Damian Lewis
Actor, Dad, Redhead, and Ping Pong Champion
Categories Billions Interviews Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Damian Lewis Gets His Movie Star Moment – Apr 17, 2019

The Billions Star Tells Playboy About Wealth, Mixed Morals and Playing Steve McQueen For Tarantino

by Daniel Barna | Playboy | April 16, 2019

Damian Lewis is not American, but he plays one on TV. In fact, he’s played many. Since breaking out as the gutsy U.S. soldier Dick Winters in Steven Spielberg’s sprawling World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, the London native has almost exclusively built his career on exploring this country’s rich history of heroes and villains. After the singularly heroic Winters, Lewis muddied the moral waters with Homeland’s Nicholas Brody, another Army man whose allegiances were tested after returning home from an extended stint as a prisoner of al-Qaeda.

Showtime had originally planned to kill Sgt. Brody off in season one, but Lewis’ role as the POW-turned-terrorist became so integral to the show’s DNA that the network decided to keep him around until season three, no matter how many rules of logic they needed to bend along the way. The performance earned Lewis an Emmy and a Golden Globe, and made him one of television’s biggest stars. It also showcased Lewis’ preternatural ability to play men steeped in moral ambiguity.

So when it came time to cast the lead for its glossy new prestige drama set in the high-stakes world of hedge funds, the network didn’t flinch. Now in its fourth season, Billions stars Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, a self-made Wall St. billionaire with the hubris of Kanye West and the ruthlessness of Vladimir Putin. The show, which pits Axelrod against Paul Giamatti’s U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades, has become an obsession for Wall Streeters and wealthy athletes like Kevin Durant (who made a cameo in season three), who identify with its depiction of the luxurious kind of lifestyle that comes with being obscenely rich.

But as Lewis tells PlayboyBillions is about more than very fast cars and really big boats. Lewis believes that at its core, Billions is a story about the intersection of money and power, which is especially timely given that the wealth gap in America is wider than it’s ever been before. “There’s no question that some of these billionaires operate like nation states. They have the ears of prime ministers and presidents around the world, and they influence policy,” he says. “It’s a problem that the gap between the wealthy and the poor has increased, when the political project for the last 20 to 30 years has been to reduce that gap. I’ve got no problem with individuals amassing enormous amounts of wealth. The critical questions are, How did they make it, and how do they use it?

Continue reading Damian Lewis Gets His Movie Star Moment – Apr 17, 2019

Categories Billions Interviews Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Damian Lewis: Financial Times Interview – April 5, 2019

The ‘Billions’ star on schooldays with David Cameron, playing conflicted characters — and rumours of 007

by Janan Ganesh | Financial Times | April 5, 2019

“What am I?” demands Damian Lewis, in the Yonkers vowels of Bobby Axelrod, the hedge fund manager he plays in Billions. “Chopped liver?” We have not fallen out. It is the presence of the item on the menu that sets up his riff on the Americanism.

The actor you also know as a Renaissance king (Wolf Hall) and an al-Qaeda convert (Homeland) is seated under a wall-mounted ram’s head in Fischer’s, a portal into antiquated Mitteleuropa on London’s Marylebone High Street, where it all but heckles the modernities around it. From a room that suggests an Orient Express dining carriage, Lewis looks out on to a Diptyque, an Aesop and a Bang & Olufsen as I ask him why British actors do so well in America. “It’s luck, it’s innate, it’s a bit of hard work,” he guesses. “It’s nothing to do with being classically trained.”

He admires Christian Bale (“There’s something quite extreme innately in him”) and vies with Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba in the bookies’ guesswork as to the next James Bond. Politely, he smiles through my thesis that Brits grow up hearing more accents than almost any other nation, honing an ear for them that amounts to a thespian advantage. If he is not quite sold, he is at least open to the idea of performance as a national trait. “Is there a clown in the British character that there isn’t in America? I think there is. There’s a clown in us somewhere.”

Continue reading Damian Lewis: Financial Times Interview – April 5, 2019

Categories Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Premiere

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood to Premiere at Cannes – March 19, 2019

Cannes Film Festival

by Gregg Kilday & Pamela McClintock | Hollywood Reporter | March 19, 2019

The official word hasn’t gone out yet, but Quentin Tarantino is returning to the scene of the crime.

His star-studded new film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will have its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

As of now, it is looking that the premiere will take place on May 21 — exactly 25 years to the day that his Pulp Fiction played on the Croisette before winning the Palme d’Or in 1994.

The Cannes Film Festival takes place May 14-25, 2019 in France.

Read the rest of the original article at Hollywood Reporter

Categories Announcement Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Official Posters for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood – March 18, 2019

Poster Art Released

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | March 18, 2019

The first official poster for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and….. Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen has been released.

Outlets reported the film will star Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, so Damian quipped on Twitter: “And Damian Lewis as…Steve McQueen.” 🙂

Continue reading Official Posters for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood – March 18, 2019

Categories Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

First Trailer for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Could Be Arriving Next Week – March 16, 2019

McQueen On Our Screens?

by Charlie Ridgely | Comicbook.com | March 15, 2019

Quentin Tarantino’s first movie since 2015’s The Hateful Eight is taking the director’s popular, aggressive approach to a real-life tragedy. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which hits theaters this summer, deals with the issue of the Manson Family Murders in Los Angeles, circa 1969.

Fans have been holding their beath, waiting to see the first footage from the film, and its debut is set to arrive very soon. In fact, it looks like the trailer for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is going to be online in just a few days.

Rumors had been swirling around social media, suggesting that the first trailer for Tarantino’s new flick would be released next week. Those reports were seemingly confirmed on Thursday, when Trailer Track broke the news that the trailer had officially been rated for released.

According to Trailer Track’s report, Once Upon a Time has been rated by Alberta Film Ratings, which means it’s preparing to be released. The trailer has been rated for audiences aged 14 years or older, and it sits at one minute, 35 seconds in length.

Odds are, the trailer is set to be released in theaters with Jordan Peele’s Us, the R-rated horror film debuting next Friday. With that in mind, the trailer could find its way online at any point during the next week, but definitely before Thursday night.

Read the rest of the original article at Comicbook.com
Categories Announcement Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Gets UK Release Date! – March 6, 2019

Quentin Tarantino Returns with One Hell of a Cast

by Lewis Knight I Mirror I March 6, 2019

It’s almost the occasion to delve back into the past of the swinging sixties, but it’s no regular trip if it’s with director Quentin Tarantino.

Having enjoyed his time with the Western genre with Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, the iconic auteur is returning with what is sure to be another violent and sprawling odyssey, featuring an all-star cast and zany dialogue.

Featuring Tarantino returnees such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tim Roth, but also newbies such as Margot Robbie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is certain to be a piece of cinema that everyone will be talking about.

But when can we expect the film to be released in the UK?

Continue reading Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Gets UK Release Date! – March 6, 2019

Categories Behind the Scenes In Development/ Pre-Production on set Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Exclusive Preview: New Images from Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood – Jan 25, 2019

“A Sprawling Tale of Counterculture California and the Final Days of Hollywood’s Golden Age”

by K. Austin Collins | Vanity Fair | January 25, 2019

Quentin Tarantino was six years old and living in the Los Angeles area when, in the summer of 1969, hell broke loose. You know this story: five people murdered over the course of two days that August, shot and stabbed by a clan of hippie impressionables in anticipation of Helter Skelter, Charles Manson’s idea of holy terror. It’s a Hollywood tale—not least because its most famous victim, the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, was the wife of director Roman Polanski, which put the terror square in the back lot’s backyard.

But it’s a Hollywood story for bigger reasons. This was an era, not merely an event; a lifestyle, a people, a widespread obsession—not merely a spot on a timeline or map. The city is a sprawl. So was 1969. And so is the work of Quentin Tarantino, whose last three movies were violent but (mass Nazi execution notwithstanding) playful excursions into history, all of them riffs on the deviant style and rough talkiness of the Westerns Tarantino loves, even the Dirty Dozen-esque World War II picture Inglourious Basterds, in which a motley troop of American badasses, a mock-Tennessean Brad Pitt at its helm, takes its grievances out on Nazi skulls.

View the new and exclusive images here
Read the rest of the original article at Vanity Fair

Categories Britannia Award Charity Fashion and Style Football/Soccer Helen In Development/ Pre-Production Music Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Personal and Family Life Philanthropy Poll Run This Town Summertime Tennis

A Year in Review: Top Damian Lewis Moments of 2018 – Dec 31, 2018

Top Moments of 2018

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | December 31, 2018

Far left: Damian performing Singing in the Rain at Old Vic’s Bicentennial Ball

It’s been quite the year for Damian, from starring in two new films as he continues to play Bobby Axelrod on Billions to his charity work, love of football, and hitting the town with Helen. There are “Best of 2018” lists everywhere you look so why should we be any different?  So today, on the last day of the year, we revisit the memorable year Damian has had both personally, and professionally.

Below you will find links to the stories behind our Top Damian Lewis Moments of 2018:

  • Damian makes his fourth appearance at Soccer Aid
  • Damian receives BAFTA LA’s Britannia Award
  • Damian will play Steve McQueen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
  • Damian continues supporting the Cure EB initiative
  • Damian attends the UEFA Champions League and World Cup
  • Damian will play Toronto’s ex-Mayor Rob Ford in Run This Town
  • Damian and Helen, Hand-in-Hand: Old Vic’s Bicentennial Ball, Best Beginnings, London Fashion Week, Circus Arts Gala, BRIT Awards, Letters Live, The Prince’s Trust, Wimbledon, Rolling Stones concert, British Summertime Festival, Port Eliot Festival, Liquid Leisure Aqua Park, family vacation in Italy, Chessington World of Adventures, and BGC Charity Day

Happy New Year and we will see all you fandom next year!

Categories In Development/ Pre-Production Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

2019 in Pop Culture – Dec 30, 2018

A Guide to Everything You’ll Need to Know About TV, Film and Music Next Year, Including Tarantino’s Charles Manson Obsession

by Steve Rose | The Guardian | December 29, 2018

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Hollywood has been like a ghost town recently. Where have all the actors gone? Where’s Brad Pitt? Where’s Leonardo DiCaprio? Where are Al Pacino, James Marsden, Dakota Fanning, Damian Lewis, Emile Hirsch, Kurt Russell? Even Luke Perry goes straight to voicemail. Turns out, they are all over on Quentin Tarantino’s set, recreating the Manson family murders and the decadent, dodgily attired, flower-powered Los Angeles of the late 1960s.

Tarantino’s take is a mix of reality and fiction, he’s hinted. Margot Robbie plays Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski, who was murdered by Manson’s followers in 1969. DiCaprio and Pitt (in their first time on screen together) play fictional friends – respectively a washed-up TV cowboy and his stunt double – who are, says Tarantino, “struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognise any more.”

Tarantino has described the film as “probably the closest to Pulp Fiction that I have done”, which will be music to fans’ ears, but this could be his biggest challenge yet…

Read the rest of the original article at The Guardian

Categories In Development/ Pre-Production Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Guide to the Movies and Stars to Watch Out For in 2019 – Dec 30, 2019

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

by Paul Whitington | The Independent.ie | December 29, 2018

Next year, like most years, kicks off with a bang as the Oscar hopefuls crowd into the multiplexes to vie for our attention. There are some fine films in amongst all the usual awards hype, and January and February are definitely good months for cinema-goers.

The superhero craze shows no sign of slowing, sadly, and a clutch of noisy adventures will be heading your way in the early summer, including an Avengers finale. Lots of family franchise sequels and rehashes are on the way, too, including a ‘Dumbo’ remake, while for grown-ups Quentin Tarantino has an intriguing new film on the way, and so does Martin Scorsese.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

July 26, 2019

Quentin Tarantino has assembled a formidable cast for this intriguing drama set in Hollywood in 1969, on the eve of the Manson family murders. Leonardo DiCaprio is Rick Dalton, a washed-up TV actor who lives next-door to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), while Brad Pitt plays Rick’s long-time stuntman. Damian Lewis, Al Pacino and Lena Dunham co-star.

Read the rest of the original article at The Independent.ie 

In addition, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood made Jacob Stolworthy’s ‘Films To Watch Out For in 2019,’ professing it as one of the movies we’ll likely be talking about when the 2020 Oscars roll around.

Continue reading Guide to the Movies and Stars to Watch Out For in 2019 – Dec 30, 2019

Categories Behind the Scenes In Development/ Pre-Production Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Print Media

Damian Lewis in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood: A First Look – Nov 12, 2018

The King of Cool

by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | November 12, 2018

“Quentin’s film is going to blow people away.” – Damian Lewis on Britannia Awards Red Carpet

Well, some dreams come true and we have been living the dream since we got word late April that Damian Lewis would play the iconic Hollywood actor Steve McQueen in Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood!

As our long-time readers know, we have been rooting for Damian to play Steve McQueen for more than three years now. JaniaJania wrote this article about why Damian Lewis should play Steve McQueen when we got word back in 2015 that a Steve McQueen biopic was in works. And she also tweeted a question to be asked to Damian at NY Times Talks in 2016 about whether he would consider playing McQueen.

Continue reading Damian Lewis in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood: A First Look – Nov 12, 2018