Hugh Dancy flew around the rink and slipped from one foot to the next on a black mat. The wind disturbed his hair, and as he speeded up, the houndstooth blazer pattern was blurred.
“I’m stopping it from becoming a problem,” Dancy said in a typical self-deprecation story as he passed by.
Resurrected star “Law and order” He plays a hard-working assistant district attorney, The latest “Downton Abbey” movie46-year-old Dancy was coming Rockefeller Center Link Pursuing entertainment that precedes his acting love: roller skating.
At his boarding school, Dragon School in Oxford, England, the boys spent half a year playing tennis and roller skating on the tennis court for the rest of the year. “There were some kids who were very good at it,” Dancy said. “And the rest of us.”
He mainly remembers that his brave classmate, “My 10-year-old fellow group Evel Knievel,” lay side by side when he jumped over them.
Mr. Dancy — charming, self-owned, and self-respecting — has rarely skated since then. But on a recent sunny Tuesday morning, he decided to try again. Primarily to see if his sons 9 and 3 years old should be taken on his future trip. (They live in Manhattan’s West Village district with actress Claire Danes, Dancy’s wife.)
He arrived at the skating rink before 10am, paid an admission fee of $ 20 (and $ 10 for skate rentals), and put an entry sticker on the blazer that also served as a liability exemption. In the locker room, he exchanged Adidas sneakers for a handsome pair of blue suede skates from Link and pulled the red shoelaces tight. He got up from the bench and took some exploratory steps.
“Not all of this is coming back,” he said with a slight stagger. Staggering a little more, he headed for the skating rink. “What an embarrassing procession,” he added.
Link employee Demis Maryannakis gave him some guidance as he passed by. “Armed,” he called. “Knees are bent!”
Dancy started skating and gradually increased his stride as he speeded up. Maryannakis stared in favor, shouting, “You are wonderful!”
Has anyone always been so kind to him? “They know I’m trying to hurt myself,” Dancy said.
Tourists saw him circling around Link, one of about eight skaters. Some took pictures of his cell phone, while others had a hard time arranging him. “He’s ridiculously handsome,” one woman wondered aloud. “Is he from’Gree’?” Another guessed the procedural “NCIS”. Make a mistake again.
Maryannakis didn’t work. “Forget his name altogether,” he said.
No one could identify Dancy, perhaps in tribute to his emotional changes and his somewhat eclectic career. With his floppy hair and gorgeous accents, he seemed destined for his outdated works and occasional romantic comedies. He made them.
Looking up from the 30 Rockefeller Plaza link, he remembered shooting a kissing scene from the 2009 comedy “Confessions of Shopping Addiction” on one of the terraces. However, he has also appeared in many contemporary dramas and occasional action films, usually including the American accent “Black Hawk Down.”
“I was able to work here with my own accent, but only on stage,” he said.
From 2013 to 2015, he starred as the FBI profiler in the NBC crime series “Hannibal”. The show-gorgeous, ridiculous, and violent-made his current job comforting, in contrast, with the “law and order” of orderly procedures. His turn as a filmmaker for the latest “Downton Abbey” movie also felt at ease.
“I was playing an increasingly dark character,” Dancy said. “So I was really very happy to be able to play someone who is basically not.”
That morning, Link’s pink lights turned his complexion rosy. As he skated past the glittering golden Prometheus statue in the sun, he crossed his legs behind and began to experiment with flashy footwork. Touching the end of the link caused an electric shock and I started skating. Blondie played on the speakers and then on the Prince.
“Prime skating music,” said Dancy.
Calmly, he evaluated his ability. “I’m a reasonably tuned 46 year old,” he said. “The adjustments I always expected were a bit innate, but I found them to be a bit more volatile than I had planned.”
Will he try to spin? “It’s unintentional,” he said, wiping his eyebrows. “This is exhausted.”
Employees at another link performed a more forgiving analysis. “He has the perfect idea,” said Daniel Carr, watching Dancy’s skates. “And he has a great balance and a great crossover. He bends his knees and concentrates.”
After that, Mr. Kerr offered the ultimate compliment. “You are a very fashionable skater,” he told Dancy. “The better you look, the better you feel.”
Dancy felt good. It was so good that he decided to return to the skating rink with the two boys in the second half of spring. He asked Mr. Kerr if Link offered a lesson, and was happy to know that it did. “I think this is a dress rehearsal,” Dancy said.
As he said, someone else’s kid passed him and skated at twice the pace of Mr. Dancy. He smiled cruelly, perhaps remembering his brave classmate. “My general experience with these things is shown by the children,” he said.