Damian Lewis Spy Wars: All You Want To Know About Damian’s First Factual TV Program

“Spy craft is incredibly low-fi. There are exotic words like ‘dead drop’ and ‘brush pass’ but it literally means you waking into a supermarket with the same Sainsbury’s carrier bag as me and us leaving with each other’s bags – you’ve seen it in a thousand thriller movies.” – Damian Lewis

This post is long due. It has been months since we got word that Damian would set foot on the docu-drama territory with Damian Lewis: Spy Wars, a joint project between A+E Networks and Alaska TV. But then there was not much information except for a few promotion pictures and so it was not easy for me to put together a post to get you all in the mood. But now that the series is premiering on History Channel UK next month, A+E Networks and Royal Television Society (RTS) jointly held a special screening of Spy Wars followed by a Q&A with the brains behind the project and that a great friend attended the screening and recorded a good chunk of the Q & A for us, I am ready! Continue reading “Damian Lewis Spy Wars: All You Want To Know About Damian’s First Factual TV Program”

Band of Brothers at 18: How did Damian Lewis become Dick Winters?

winters12
source: HBO

We talked about “American” Damian earlier here. From Dick Winters to Charlie Crews to Nicholas Brody to Bobby Axelrod, Damian Lewis has given us a wide portfolio of American characters all of whom we have fallen in love with. And given that Damian is probably more well-known for the American characters he has brought to life, one just wonders about how this all started!

The story begins in 1999 and, in Damian’s own words at “auditions in damp Soho basements.” Continue reading “Band of Brothers at 18: How did Damian Lewis become Dick Winters?”

From Festivals to Sports to Theatre: We Know What Damian Lewis Did This Summer!

Happy Labor Day! I am hoping most of you have had the chance to make that last beach trip before the summer ends while I have been sitting at my desk writing about Damian’s summer, the third in a row he has enjoyed fully!

Damian constantly worked all summers between 2011 while he was shooting Homeland to 2016 when they were starting the Billions shoot in summer. So, when asked by a fan at The Goat stage door back in May 2017 about what he would be doing between The Goat and Billions, whose shoot would not start until September, he responded promptly:

“I am going to have a summer.“

Continue reading “From Festivals to Sports to Theatre: We Know What Damian Lewis Did This Summer!”

A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight

“Pretend we’re having an argument.” —Bobby Axelrod

source: Showtime

Well, back-to-back tweets from Damian Lewis and Kelly AuCoin last January — and on my birthday of all days — made this re-post inevitable! 😀

https://twitter.com/KellyAuCoin77/status/1087820075321708545

I mean, a broken rib, a busted knee, what is next? It seems these two are not pretending anymore!!! 😀

And with the hope that both Damian and Kelly have had a full recovery by now, we share our tribute to everyone’s favorite Billions moment one more time.

ENJOY!

A good hour of television absolutely starts with good writing and I pride myself in calling Willie Reale, the writer of Billions Season 1 Episode 10 Quality of Life, a genius way before I find out that he is, in fact, one! I don’t know if you are familiar with MacArthur Fellowships also known as “Genius Grants” but Mr. Reale is a recipient of this fellowship “in recognition of his ingenuity in creating theater and theater education programs for young people.” Bravo!

Quality of Life, with Donnie’s memorial service being at its heart, has a number of moving parts; however, Mr. Reale delivers the story seamlessly with a number of timely back and forths between the memorial service and all else going on and the episode’s director Karyn Kusama perfectly translates the writing into action. And, in my humble opinion, Brian Koppelman’s tweet sharing with us that the fake argument scene between Axe and Dollar Bill was Reale’s idea alone deserves standing ovation for this brilliant writer! Continue reading “A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?”

Damianista’s note: I wrote this post just after the closing night of The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? back in 2017! While it feels like yesterday, I published it more than two years ago — so it deserves a Throwback Thursday. ENJOY!

Well, 12 weeks were gone with the wind and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? has now closed. And, as if we need another reason to celebrate Damian’s work, I would love to take the closing of The Goat as a unique opportunity to celebrate 12 weeks of Damian Lewis on stage. Please enjoy our Fan Fun Goat Party from previews to media appearances to jam sessions to stage door experiences!

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?””