Happy Birthday to Damian Lewis who turns 39 today! Thank you for brightening our lives with your amazing talent. May you have another wonderful year of continued success!

Congratulations to production of The Misanthrope for their 3 Laurence Olivier Award nominations: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Keire Knightley), Best Revival, and Best Costume Design. The awards will be presented March 21 in a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. Click here, here, and here for more information.

Gallery update: Click here at the gallery for a couple pictures of Damian Lewis leaving the Comedy Theatre on Thursday, February 4th.

New download: Click here on our Events page to download a video interview with Damian at the South Bank Awards Show. Many thanks to Kaz!

The Baker will screen in Old Saybrook, CT on Friday, February 12th as part of Connecticut Film Festival activities. Click here for ticket information. Click here for more info on the festival.

BBC Radio 4 will rebroadcast The Saturday Play thriller The Small Back Room at 2:30pm on Saturday. Click here on the Audio page to download it in mp3. More info on the project page here.

Gallery update: Click here at the gallery for a Damian Lewis interview from John Lewis Edition.

An excerpt from the interview:

I ask him if he overlapped with David Cameron at Eton. He gives me a funny look and I immediately correct myself: ‘Of course, he probably left before you got there.’

‘Actually I’m considerably younger,’ he says.

I start laughing, assuming he’s joking, then quickly realize he’s not. Cameron is 43 while Lewis is 38. Oh God! What have I said? ‘Sorry about that,’ I say, slapping my forehead. ‘I’m an idiot.’

‘Don’t worry,’ he says, ‘I just look old before my time. It’s the effect of all the drugs.’

Click here for items autographed by Damian Lewis (after a performance).

Many thanks to June for all the scans!

Gallery update: Click here at the gallery for pictures of Damian Lewis leaving Comedy Theatre and at The Ivy restaurant on Saturday.

Click below for Youtube videos of Damian at The South Bank Awards Show last Tuesday.

At the 1:20 mark:

At the 2:15 mark:

Damian leaving the Comedy Theatre last week:

A couple more positive reviews for The Escapist which was released on DVD in the US this past week:

Amy Longsdorf of The Record

Brian Cox, so good as Hannibal Lecter in “Manhunter,” goes behind bars once again for a gritty prison drama with a whooper of a twist ending. Cox plays a lifer determined to break out of a London penitentiary in time to save his estranged junkie daughter from certain death. Brutally violent, the film benefits from fine performances by Dominic Cooper, Joseph Fiennes, Steven MacKintosh and Damian Lewis.

David Roark of Pegasusnews.com

The Escapist, however, exceeds the confines of its genre by relying on its characters and their realism rather than the formula, though without fleeing from stock elements, resulting in a raw and believable film that leaves you thinking. … Beyond realistic characters, Wyatt takes the genre a step further with metaphor. Though it’s subtle and slightly ambiguous, this element adds an interesting twist. Not to mention, the way it plays out is captivating.