Tag: Previews

Last week we left our discussion of Bobby Axelrod curious about the distance he would go to protect what he has… which brings me to his better half Lara and Team Axelrod! In an earlier post about Team Axelrod, one question I had was whether Lara was involved in the business, and, in fact, how much she knew about what’s going on. So, If we drop a few familiar names for convenience, the question is whether Lara is some kind of a Carmela Soprano (knows and looks the other way), Skyler White (she doesn’t want to know first but then is buried up to her neck) or Claire Underwood (an equal partner from day one).

I am happy to report that, in a nice YouTube interview, Malin Akerman gives a few hints about Lara that, in fact, answer my question: “Great character… Strong female character… just what I was attracted to… You know, it’s, instead of standing behind your man, standing beside your man in this show…” So, yes, even though we don’t know the extent to which she is involved we know that Lara is INVOLVED in business. You can see Malin Akerman’s interview about Billions in its entirety here. Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod: A Man of Two Worlds in Billions, Part II”

“What’s going to be interesting about this story is specifically this story… So who will Bobby Axelrod turn out to be? And what is he prepared to do to retain power?”

– Damian Lewis, TCA 2015 Panel on Billions

In case you missed it, I did a first sketch of Bobby Axelrod a few weeks ago here using the little information we had in hand at the time from interviews with Damian Lewis accompanied with a few hints from the first 60-second long teaser. Now we had the Billions panel with the show creators and the cast at TCA 2015 in which Damian Lewis gave more than a few hints about Bobby Axelrod, the first full-length series trailer is out and we have a premier date, too! Billions is coming to Showtime on January 17, 2016 — just a few days before my birthday! Well, I happily accept the best gift ever from my favorite actor and expect it to be repeated for a number of years. Thank you, Damian 😀

So… With the new information at hand, it’s time, my friends, to form and re-form opinions and do a re-sketch of Bobby Axelrod! And given that how much I could write with the little information I had last time, this one should be a two-part post! Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod: A Man of Two Worlds in Billions, Part I”

So much to think about, so much waiting in the wings. Seems a good time to step back and take stock. The recently released Billions trailer showed us a tantalizing taste of Damian Lewis’ Bobby Axelrod, an outspoken arrogant hedge-fund king who seems to think himself above the law. The trailer got me reeling with anticipation, and it also got me thinking…about the ways in which Damian has played his roles and about the differences between stage actors and those focused on working on film. Of how stage actors who get to be on film, so OFTEN, take an audience by surprise, making us say “Whoa, who was THAT?” And of how exactly they do that. Continue reading “Swagger of a Kingpin: Bobby Axelrod”

It was last October but it really feels like yesterday that we found out about Showtime ordering a pilot for a new drama series Billions starring Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti. Then we followed the pilot shoot in New York closely in January and held our breath until the cable network finally picked Billions as a series in March.

And… Look where we are now! Billions is currently coming to life in casting sessions and table reads. Season 1 shoot is starting in New York this week and will last about six months. Moreover, the first series teaser is out and it does exactly what it’s supposed to do — teasing us and raising a billion questions whose answers we will constantly look for when Billions hopefully hits the small screen in early 2016! Continue reading “It’s Time to Make Billions. It’s Time to Meet Bobby Axelrod. A First Sketch.”