Author: JaniaJania

Money, It’s a Crime

Set to start filming in July, Damian Lewis’ next project, Billions, pits a US Attorney (played by Paul Giamatti) against a sketchy hedge fund manager (played by Damian Lewis). The role affords DL again a chance to play a character he seems born to play: the unconventional hero, on the wrong side of what is thought of as conventional good behavior.

Damianista posted extensively of the stellar cast as it was announced in March. So here’s what we have for Damian’s Bobby Axelrod: A wife and kids, another woman of interest, an attorney on his heels. And for Damian himself: creator and co-producer Brian Koppelman tweeting his standing ovation Damian’s last day on the set of the pilot, Showtime promptly picking up a full season of episodes, trust exercises on set where Damian clearly does not let co-screenwriter David Levien down. All of this speaks to Billions being a must-watch series when it airs early next year. We know that DL has always been a stickler for researching his roles. His turn as Bobby Axelrod is, of course, no exception. So shall we look at some research we’ve seen him doing for the role? Yes, we shall!

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Pongo Opener Finishes with an Impressive Half Century: Or, Damian Lewis Plays Cricket

Many actors have personal trainers and personal chefs keeping them in fit employable shape. Damian Lewis may have these advantages too for all we know. But more likely (and evidence confirms) that he maintains his footballer’s body by….playing football.

lewis-zidane
Damian Lewis and Zinedine Zidane 2010 Unicef Soccer Aid charity football match at Old Trafford; source: photobucket

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Anniversary of D-Day = Revisiting Band of Brothers

Damian Lewis Band of Brothers Dick Winters
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces entered German-occupied France from the sea and the air with a mission to secure a 50 mile stretch of the Normandy coast. They succeeded in connecting all five beachheads in 6 days, precipitating the liberation of France from a five year occupation, and eventually driving the Nazis out of mainland Europe. That beginning of the end of WWII was D-Day. The nerve-wracking horror as well as the incredible courage of the men parachuting down to enemy occupied land was captured in all its brilliant unbelievable glory in Band of Brothers. And leading those men was Dick Winters, played by Damian Lewis.

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JaniaJania’s Desert Island Discs

Taking a somewhat different approach to this Desert Island Disc challenge presented by my blog-mates. Conventionally, Desert Island Discs are those must-have pieces of music that would sustain you on a desert island. It’s music that you could listen to over and over again while you wait to be rescued. And it’s music that would give you hope that you would be rescued. But that music, for me, isn’t music that would necessarily be connected to Damian Lewis in my mind. So, rather than Desert Island Discs, my list is going to be a mixtape of music that reminds me of Damian Lewis specifically. It’s music that makes me think about characters he’s played and of him as a person too. As it turns out, it’s also music that I could listen to all the time. Some is sad, some is happy. Some is peaceful, some is angry. All the ways I like my art. This list is not just my personal list, but includes a lot of the best music ever made as determined by a lot of lists. One’s mind resists going anywhere less than the best when thinking of Damian Lewis.

So, let’s get to it: Continue reading “JaniaJania’s Desert Island Discs”

Charles Doughty-Wylie: Rogue Steeped in Romance


“Write to me there…while I am alone, let’s be alone.” – Charles Doughty-Wylie

Damian Lewis is set to hit limited big screens September 15, incarnated as Charles (Richard) Doughty-Wylie in Queen of the Desert. What can we expect or hope to see? As discussed in Georgina Howell’s book, Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations, the love affair between CDW and Gertrude Bell was lived largely on paper and pen. The two rarely spent time together, and when they did it was often in mixed company. Among that mixed company they would be the ones last at the table or next to the fire, still talking after the party had drifted off, still exchanging ideas and observations about the places in the Middle East they both had the privilege to travel and explore. Before GB started her diaries for Richard, which I spoke of in my last post, they had a rich correspondence. In these letters, they spoke to each other and about each other with a lavishly poetic vocabulary that leads to all kinds of imaginings on what we’ll see between Damian Lewis and Nicole Kidman enacting this couple on screen. Continue reading “Charles Doughty-Wylie: Rogue Steeped in Romance”