Dan Stevens has been added to the star-studded cast of 'Pale Blue Dot'.

Dan Stevens

Dan Stevens

The 35-year-old actor is to appear alongside the likes of Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm and Zazie Beetz in the astronaut film, which will be directed by Noah Hawley.

The movie tells the story of an astronaut, played by Natalie, who returns to Earth after a mission before beginning an affair with a colleague.

However, the astronaut's life begins to unravel as she gradually loses touch with her family, which is the result of having spent so long in space.

Dan will play Natalie's on-screen husband, while Jon will play the other astronaut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie's script, which has been penned by Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi, was inspired by a true-life astronaut life triangle.

Dan first achieved international fame with his role in the British period drama 'Downton Abbey'.

The London-born star played the part of Matthew Crawley on the popular show, but Dan ultimately decided to try his luck in Hollywood, revealing he relished the "adventure".

Reflecting on his career transition in 2014, Dan - who has kids Willow, eight, Aubrey, five, and Eden, two - explained: "I wanted to do at least one reckless thing before my kids grew up. And my wife was very much behind it and we felt up for the adventure, really.

"So, yeah. And it has been an extraordinary couple of years, just getting to explore a range and trying a bunch of different things.

"And I genuinely don't know what will be next in terms of - again - I'm not going to sit you down and say, 'This is the kind of movie I want to do,' because I genuinely don't know what will be landing on my desk tomorrow."