“I always pursued my fantasies. I was never interested in fantasies remaining fantasies. They were always so formed in my imagination that I couldn’t not chase them.”
—Damian Lewis
Now, Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory make a real cool couple. But, do you know how Damian proposed to Helen? It’s a FUN story!
In an interview with Vogue, Damian Lewis says that “falling in love with a beautiful, talented actress and whisking her off to Paris to propose” was his fantasy.
So, first he falls in love with a beautiful, talented actress, Helen McCrory!
“Helen and I partied very, very hard before we met and then we collided at the Almeida in 2004 and together we partied even harder. We used to lose entire evenings listening to jazz at Ronnie Scott’s.”
I still smile big when I remember Damian telling Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs very lovingly about the evenings he and “his lady wife” spent at jazz bars and choosing a track that reminds him of those sweet evenings:
“…when I was courting my lady wife, we went to listen to a lot of jazz, it was really lovely. And… I like the entire spectrum of jazz, but I’ve chosen us a more traditional swing jazz. This guy was really the first jazz super star, he was dead by the time he was 28. And, this is called Goose Pimples… It’s a fantastic track and it would remind me of jazz clubs with Helen.”
So, swing away with Bix Beiderbecke as you read on about how our favorite guy, who could NOT not chase his fantasies, whisks Helen off to Paris to propose… 🙂
“I proposed to Helen in Paris. I tried to do it on the Pont Neuf — I was sweating bullets and wrestling in my overcoat pocket for the ring, which had got stuck in a little cellophane bag, but when I finally got it out, a gaggle of Japanese tourists surrounded us like a flock of seagulls, taking pictures, and the moment was totally destroyed.”
The moment might be destroyed, but it’s still a lovely, romantic and equally funny story to tell their kids and grandkids.
Here is a picture of the beautiful Pont Neuf at night for you… so that you can imagine Damian and Helen on the bridge… and then add the tourists taking pictures of them 🙂
Damian adds: “I now take Helen back to Paris for three days without our two kids every February for our anniversary. We walk about the city, and sit in bars drinking rosé.”
We have no clue if the tradition continues. We just hope that it does and our favorite couple could find a few days in the month of love to go to Paris or and sip some rosé! Cheers!
What a sweet pair of lovebirds they are 🙂 Happy engagement anniversary to the Lewis-McCrory family!
We love these love birds!
So Sweet! Happy anniversary!
I second that – we just love their love story <3