Tom Cullen thinks his new status as Downton Abbey's "dreamboat" is "ridiculous".
The handsome actor - who recently joined the ITV period drama as Lord Anthony Gillingham - thinks it is absurd he is being thought of as a hunk on the programme, and would prefer to be praised for his acting display.
He said: "That's ridiculous! Is that what I'm being called now? I guess that kind of thing is out of my hands.
"The only thing I can do is try and be as truthful and honourable to Julian Fellowes' amazing writing as possible. If people feel like that, they feel like that, but if they don't, I won't be too gutted about it."
Lord Gillingham has been described as a "mysterious" friend of the Crawley family, and the 28-year-old actor admits his character has a darker side which is set to be revealed when the hit show returns in September.
He added to Attitude magazine: "On the outside he's a very nice guy, but I think on the inside he's a little darker and has a lot of pain in him."
Tagged in Julian Fellowes