– He Was Game –
by James Hibbs | Radio Times | September 21, 206
The first episode of Sharon Horgan’s HBO Max comedy series Youth kicks off with a hilarious celebrity cameo, with Damian Lewis playing a version of himself who is pitching a book to the literary agency at which Horgan’s character Alex works.
Lewis comes in for a meeting to pitch his fiction writing debut, a social satire about the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which he has imaginatively titled Dog Meat. Alex suggests he writes a children’s book instead, but he seems set on comparing himself with Stephen Fry.
On Lewis’s cameo, Horgan noted that that concept of the ‘celebrity writer’ is a big part of the industry, and revealed that it wasn’t always going to the Band of Brothers star who appeared in that scene.
“We’re just very lucky that he has a great sense of humour,” Horgan said. “I’d met him a few times, and I sent it to him, and he was just game. Not everyone wants to play themselves on screen and to do it in such a fun send up kind of way. So we were so happy when he said yes.”
The series doesn’t just focus on Alex’s work life – it also looks at her attempts to get back into the dating world after her divorce, and her struggles with raising her son Ruari, played by Cillian Murphy’s real life son Aran.
Youth releases new episode on Mondays on HBO Max in the UK and Sundays on HBO and HBO Max in the US.
Video by: Tina Baker Books on X
Source: Radio Times