed. "It could bomb or it could be really successful."

James added, "Never count the chickens."

Still, James' life will likely change overnight. Until now, James has gotten away with murder. "I was the youngest [of five kids] and everyone's done it and gone through it, so by the time I was doing s--t, my parents were like, 'Whatever, you can do whatever the f--k you want,'" he recalled.

Watch Chelsea Lately weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!

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