Tag: Shakespeare

Damian Lewis and Shakespeare

Speaking of Shakespeare in his anniversary month and of Damian’s return to stage also this month, let’s revisit Damian’s turn as Antony. Seems one Antony visited another at the opening of “The Goat”.

In the talk with Stacey Wilson Hunt at SAG-AFTRA Foundation, it is notable that Damian never had straight up formulaic answers for any of the excellent questions asked by the interviewer. He seemed to put some real thought into all his answers. Something struck out as requiring further exploration from that interview. When asked about the best advice he’d been given as an actor, Damian turned it around into a story of his biggest professional regret. Damian tells us that he was once offered a major role in a major Shakespeare production to be staged at the very major National Theatre by, as you can imagine, an appropriately superlative artistic director. In sharing this story, he provided a perfect instance of the notion that our biggest lessons come from our biggest mistakes. Continue reading “Damian Lewis and Shakespeare”

Much Ado About Nothing

Ah, the romantic comedy: A genre when presented as an evening’s viewing option has sent many an otherwise lovey-dovey couple to opposite ends of the couch. I have to say the romantic comedy has never been my first stop when Netflix surfing. Actually, it’s rarely my choice at all, unless When Harry Met Sally is on (the last great romantic comedy, IMO) or the least appreciated but my personal favorite of the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks vehicles: Joe vs. the Volcano. [The guy falls for different versions of the SAME woman; how much more romantic (and comedic) can you get?]

William Shakespeare knew a thing or two about romantic comedies. In fact, he invented the genre! The formula of boy meets girl, they run up against some obstacles, surmount said obstacles with the help of a jocular coterie of friends, and live happily ever after: That’s Shakespeare! And perhaps the most seminal of his romantic comedies is Much Ado About Nothing. The plot and characters gave rise to many adaptations and permutations. There was the beautifully hilarious big-screen adaptation in 1993 with real-life couple-at-the-time Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. More recently, in 2012, there was another lovely big-screen adaptation, this time by Joss Whedon, set in modern times but true to Shakespearean language. And between those two, in 2005, our very own Damian Lewis starred as Benedick in a BBC adaptation of the story, set in modern times with modern language, for their series Shakespeare ReTold.

sarah_parish_8_354x440

Continue reading “Much Ado About Nothing”

Damian Lewis on Stage: The Royal Shakespeare Company Years

“My heroes were all in the theatre. I wanted to be part of that great tradition that ran back to Garrick and Macready and Kean. That’s what I wished for, when I was asleep and dreaming.” – Damian Lewis in an interview with Telegraph

Damian Lewis in Hamlet (1994) at Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, London

For those of you that are not familiar with these names, and I confess I was not, Damian is talking about David Garrick, Edmund Kean and William MacReady, celebrated British Shakespearean actors of the 18th and 19th century that had substantial influence on the interpretation and understanding of Shakespeare. Continue reading “Damian Lewis on Stage: The Royal Shakespeare Company Years”

Damian Lewis on Stage: The Early Plays, 1993 – 94

damianyoung1

In case you missed it, we talked about Damian’s drama school experience last week here.

Damian graduates from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993. Ken Rea, Damian’s drama teacher at Guildhall, describes Damian arriving at drama school “an articulate, well-mannered young man with a bit of a polite façade,” and leaving with “the complete raw vulnerability that really grabs you as an audience.”

As soon as he graduates, Damian starts off at Birmingham Rep  — where Laurence Olivier also started his career in 1926 — with two plays, namely Rope and Romeo and Juliet in 1993  followed by Moliere’s School for Wives at the Almeida Theatre in London in 1994.

Continue reading “Damian Lewis on Stage: The Early Plays, 1993 – 94”

Raising a Toast for Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

Hello All, Damianista here!

I told you in our anniversary post that one person that has been here since the inception of the blog is Lewisto. He is the one that named this blog (Oh, yes! 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?”) as well as the one who brushed away my worries about fan blog possibly being a crazy idea (Oh, yes! He said:“Some people love golf. You love Damian Lewis. What’s the difference?”). Just being the rational guy that he is, he suggested I run with this only if I thought I could commit for at least two years so it would be worth the effort. I said I could do that and so this anniversary feels extra special.

In case you missed it, Lewisto guest-blogged earlier here about why he is a Damian Lewis fan! And, weeks before our anniversary, he told me he now wanted to guest-blog about why he is a Fan Fun with Damian Lewis fan 😀 Well, what would you do if your partner asked to write a love letter to your blog? Yes, exactly! Go ahead, hun!  Continue reading “Raising a Toast for Fan Fun with Damian Lewis”