Happy Anniversary to Damian Lewis & Helen McCrory!

I have been married for quite some time (20 years in two days!) and my husband and I don’t care much about wedding anniversaries… We somehow feel our wedding day is just the day we “legally” became a couple and what we do is take the day we started dating as THE DAY to celebrate 🙂

So… I am clueless about whether Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory are big on celebrating their wedding anniversary but one thing I know is that even if they are not celebrating, an entire nation is celebrating on behalf of them 🙂

Happy July 4th!

Happy Anniversary to Damian and Helen and we wish them many, many, many wonderful years together!

Helen is currently giving a critically raved performance in The Deep Blue Sea on stage at the National Theatre in London where as Damian is filming Billions Season 2 in NYC. The good news is Damian was spotted on a plane last week heading home. So… Enjoy your day, Damian and Helen!

We shared the story of how Damian proposed to Helen earlier here. It is a sweet story. The couple married on July 4th 2007 in front of friends and family at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office.

What about honeymoon? Helen McCrory’s words make it even lovelier than it is: “I did have a honeymoon. It lasted an evening. It was very short, but very lovely. We got married in the Kensington and Chelsea registry office, then walked down the King’s Road and had lunch in a nice restaurant around the corner with 11 people. A very romantic day.”

It’s very romantic and the way they kept it simple is very telling: absolutely my kind of people 🙂

The couple’s affection for each other is very obvious in their pics — they have that natural look that one is very comfortable in the other’s presence…

…but also in their ways to balance life…

Damian Lewis comments in an interview with Vogue: “As much as we may look like power-hungry, mad people, we are very committed, first and foremost, to living our life.”

Michael Attenborough, who directed them in Five Golden Rings, the play in which the couple met and fell in love with each other both on stage and off stage, says: “The key to the success of Damian and Helen’s partnership is laughter. And that, above all else, endures.”

And, it seems talking is part of the couple’s secret recipe as well…

Evening Standard reports in an interview with McCrory that the couple is a gregarious pair and even though they have two busy careers coupled with two young kids, they still enjoy socializing. Mc Crory says: “We just drink less and go home earlier… Their perfect night is going to theatre, the cinema and a meal, McCrory adds: “And we talk. Damian and I talk an awful lot.”

As a couple, they also have huge respect for each other’s careers — probably one of the, if not the most, important components of a successful two-career marriage.

Helen McCrory tells Evening Standard about their respect for each other when work is concerned: “‘I have a huge respect for Damian’s work that has nothing to do with me or our relationship. Meeting each other at work means it’s always been easy to maintain independence… we’re very respectful of each other in that way. I think that’s what’s allowed us to keep working. It’s the thing of every marriage, isn’t it? It’s the balance between wanting to be with someone but wanting them to fulfill themselves the best way they can and wanting to support them in that.” Damian Lewis takes it to the next level as he talks to Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs: “I fully expect to be the butler to her Dame one day.”

And when asked by Vogue if their careers soared after they found each other, the answer is priceless:

Damian Lewis: “It was actually a PR person’s idea that we got together. She’s a Scientologist and I’m a Mormon.”

Helen McCrory: “We’ve managed to create our own cult.”

But who is the boss at home? Damian tells Daily Mail: “You’ve met my wife. So I’m not going to bother to answer that!” 🙂

I LOVE THIS! Firstly, as a woman, I can’t help loving it when the woman is the boss at home regardless who the husband is (sorry, Damian!); and secondly, I find it incredibly sexy when a guy is comfortable with his wife being the boss!

Let’s close with a poem Damian read at Cheltenham Literature Festival that brought tears to my eyes then and brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. Not that it is the most romantic poem… it does not talk about love in every line, but it, in fact, talks about love, the endurance of it in every line — especially for a hopeless romantic like me 🙂 Cheers to Damian and Helen and to all couples out there that are in love!

Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

Hiya! JaniaJania here. Couldn’t resist adding my own bit of congratulations:

Happy Anniversary Damian and Helen! Let’s raise a glass and toast…to the way you look at each other, to the way you grab each other’s hands so tightly when confronted by the gauntlet of flashes, to the way you make each other laugh, chatting away patiently as you strive for perfection on a cold beach or on the middle of Waterloo Bridge while your pictures are being snapped, how these pictures make it seem like you’re in your own little world, playing the parts for us, giving so generously of yourselves, letting us consume you, while ever maintaining yourselves as so fully human with such grace and humility. May you share many more years of married life together!

Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history! View all posts by Damianista