It is often said that life imitates art and, in the happiest of ways, the maxim has proved true for the latest addition to Downton Abbey.
Matt Barber plays the dashing young aristocrat Atticus Aldridge who in Sunday's episode will marry Lady Rose after a whirlwind romance.
Now Mr Barber has told The Telegraph how he is preparing for his own marriage after proposing to Cecelia De Lisle, a 28-year-old singer-songwriter.
"I asked Cecelia to marry me just before I got engaged onscreen," said Mr Barber, 31.
"We met through friends last year and nine months later I got down on one knee. It became very, very obvious that she was the girl for me very, very quickly, and it was amazing to see that aspect of my personal life at that point paralleled in the show.
"It's amazing to have that experience of falling in love in the first place, let alone at the same time as being in that position in an acting role. It meant it was a completely different thing when I proposed to Rose.
"Until I'd done it [proposed] myself, I'd never figured how utterly terrifying it is. I knew one million per cent that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Cecilia, but asking someone to marry you is so exposing and so terrifying.
"It's a very scary moment and I think if I hadn't had that experience, I would have been much more blaze acting it.
"I hunted out an Edwardian engagement ring for Cecilia, too, which is fitting, although not quite the right time period.
"Don't worry - it's not a prop from Downton."
Born in Hammersmith, London, Mr Barber grew up with his older sister Abi Barber in Farringdon, Hants, and sang as a chorister at nearby Winchester Cathedral.
Mr Barber, whose parents Peter Barber, a retired solicitor, and Susan Bailey, a law lecturer, split up when he was 14, was head boy at the prestigious Bradfield College, Berks.
He played a starring role in Bradfield's renowned Greek play before going onto study Classics and Philosophy at the University of Durham.
In Downton, his character's wedding to Lady Rose is controversial as Atticus is from a Ukrainian Jewish family who fled pogroms in Odessa. Tensions between his and his fiancee's relatives looked set to boil over ahead of their multi-faith nuptials.
Mr Barber said exploring this aspect and anti-Semitic feeling at the time was "fascinating".
He said: "I feel that a lot of it comes down to her reaction originally when it's disclosed to her that he is a Jew.
"Atticus has had to deal with so much marginalisation all his life, as Jews did at that time, and has grown to expect that.
"Then he feels an immediate spark with a beautiful girl and it does not even bother her - it's an incredibly modern and wonderful thing.
"I think that's the strongest thing about their relationship. Atticus's father is a strong, tough character, but god knows what he has gone through to fight to get his family to the position they are in at that time in the world.
"So Atticus is in a new world trying to be more welcoming to everybody, and Rose is wonderfully welcoming and understanding, but there's that expectation that their union is going to generate conflict.
"I've had a very lovely upbringing and it's been an interesting avenue to explore Atticus' character and what it would be like to always be ready for everyone to have it in for you.
"I'm not suggesting Jewish or ethnic groups feel that now, but the way the characters are written and portrayed at that time is as outsiders trying to work their way in, with every step being seen as a huge gain.
"It was fascinating to look at because I've never experienced anything like that."
Online spoilers of the show reveal a scene of Atticus in his dressing gown with a strange woman in a hotel room on his 'stag do'.
And although Mr Barber refused to let slip details of the storyline, the pre-wedding bash also has mirrors in real-life.
Series bosses grew desperate as they tried to find suitable young men to play the stags - so Mr Barber called upon his friends to step in.
He said: "The extras from the stag do are my real life friends. We were having difficulty finding men that looked the right age, essentially, with the right kind of hair, so I offered to give a shout to a load of my mates who all work in banks and law firms so have very conservative haircuts.
"Everyone jumped at the chance to be involved, so half of the stag do cast are my real life friends and one is my actual best man."
So will it be happily ever after tonight?
"I cannot comment on that," said Mr Barber.
"It's going to be the best thing anyone could see on television tonight, and anyone who doesn't watch it is an idiot."
The young lovers appear in the Christmas special and are set to be in season six, but Mr Barber is tight-lipped about what lies in store.
He said: "I will stay in Downton as long as they want me in it.
"It's a hugely important piece of British drama, the Brideshead Revisited of our generation and to be involved with that is such a privilege.
"It's set in a wonderful time period, I'm really blessed with the character I have to play and I would love to explore what he goes through especially as the show moves towards World War Two.
"From someone who comes from a really lovely, slightly rose tinted background, I would love to have a play around with what Atticus might go through next.
"It's a fascinating prospect to get to look at the period around World War Two, and if the opportunity to do so's there I'd take it. How is someone that fortunate going to deal with what people like him had to deal with in the war? I don't know if it gets better than that for an actor."
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