Damian Lewis

Easy Company’s Hard Times, Los Angeles Time, August 26, 2001

On August 26, 2001October 10, 2017 By Damianista Comments Off

Easy Company’s Hard Times

by Susan King, Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2001

HBO’s ‘Band of Brothers’ miniseries re-creates the bonds forged in a unit of American GIs during bloody European fighting in World War II.

HOLLYWOOD — It’s hard not to be struck by the silence when watching Tom Hanks’ war, as played in the 10-part HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” which begins Sunday.

Although millions were spent in filming the series, which aims to capture the three-year odyssey of the U.S. paratroopers of Easy Company up to and through D-day and on to the ultimate defeat of the Germans in World War II, the result is a study in how powerful restraint can be. Shot from the point of view of a fighting man, “Band of Brothers” puts one in the trenches, in the chaos and often in the silence of war. Continue reading Easy Company’s Hard Times, Los Angeles Time, August 26, 2001

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This American Platoon is Led by a Brit, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2000

On August 20, 2000October 8, 2017 By Damianista Comments Off

Damian Lewis survived a slew of tests to win the role of a war hero.

by DAVID GRITTEN, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2000

HATFIELD, England — “I’ve really screwed up my hearing,” grimaces Damian Lewis. “I should have had earplugs in.”

The mud-spattered Lewis, in a World War II paratrooper uniform, has spent the morning shooting blanks (24 for each take) from an M-1 rifle at a crowd of extras dressed as German soldiers.

It is a deafening business, and everyone else on set either wears earplugs or covers their ears whenever director Tom Hanks yells “action!” Continue reading This American Platoon is Led by a Brit, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2000

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Watch Out for The Young Dudes, Evening Standard, July 8, 2000

On July 8, 2000October 8, 2017 By Damianista Comments Off

Young, gifted and British: the new crop of Brit actors seems to have been cast in the mould marked “Good-Looking — But In An Unconventional Manner”. And there is nothing the film industry likes more than faces that stick in the mind long after they’ve smiled or scowled their way across a screen. Continue reading Watch Out for The Young Dudes, Evening Standard, July 8, 2000

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In Rank with Spielberg and Hanks, The Evening Standard, May 16, 2000

On May 16, 2000October 9, 2017 By Damianista Comments Off

In rank with Spielberg and Hanks

by Kensal Green, The Evening Standard, May 16, 2000

It’s incredibly easy to spot Damian Lewis as he wanders into the gastro-pub near his flat in Kensal Green. Not only is his hair very ginger – brazen- coloured, really – but he’s wearing a khaki jumper and trousers which make him look, from a distance, like a soldier without the boots.

Most people will know 28-year-old Lewis as a soldier – Lieutenant Neil Loughrey, the morally-compromised British Army officer in the BBC’s acclaimed drama Warriors. This was the kind of TV event which provoked debate (about the UN’s role in Bosnia) well after its broadcast date and thus bestowed instant fame on its actors. In its wake, Lewis was offered a part in the BBC’s current late-twenty-something series Hearts and Bones. He plays Mark, miserably married to Dervla Kirwan (as if that were possible), desperately trying to leave his early-twenties behind, but not making a very good fist of it. I get the feeling that this pub on the Harrow Road is full of Marks. Continue reading In Rank with Spielberg and Hanks, The Evening Standard, May 16, 2000

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Warriors: Oh what a lonely war, Daily Mail, November 22, 1999

On November 22, 1999October 10, 2017 By Damianista Comments Off

Warriors: Oh what a lonely war

by Peter Paterson, Daily Mail, November 22, 1999

OVER the past two nights, we have seen, in Warriors, a deeply moving, alarmingly realistic and powerfully acted drama about a war in Bosnia-Herzegovina that occurred less than a decade ago, yet has been almost wiped from the memory by subsequent Balkan troubles.

Given this collective amnesia and magnificent as it was in many respects – Warriors had no time to explain the witches’ brew of Serb versus Croat, Moslem versus Orthodox, the bitter legacy of World War II, the Tito dictatorship or the collapse of communism. As a consequence, the complexities of who was fighting whom, and why, were barely intelligible to anyone who had not at least seen the shortened, three-hour version of that great documentary The Death of Yugoslavia. Continue reading Warriors: Oh what a lonely war, Daily Mail, November 22, 1999

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Fighting Talk, New Woman – October, 1999

On October 1, 1999February 1, 2020 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Love Wars

by Staff | New Woman | October, 1999

Ioan Gruffudd and Damian Lewis play soldiers in a new BBC drama, so we thought we’d check out their basic training in the love wars.

We love a man in uniform, and they don’t come much better-looking than Ioan Gruffudd, 25, and Damian Lewis, 27. They’re officers in “Warriors”, BBC’s new hard-hitting series about Bosnia. But if they were really in the army, would they lead the charge or get beaten up in the showers?

Right, you ‘orrible men, we’re taking you over the NW emotional assault course to see what you’re made of…

Continue reading Fighting Talk, New Woman – October, 1999

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Hamlet: Swordplay the Serious Way, New York Times, July 2, 1995

On July 2, 1995October 11, 2017 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Hamlet: Swordplay the Serious Way

By Matt Wolf, theater critic and journalist in London, New York Times, July 2, 1995

LONDON— “A HIT, A VERY PALPABLE HIT!” cries the courtier Osric during the climactic duel of “Hamlet.” And in the Broadway production now at the Belasco Theater, those hits are palpable indeed.

Productions of “Hamlet” are often distinguished by verse speaking or physical design. Jonathan Kent’s current staging, imported from the Almeida Theater Company in London, offers an additional virtue in the face-off between Hamlet (played by Ralph Fiennes) and Laertes (Damian Lewis). Beginning on a white rectangular fencing mat, the fight soon spills beyond it, weaving among the chairs of Claudius’s dismayed court as the two combatants become increasingly fevered.

Continue reading Hamlet: Swordplay the Serious Way, New York Times, July 2, 1995

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Great British Hopes: Damian Lewis – Feb 11, 1995

On February 11, 1995October 8, 2017 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Great British Hopes: Damian Lewis

by Kate Bassett – The Times – 11 February 1995

Damian Lewis

Profession: Actor

Age: 23

Claim to fame: The New York Times hailed him as “The new Ralph Fiennes? The next Hugh Grant?”

Distinctive features: Six foot three. Flaming red hair. “I wasn’t aware of my hair until critics started talking about it as part of the performance,” says Lewis good-humouredly. “Maybe there’s a whole play going on on top of my head.”

Continue reading Great British Hopes: Damian Lewis – Feb 11, 1995

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Who Will Be The New Ralph Fiennes, The Next Hugh Grant? – Jan 1, 1995

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Who Will Be The New Ralph Fiennes, The Next Hugh Grant?

By Matt Wolf – New York Times – January 1, 1995

LONDON— NOT LONG AGO, DANIEL Day Lewis and Kenneth Branagh were the British names on everyone’s lips when it came to actors; more recently, Hugh Grant and Ralph Fiennes have dominated Hollywood’s imagination. Which raises the inevitable question: Who among current British actors are poised to become the next Hugh Grant and the next Ralph Fiennes?

Continue reading Who Will Be The New Ralph Fiennes, The Next Hugh Grant? – Jan 1, 1995

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Hamlet in the Park – June 17, 1994

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Hamlet in the Park – Theatre

by Alastair Macaulay – Financial Times – June 17, 1994

This most excellent canopy the air, look you . . . It makes a difference to when you can see the firmament Hamlet is talking about, and here is one of the gains of watching Hamlet in the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. With the sky above he counts himself king of infinite space; amid the theatre he might be bounded in a nutshell. Continue reading Hamlet in the Park – June 17, 1994

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Prince Who’s Fit For a King: Paul Taylor Reviews Hamlet at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park – June 15, 1994

On June 15, 1994October 8, 2017 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Prince who’s fit for a king: Paul Taylor reviews Hamlet at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park

by Paul Taylor – The Independent – 15 June 1994

There are some actors who approach the role of Hamlet via a rigorous apprenticeship in parts that have more than a smack of the Prince of Denmark: Konstantin in The Seagull, say, or Oswald in Ghosts. One such is Simon Russell Beale who is to play Hamlet, at long last, for Sam Mendes. At the opposite extreme are those actors who find themselves pitched in at the deep end early in their careers and prove that they can swim with precocious bravura.

At the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, there is now an egregious example of this latter type in Damian Lewis, who tackles the role in Tim Piggott-Smith’s otherwise patchy production. Lewis has all the stage presence and captivating instincts of a Michael Sheen. Long-limbed, in a black bum-freezer jacket, he reminds you a little of a Dickensian hero.

Continue reading Prince Who’s Fit For a King: Paul Taylor Reviews Hamlet at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park – June 15, 1994