Elvis Presley would have been 80 today. I thought it would be a lot of FUN to celebrate the King’s birthday here and give Elvis a cool birthday present from one of his big fans!
That fan is Damian Lewis 🙂
Damian was Kirsty Young’s Castaway on Desert Island Discs back in November: “Up until I was about the age of 18, I thought, I was Elvis, returned, and spent a lot of my time putting shaving foam, oddly, through my hair and relentlessly coiffing my quiff, and any opportunity getting into my skinny pair of black jeans and my winklepickers and my paisley shirt from Kensington market, and this is Elvis.” (You can hear the entire podcast here and Elvis bit is at 04:34). Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Elvis!”
One of the most highly anticipated projects that Damian Lewis will take on this year is the new Showtime drama series Billions. Brian Koppelman, David Levien and New York Times’ columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin are writing the script and executive producing. Now, stop everything, have you ever listened to Brian Koppelman’s “The Moment” podcasts? They are brilliant and available on iTunes. Very highly recommended.
Now, back to Damian Lewis… When I had the chance to have a quick chat with him back in October, he said most of his projects were still in America, and I honestly could not figure out what he was saying. It was a revelation when the news came out late October that he was returning to Showtime with a pilot for the new drama series Billions. Continue reading “On the Horizon: Damian Lewis makes Billions in New York!”
Sharmila Collins started Sohana Research Fund to raise awareness and funds that would help her daughter Sohana, but also other children living with the painful skin condition Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB). These children are fragile to an extent that they are sometimes called the “butterfly children.”
It’s official! Wolf Hall is coming to BBC2 on January 21 and to PBS Masterpiece Theater on April 5.
source: farfarawaysite.com
I just cannot wait.
As a huge Damian Lewis fan, I am, of course, looking forward to seeing all his upcoming projects… But Wolf Hall is very special for me. Tell me, what are the odds that your most favorite actor plays your most favorite historical monster in a mini-series that is based on your most favorite book? Continue reading “It’s time… to get in the mood for Wolf Hall!”
It wasn’t love at first sight. Damian Lewis grew on me 🙂
I vividly remember the evening we met. I was in my living room. He was on TV. I was watching the Primetime Emmy Awards and rooting for Jon Hamm (Don Draper, anyone?) to win the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Me: “Come on, Jon, come on!”
Julianna Marguiles: “…and the Emmy goes to… Damian Lewis!”
Me: “Who the hell is Damian Lewis?”
Damian Lewis comes to stage, receives his award and makes a fun speech… We find out he’s, in his own words, “one of those pesky Brits.”
Of course, by the end of the night, Homeland swept all the awards, and we now knew that it was a new Showtime series that had been making a lot of buzz that fall. They were even filming in Charlotte, North Carolina, two and a half hours from our house. It was our local TV show for God’s sake! And, you know what, I never made it to the set. Yes, shoot me!
We love good TV, but we are busy people so usually watch the shows once they are “approved” with awards. So, we thought, it was now time to watch Homeland. And we did. THREE TIMES. Ok, ok, my husband watched two times only.
I believe it was the fifth episode of Homeland Season 2 “Q&A” —the episode that won the best writing award in the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013 — that sealed the deal. I never saw any actor that could do so much with his facial expressions. My jaw dropped. WOW. Just WOW. This guy was just so incredible. FANTASTIC.
Let me put it in a Carrie line from that episode: “That’s the Brody I fell in love with.”
BUT there was a little problem. Kevin. Oh no, Kevin is not my husband. Kevin is Kevin Costner, MY huge screen crush of 20+ years. Believe me, if you ask me to describe myself with one adjective, I’d say “loyal.” I am LOYAL. I have always been loyal to my family, my friends, my teams, my TV shows, and in particular my screen crushes. I have always been monogamous in that sense. So, there came the agony. I thought this over and over and over… and finally decided to do the ultimate test!
The test was to sit down and watch the Bodyguard! I LOVED that movie in college, watched it 8 times in the movie theater, and many many many more times on VHS and then on DVD over the years. Yes, I know, it’s not a great movie, but it was MY movie. So, I sat down and watched the Bodyguard. And… Oh my God, I did not feel anything… I did not feel anything even when Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston’s character) ran to Frank Farmer’s (Kevin Costner’s character) arms at the end…
source: pinterest
I now had to admit it to myself. It was OVER.Â
The agony ended on a cold January night when I made my confession at home.
Me: “Ok. I am coming out of the closet. I am so over with Kevin. Damian Lewis is my new screen crush.”
My husband: “Wow, I never thought this day would come. “
He still calls Kevin “your ex.”
Then, of course, there were all those friends of mine that had bore with me about Kevin Costner all those years — especially the ones that I dragged to the movie theater with me to see those long Kevin Costner movies (the guy never made movies under 2 and a half hours!) that I had to come out to. So, the day after my birthday in January, I made the following announcement on Facebook. Seriously!
SCREEN CRUSH ALERT
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As I am a year older today and not wiser in any way, I feel the urge to acknowledge the end of an era, an important one, in my life… Well, after some careful self-deliberation, I’ve finally come to resolve my stormy celebrity crush life. It’s now time to make it official for all interested parties!
Dear Kevin, Costner that is, it’s been a great ride for the last 20+ years since Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and of course, the Bodyguard. But last time I checked you were playing Superman’s dad… it’s a bit too much… and not just that… you know, that red-haired Brit came along so unexpectedly and turned things upside down. I’m really sorry but it’s over between us.
—
My friends were truly stunned. Their comments varied from “I never thought this would happen” (ANSWER: Me, either!) to “I am claiming Kevin Costner now that you are releasing him” (ANSWER: He’s all your, hon!) to “Wow, congratulations, Damian!” (ANSWER: Yes, I’m sure, he’s so proud :D) to “Man, these two awfully look alike, Damian can play Kevin’s son.” (ANSWER: Really? But I now feel bad for Kevin, let’s make him the older brother.)
And, the rest is history! Here I am, a huge fan and sort of a walking Damian Lewis encyclopedia 🙂 And, cheers to many, many years of that!
