Hello everyone!
Fan Fun with Damian Lewis is six years old today!
Here we are, a bunch of inspired fans, 2192 days, 1127 blog posts and over 2.34 million views from 224 countries later… absolutely thrilled and totally beaming about how far we have come!
Time flies.
I vividly remember the conversation I had with Lewisto as I was pondering, in the last weeks of 2014, whether it would be worth keeping an online fan diary about Damian Lewis. Being the rational guy that he is, Lewisto suggested I run with this only if I thought I could commit for at least two years so it would be worth the effort.
2 years?
We have just tripled that! 😀 😀 😀
Six years may not be a long time in one’s life (still long enough to finish a PhD!) but it is definitely so in a blog’s life – especially if it is maintained and updated on a daily basis. I take pride in not missing a day on the blog even when I was under the weather (rarely), on vacation (sometimes), or buried under work (always). The blog has certainly been my sanctuary during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its constant presence provided a purpose as well as a big hand in coping with isolation. And, for this, I am grateful.
Now, please bear with me as I reflect on the last six years, get emotional about this anniversary, and give thanks to all the people that made Fan Fun with Damian Lewis a success story. And, oh yes, I will brag about it, too! 😀 OMG we had over 600K visitors in 2020! This means, we received, on average, 1,647 daily visitors on the blog! This is simply amazing for a blog that focuses on a single actor and his work. WE DID IT!
I remember it felt just right when I made the first ever post here six years ago. I somehow knew I would have fun doing this and meet like-minded fans along the way to team up with. What I did not know was we would have the BEST TEAM one could ever hope for! We absolutely have the best chemistry ever as partners in crime and you cannot imagine how many blog posts come out of our casual conversations. I will liberally steal a quote from Damian to describe my partners because I would not be able to say it better: “Everyone is smart, witty, and a little bit better than the last person.” 🙂 Thank you, team! I love you all to the moon and back.
Lewisto, my number one guy and our Fan Fun tech guy, who has been supporting the blog since its inception, deserves special thanks! I would never ever have started a blog should he have not encouraged me. I will never forget him saying:
“Some people love golf. You love Damian Lewis. What’s the difference?”
Right?!?!
And have I ever told you Lewisto named the blog, too? He said:
“You are a big fan and you will be doing this for fun so why not call it Fan Fun with Damian Lewis?”
And I ran with it.
Lewisto, you are absolutely the best thing that ever happened to me. THANK YOU for playing ball with me, even in my craziest endeavors like Fan Fun, making everything in life better, funnier and happier!
Damian once shared with me and JaniaJania that one of the things he really liked about the blog was that we gave a platform to anyone who wanted to contribute. This is in fact the Fan Fun motto – the more the merrier! And huge thanks go to our occasional contributors Kim and Vicky and this year’s guest writers Jane, Kerr Avon and Tonya! We hope they keep writing while inspiring other fans to contribute to Fan Fun.
This anniversary is obviously a great opportunity to thank YOU, our readers – some of whom have become dear friends – for the overwhelming love and support over the years! As we have collectively shared Damian Lewis FUN, you have made our dreams come true. Here is a BIG thank you to each and every one of you for following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, reading us, giving us feedback, and spreading the word.
Some of the most popular posts we have on Fan Fun are Billions dining guides that I put together starting in Season 1 – so much so that we got links from Food Network and Forbes Magazine. I particularly love what Forbes says:
“There are posts on actor Damian Lewis’s official website, that diligently track, with screenshots, all the food locations featured in every season. These posts even manage to name-check the take-out Chinese in one scene as the beloved eatery Wo-Hop.”
Well, I am a forensic fan, you know! 🙂
Yet, I never dreamed of turning these guides into a full blown book until I got an email from Skyhorse Publishing asking if I would consider writing a book about the restaurants featured on the show… Well, two years – many drafts, countless texts and emails, numerous lunches and dinners some of which took place at Billions restaurants, more than quite a few drinks, and a lot of brainstorming – later, here we are.
If everything goes according to the current production plan, Appetite for Power Guide to Eating, Drinking and Dealmaking in NYC: A Billions Guide will be out in parallel with the rest of Billions Season 5. You can check the book out and pre-order a copy on the publisher’s website, Amazon or Barnes & Nobles. And in case you are interested in the extraordinary journey I had as I wrote a book about my favorite TV show here it is.
Bottomline: These six years have brought so much love and laughter into my life thanks to my fellow bloggers and our wonderful readers! And I cannot thank Damian enough for his kindness, trust and generosity towards us. I do not know much about other fandoms but I do not think actors typically introduce the fans who manage their fan sites / blogs to their agent, PR person and their personal assistants, invite them backstage after their stage performance, make a “thank you” video for them…
or treat them like a friend on a film set…
Damian has done all of this and more… It was mid-March or so that I received an email from a fact-checker at GQ magazine. The magazine was doing a profile on Damian Lewis. Damian said in his interview that the woman who managed his fan site was a university professor and the folks at GQ wanted to confirm it with me before they published the article. I guess it is not very often that professors run fan sites 🙂 But this professor certainly does and is absolutely delighted that Damian calls her “lovely” and “smart” in the interview 😀
“As with any actor, over the years Lewis’s public celebrity has gone through the inevitable cycles. But throughout it all, he has inspired an unusually committed fan ecosystem. His semiofficial fan-run website has a constantly updated collection of news stories about him, featuring a nearly 14-year archive of over 600 pages—more than 3,000 stories in all (they obviously talk about damian-lewis.com here). And while that site—which, Lewis observes, is run by “a lovely, smart woman who is a professor of game theory at Duke University”—has a generally sober and respectful tone, there are other offshoots of online appreciation that are a little more breathless.”
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying Damian is my friend or that I know him very well. But I know him well enough to say that he is a true gentleman. And it is a pleasure to turn the inspiration he constantly provides into words on Fan Fun! So we will keep doing it! And it will be quite easy since we have so much exciting stuff to look forward to in 2021!
This year will bring Damian to us on the big screen in Dream Horse which was originally scheduled to open at movie theaters in spring 2020 but had to be delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
While there has been no formal announcement yet, we expect Billions to resume filming in New York as soon as it is safe to film in the city. This has been confirmed by Brian Koppelman on Twitter.
If everything goes according to the plan, Damian will also produce and star in the Britbox mini-series A Spy Among Friends along with Dominic West later in the year.
And even though it may take some time for it to happen due to logistics, Helen sharing in her brilliant Desert Island Discs that she and Damian are looking to do something together and that rights are being bought got us beyond excited!
Oh, and as we hope that life goes back to normal later this year and that Damian goes back to work, we at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis are calling all Damian Lewis fans to join our new collective project!
What is the dream role you have in mind for Damian Lewis?
That is the question!
I am thrilled to report that many readers are on board and that I have already received several “dream role” stories all of which are fantastic! We plan to publish the stories following Damian’s 50th birthday in February. So there is still ample time to get your thoughts together and put them into words should you want to join the project now! It would be wonderful if you sent the stories to us at allaboutdamian@gmail.com by late January or early February so we have enough time to prepare them for publication.
As I leave the stage to some of my fellow bloggers so they can share their thoughts about Fan Fun’s sixth birthday with you, I hope you stay with us and that we keep following Damian’s brilliant career together! Cheers <3
Gingersnap
Happy 6th Birthday to Fan Fun with Damian Lewis and the wonderful team we have. I jumped at the chance to be a part of this team and the rest, as they say, is herstory!
It has been a joy posting the news over at our sister site damian-lewis.com since 2017, blogging here with my blog mates, interacting with the fandom on social media and commenting with all of you readers. I am grateful for this community and its continued patronage because we wouldn’t be here without loyal readers like you. Staying in touch with the fans and projects for the blog have kept me balanced during this pandemic. I’ve been in quarantine since March, 2020 and I don’t know how I would have kept busy or entertained without it!
Here’s to a FUN upcoming year with Fan Fun with Damian Lewis and I look forward to what’s to come, especially when Billions is set to return for the second half of Season 5. Wishing everyone an “Axeceptional” 2021 and remember, stay safe and wear a mask!
Lady Trader
Happy 6th Birthday FanFun!
Has it really been 6 years? Time flies when you are having FUN, and that certainly is what we here at the blog are having, and is what this blog is all about: the FUN of all of us writing and interacting with each other and our readers and all the FUN of writing and exploring the amazing acting and philanthropy of Damian Lewis!
2020 was a challenging year, but for a lot of us and our readers, having the constant that was the blog really helped get us through it.
It never goes without saying say how much I appreciate all the hard work that everyone puts into this labor of love. We all have lives: jobs, families, and other commitments that everyone must attend to; but the attention, level of commitment, and enthusiasm of everyone who is involved with this project is amazing. Damianista is our brilliant “boss”, and she continually astounds me with her writing, her organization, her encouragement and her tireless support that makes this blog what it is today. Thank you Fearless Leader!
We are all eagerly awaiting the second half of Season 5 of “Billions” and “From the Trader’s Desk” will continue to give you my perspective of the show and the characters from the financial point of view (and of course the metal side of things!). I’ll also be here to explain any “Fin-speak” that can sometimes be a tad confusing for the non-Wall Street viewer!
So Happy 6th Anniversary! Just like a fine wine, we are getting better with age!
The Tail that Wags The Dog
Happy 6th Birthday FanFun!!
It has been so much fun being a part of such a dedicated and talented group of fans who appreciate great acting and great entertainment. I have learned so much from each of you and am amazed at your ability to see within the storylines. I read these write ups of episodes long before I read any ‘professional’ ones. You all set the bar so high with your posts that I admit I find it a challenge to keep up with you all, so thank you for letting me be a part of this talented crew.
Because of you I’ve been able to meet and talk to, among others, Brian Koppelman, Kelly AuCoin, Stephen Kunknl, Sarah Stiles, Dan Soder and a few others. Notice who’s name is missing from that list though? Yeah, I still haven’t met the man himself, Damian Lewis – I figure it’s because Damianista doesn’t want to share. 🙂
Anyway I’m sincerely thrilled to be a part of this group and especially glad I got to actually meet a couple of you, which is saying something since we all live pretty far apart.
Here’s looking forward to finishing Season 5 and then 6 to see what crazy things Team Axe and the others are up to!
Not Linda
I think I discovered Fan Fun in 2017. Season 6 of Homeland was premiering and I started to stream Season 1. You know how that story went! My love for Sgt Brody led me to search forums to discuss the fabulous Damian Lewis…..
……. Fan Fun! Here I was able to enter discussions not simply “ask”. My comments were valued and responded to!?! I’m crazy in love not just with Damian but Damianista, JaniaJania and all the ladies of Fan Fun with Damian Lewis! Happy Happy 6th Birthday!
JaniaJania
Coming in as late to this love fest, as I came in early to the blog. I knew a good thing when I saw it! Where else can you get such complete immersion into your fav? Still waiting in vain for other fan groups to step up their game to be anywhere near as full of words and pics and news as this site is.
Maybe you visit to scroll through and not read every word. Maybe you visit to skip right to the comments and have your say. Whatever your reason and level of engagement with this blog, we value you and want to engage as much as possible. Because we, like Damian himself, are in love with all the possibilities.
Thank you for visiting and engaging. Here’s to many many more years following this bloke (from a safe distance ;)) around the world. He’s worth it, and so are you!
