Hi everyone! Damianista here. The screenwriter and casting director we have today is Lourdes, a lawyer and a writer, all the way from Peru! I was so lucky to visit Lourdes’ beautiful country a couple of years ago and I would recommend everyone to travel there. As I leave the word to Lourdes, huge thanks go to her for sharing her dream role(s) for Damian with us.
I grew up in a little city near Lima, the capital city, in Peru. That is why the cultural offerings were limited when I was a kid, there was no big theater or cinema around, so the TV and the books worked just fine for me. The internet was a cool change back then.
It’s not by chance then that the first medium that I came across Damian Lewis’ work was TV – Homeland. I had just started college and traveled weekly to my parents’ house to do laundry, then I found this Showtime series about spies. It was a surprise to find Damian Lewis in this role that is so different and compelling. Something funny happened then, Homeland became the show that I watched at my parents’ house, my dad even started to watch it with me eventually and make popcorn for us.
Yes, it was awkward sometimes, but mostly it was a lovely time I spent at my favorite place, with my favorite people, and watching my favorite show. That´s a brief story of how I became a fan of Damian Lewis, enjoying his work as leading man of American TV, no less…
So, for me, when I think about Damian Lewis, I’m sure he is an actor that can do everything.
My dream roles for him are actually classics, because I love books and well-done adaptations of the books I love for movies and TV. For example, I love John le Carré and it was fantastic to see Damian in Our Kind of Traitor.
I recently read Richard II by William Shakespeare and I imagined Damian immediately as Henry Bolingbroke (aka King Henry IV). A strong presence, determination of the spirit. I think Damian can seamlessly deliver the character’s determination, ambition and complexity. So, I’m sure Damian would be the perfect Henry Bolingbroke.
The other role I have in mind is more romantic. I love Jane Eyre, it is my favorite romantic novel because it feels truthful to its era and also modern and yes, feminist. I actually re-read it every year – just for fun.
I believe there’s no more powerful message for these days as the romantic story of Jane and Mr. Rochester. It’s such a classic, because it has everything: ghosts, mental health issues, empowered messages for women’s social and economic independence… I think that what grants a classic its status is the ability to be adapted and evolve in different ways, so a new vision of Jane Eyre’s story can be done and for me there’s no better choice for Mr. Rochester than Damian Lewis, because it is such a classic literary figure and so well written – a character that is self-confident and so rich of emotions but is also reserved and constantly challenged by his own conscience. I believe Damian Lewis is a perfect fit for the role.
