Kevin Doyle on saying goodbye to 'Downton Abbey' and his 'Happy' new role

Kevin Doyle wrapped his work on Downton Abbey on a Friday back in August 2015. By Monday, he was back on a set, this time in a different century, surrounded by new people and ready to take on a character that couldn't be more different from mild-mannered footman Mr. Molesley. But he was rather thankful for the jarring change of setting. 

"It was great, actually," he says, via phone. "For one thing it meant I wasn't moping around thinking about all my friends that I was missing because I was straight into something else. So that helped getting over Downton in a way." 

The role he took on was that of Det. John Wadsworth on the second season of the much-acclaimed UK crime series Happy Valley. The character is a departure from the role that recently won Doyle and the Downton cast a SAG award in almost every way. 

Without spoiling anything -- the show returned in February overseas but won't debut for American audiences until later this month when it hits Netflix -- let's just say that Molesley never had to deal with a scorned lover, dead bodies, or rohypnol-induced scandal. 

"That's what actors live for -- to jump from one world and one particular type of character to something comely different," he says. "It's kind of what makes acting the joy that it is because you experience all these different kinds of worlds and circumstances. It was great -- probably the happiest job I've ever done, despite the terrible things he has to go through." 

Molesley had his fair share of trials during Downton, of course, but as the show prepares to air its final episode in the U.S. on Sunday, the character is very much in one of the best places he's ever been. He's recently taken on a new teaching job and is excelling in the new position. A recent episode saw Molesley have a breakthrough in being able to reach his students, by telling them about his background in service. 

The storyline as a whole was one Doyle found "moving." Molesley, he says, was a man who'd lived with a lot of disappointments in his life -- as viewers previously learned, he was sort of forced into a life of service as a younger man after his mother died -- but the final season saw him rising above the thwarted ambitions and compromise of his past and moving forward. 

"He was someone who had clearly lived with a lot of disappointment in his life but ... he kind of found a light in his life again," he says. "So many people live with crushed hopes and compromised horizons and all that, so I found the whole storyline very moving, actually, because there must be so many people like that today, everywhere. People who for one reason or another have had to let their dreams go and forced to do something they don't necessarily enjoy doing and being able to have that light rekindled was such a beautiful thing." 

The series finale of Downton Abbey airs Sunday on PBS and Happy Valley Season 2 premieres on Netflix in the U.S. on March 16. 

"To go from one classy TV show to completely other very classy TV show ... it kinda made my year," Doyle adds. "This is quite rare, but hopefully that will continue." 

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