Press Archive

The TVMag
April 2002
by Francine Cohen

First Class

Damian’s Lewis’ latest role, as a wealthy lawyer, proves he’s on the up. By Francine Cohen.

Say hello to the next Steve McQueen. Well, that’s what producer Tony To, co-executive producer of Band of Brothers, thinks of Damian Lewis, who played the lead in the BBC Second World War blockbuster.

It’s a compliment the 29-year-old actor is happy to accept. “After all, it’s a pretty good thing! I’m flattered,” says Damian. Then he laughs: “Actually, er, I’m the ginger McQueen!”

He may joke about his image, but Damian is clearly becoming a big star. And as he returns to our screens, it’s again at the centre of an epic drama.

Damian plays Soames in ITV’s lavish adaptation of John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. The BBC’s 1967 version, with Eric Porter and Nyree Dawn Porter, was a huge hit, and ITV’s period piece promises to be just as big a draw. Other top names appearing include Rupert Graves, Ioan Gruffudd, and Gina McKee.

Damian reveals that when he was offered the part he was immediately keen on taking it.

“I’ve read the books and it’s a cracking yarn,” he says. “The scripts were great and if you think there’s an acting opportunity that’s going to be stimulating and fulfilling over that period of time, you take it.”

Soames is the pompous, repressed lawyer whose fiery relationship with his wife Irene (Gina McKee) is central to the tale.

“He’s a hard, uptight man with the heart of a shriveled walnut!” grins Damian. “You don’t automatically warm to him, but he does have a tremendous sense of right and wrong. He’s not a great romantic and his love for Irene is couched in Victorian values. It’s hopeless.”

Since starring in Band of Brothers, Damian’s become a familiar face in Hollywood and has just signed a a major deal to appear in one of the lead roles in a film of Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher novel.

“I’ve had eight fantastic years since becoming a professional actor, no question,” admits Damian, who before Band of Brothers was best known for the TV dramas Warriors and Hearts and Bones.

“My work’s not always been high-profile things, but in terms of fun, it’s been great.”

Damian wanted to act from the age of 16, but at one point he might have become famous in a different field, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Michael Owen.

“I can’t say I had serious ambitions as a footballer, but I did have school trials for England, so I got to that sort of level,” he reveals. “Now I’m a massive Liverpool fan.”

Instead, Damian went to drama school and spent time busking in the south of France.

“I used to have an old motorbike and take it to France for a month in the summer, paying my way by busking on the guitar,” he remembers fondly.

“It was just a way I could bomb around, meet up with friends, swim in their pool, and leave. Busking was a sideline to enjoying myself.”

Now it’s first class all the way for Damian, who recently bought a house in north London’s trendy Camden. He’s happy with his girlfriend, Channel 4 producer Katie Razzall, and would love to be a dad–but not just yet.

“In about 10 years, I’d like to think I’d be happily married with kids,” he says. “Maybe three–I’m from a family of four but I’m not sure I could deal with that, let alone expect my wife to!”