Cold War – Damian Lewis

A Spy Among Friends Available on Amazon Prime

On September 28, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Stream This Spy Thriller

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | September 28, 2023

A Spy Among Friends is available to stream on Amazon Prime and the first episode is free! Remaining episodes require adding a free trial of MGM+ to your Amazon Prime account, however, you can cancel MGM+ add-on at any time to avoid further fees. The television mini-series first aired on the new streaming platform ITVX in the UK back in December 2022, followed by Amazon Prime Video in Canada since February 2023 and more recently on MGM+ in the US from March 2023.

Based on Ben Macintyre’s book by the same name, Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) is working for Britain’s SIS as an intelligence officer and is left in turmoil when he learns his close friend and colleague, Kim Philby (Guy Pearce), has been secretly working as a double agent for the KGB since 1932. Elliot interviews him in Beirut, and then Philby defects to the Soviet Union. The series was nominated in the best mini-series category at the British Academy Television Awards, announced in March 2023.

A Spy Among Friends Broadcast Media

A Spy Among Friends Heads to ITV and Sky Italia

On July 4, 2023July 7, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Broadcast Syndication

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | July 4, 2023

A Spy Among Friends is coming to ITV1 beginning Sunday, July 9, 2023 at 9:00 pm and Sky Italia on July 17. The television mini-series first aired on the new streaming platform ITVX in the UK back in December 2022, followed by Amazon Prime Video in Canada since February 2023 and more recently on MGM+ in the US from March 2023.

Based on Ben Macintyre's New York Times best seller #ASpyAmongFriends – starring Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce and Anna Maxwell Martin, tells the true tale of friendship between British spies Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby – notoriously known as a double agent for the Soviet Union🕵️.… pic.twitter.com/0mduGnBd5G

— ITV (@ITV) July 3, 2023

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A Spy Among Friends Awards Emmy For Your Consideration Print Media

Blinded By the Lies with Damian Lewis

On June 28, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Damian Lewis Shines in A Spy Among Friends

by Benji Wilson | Emmy Magazine, Issue #7 | June 28, 2023

As the unwitting accomplice to one of Britain’s most notorious traitors, Damian Lewis shines in A Spy Among Friends.

When Alexander Cary, an executive producer on Homeland, called his old friend Damian Lewis, star of Homeland and Billions, and said he had the rights to Ben Macintyre’s nonfiction bestseller A Spy Among Friends, the question wasn’t, did Lewis want to do it —the question was, who might Lewis play?

The obvious answer was Kim Philby, the most notorious Soviet double agent in history, who rose high in the ranks of British intelligence in the 1940s and ’50s while funneling secrets to the Russians. But Lewis was more interested in playing Nicholas Elliott.

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A Spy Among Friends Interviews Print Media

Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce Dig Into a Real-Life MI6 Double Agent Story

On June 16, 2023June 17, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Best Limited Series First-Round Emmy Contender

by Hugh Hart | Los Angeles Times | June 16, 2023

He’s portrayed intense terrorist Nicholas Brody in “Homeland,” domineering mogul Bobby Axelrod in “Billions” and mercurial King Henry VIII in “Wolf Hall,” but Emmy-winning British actor Damian Lewis rarely plays the fool. Breaking type in the fact-based Cold War thriller “A Spy Among Friends,” Lewis chose to portray MI6 operative Nicholas Elliott, who’s stunned by the realization that his best friend Kim Philby is a traitor working for Communist Russia.

The MGM+ limited series, based on Ben Macintyre’s book of the same title, casts Australian actor Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential,” “Memento,” “Mare of Easttown”) as the lethally charming Philby. Set in 1963, “A Spy Among Friends” hopscotches through three decades of flashbacks that culminate inside a Beirut safe house: Elliott’s supposed to bring Philby back to England, where he’ll face the consequences of his treachery. Instead, Philby flees to Moscow.

Continue reading Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce Dig Into a Real-Life MI6 Double Agent Story

A Spy Among Friends For Your Consideration Interviews Print Media

For Sony Pictures Television, Championing Creatives Means Content That Stands Apart

On June 6, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

A Spy Among Friends

by Karen Idelson | Variety | June 6, 2023

Contributions of talented artisans on both sides of the camera are valued at the studio and are set to be acknowledged this awards season.

Whether working fervidly in the development phase or creating boundary-pushing visuals to serve a project’s narratives, Sony Pictures Television’s storytellers and artisans consistently find new ways to engage audiences and set the gold standard of crafting impactful television.

With its roster of diverse series and multifaceted talent, the award-winning television production and distribution studio aims to dominate across categories during the 2023 Emmy® race. The growing Sony Pictures Television universe features standout performances across genres, offering a glimpse into different cultural experiences and drawing inspiration from everything from the most beloved comic books to real-life spy stories.

“Across the studio’s slate, viewers have every type of story at their fingertips and can anticipate each series being crafted at the highest level of quality by the best artisans working in television today,” says Katherine Pope, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios.

A Spy Among Friends — Eyewitness to Reality

Damian Lewis applauds the writers behind the espionage thriller “A Spy Among Friends” for crafting dialogue that is detailed and authentic to the true story of a British spy for the Soviet Union.

“Alex Cary has this brilliant way of writing histories,” the actor says of the show’s writer and creator. “They read like capers and thrillers. We have photographic evidence of what these people looked like. We want to be true to who they are without doing impersonations.”

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A Spy Among Friends For Your Consideration Print Media

How the A Spy Among Friends Score Creates Audible Paranoia for Its Spy Characters

On May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Craft Considerations: Composer Dustin O’Halloran Layers Paranoia and Heartbreak Into an Experimental Score

by Staff | IndieWire | May 23, 2023

The story of Kim Philby, the high-ranking British intelligence official who turned out to be one of the biggest double agents in U.K. history (and a hero of the Soviet Union, if you take the Russian point of view), is well known at this point. Dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction, have been written about how Philby took in the great and the good of MI6 and the CIA for decades before he finally had to flee across the Iron Curtain in 1963.

This version of Philby, played with the kind of rumpled fatalism only Guy Pierce can muster, spends a lot of time keeping those friends close at the cost of his own soul, particularly Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis). But MGM Television’s “A Spy Among Friends,” which traces Philby and Elliott’s relationship from World War II to the ramifications of Philby’s defection (though not necessarily in that order) has no interest in spelling out how genuine the friendships of spies can be. It is interested in giving us the clues, hidden (among other places) in the adrenaline and emotion of the miniseries’s remarkable score.

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A Spy Among Friends Awards

Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce and A Spy Among Friends Up For a National Television Award

On May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

A Spy Among Friends: Best New Drama and Drama Performance

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 23, 2023

Both Damian and Guy Pearce have been nominated for best Drama Performance by the National Television Awards (NTAs) for its first round of long list contenders. Also A Spy Among Friends has been nominated for best New Drama. Voting is now open so be sure to vote so Damian and ASAF advance to the next round of short list contenders. Simply view the list of contenders and tick one in each of the 16 categories to select who you think should win. All votes must be in by 11:00 p.m. BST on Friday, June 2, 2023. The shortlist of contenders will be announced in August.

Who wins is down to you, so vote for Damian here and A Spy Among Friends here before it’s too late! VERY IMPORTANT: you must go through EACH category to the very end, but you can skip categories you don’t want to vote for. When you are finished you must submit your name and email address for the vote to count.

Continue reading Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce and A Spy Among Friends Up For a National Television Award

A Spy Among Friends Awards BAFTA Awards Events Gallery Red Carpet

Damian Lewis Attends BAFTA Television Awards for A Spy Among Friends and Also Presents

On May 14, 2023May 15, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

A Spy Among Friends: Best Mini-Series

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | May 14, 2023

Damian, looking super suave in his suit, attended the The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards this evening on Sunday, May 14, 2023 at Royal Festival Hall in London. In usual fashion Damian hammed it up for photographers with a series of very animated poses at the step and repeat board, at times taking videos of the onlookers to document the experience. View the most hilarious photos from tonight’s event in our Gallery here.

His ITVX drama A Spy Among Friends was nominated for best TV mini-series of 2022 but lost to Mood. Damian was also a presenter at the evening’s ceremony, presenting the Leading Actress Award to Kate Winslet. According to Huffington Post, Damian jokingly told the audience:

“I’m surprised you’re all still here. It’s a brilliant bar out there, I’ve been in a couple of times.”

Continue reading Damian Lewis Attends BAFTA Television Awards for A Spy Among Friends and Also Presents

A Spy Among Friends Awards BAFTA Awards

Attendees Confirmed for this Sunday’s BAFTA Television Awards

On May 12, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Damian Lewis: A Spy Among Friends

by Staff | BAFTA | May 12, 2023

As previously reported A Spy Among Friends has been nominated for a BAFTA TV Award as one of the very best TV mini-series of 2022. Other contenders in the same category are Mood, The Thief and This is Going to Hurt, which has received 6 nominations. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards will be hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan and will take place on Sunday, May 14, 2023, and will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer at 7:00 p.m.

Broadcaster and creator of Chicken Shop Date Amelia Dimoldenberg completes Sunday’s hosting line-up in a new backstage position, interviewing stars as they come off stage, as part of the BBC One broadcast. Audiences will be able to tune into the action from 3pm via @BAFTA with Clara Amfo and Michelle Visage leading the red carpet coverage.

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A Spy Among Friends Print Media Review

Critic’s Notebook: Damian Lewis Returns to the World of International Espionage

On May 10, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Damian Lewis is Outstanding as Elliott

by Mike Hale | New York Times | May 10, 2023

It has been a quiet season for international television on American screens — nothing has grabbed attention on a Squid Game or Downton Abbey scale. But barely a day goes by, in the streaming age, without an interesting series washing up from some foreign shore. Here are four recent shows worth tracking down, from an elegant British thriller to a Chinese dramedy about a demon god and an immortal warrior who meet cute on the mortal plane.

Damian Lewis returns to the world of international espionage as an MI6 agent in the complicated, fact-based mini-series A Spy Among Friends.

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A Spy Among Friends Print Media Review

What to Watch: The 17 Best New Movies and TV Shows From March

On April 2, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Betrayal of Both Colleague and Country

by WSJ Arts in Review Staff | Wall Street Journal | March 31, 2023

John Wick and Adonis Creed make bloody returns, Ted Lasso makes a benevolent one, documentaries revisit the disasters of Waco, Texas, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Sally Hawkins finds the remains of Richard III, and much, much more.

Here’s a roundup of the month’s most noteworthy movies and TV shows, as covered by The Wall Street Journal’s critics.

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A Spy Among Friends Print Media Review

I Spy A Spy in ‘A Spy Among Friends’

On March 31, 2023 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Mano o Mano

by J.P Devine | Morning Sentinel | March 30, 2023

I remember this story because I’m old. If you’re older than 60, you will as well, but at the time, here in America, you probably didn’t care. It was 1963, and the assassination of JFK was enough to deal with, and no one here even knew the rest of the world existed or cared.

But when this story “A Spy Among Friends,” taken from the book by Ben Macintyre, finally found space to let us think about it, we learned that MI6 (British CIA) and the notorious Kim Philby (Guy Pearce, “The Road”) had been a double agent for the Russians since his college years.

Continue reading I Spy A Spy in ‘A Spy Among Friends’