Damian Lewis: Spy Wars – Page 3

Radio Times Magazine Interview – Oct 2, 2019

On October 2, 2019July 12, 2020 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Could the Next James Bond Be Ginger? The Famous Redhead Rules Himself Out

by Kristy Lang | Radio Times Magazine | Issue: October 5-11, 2019

In a five-star hotel suite high above the City of London, Damian Lewis and I have a ginger bonding moment. As a fellow redhead, I’ve long admired his rise through the acting world. Not many gingers get leading-man status, but after starring in series such as Band of Brothers, Homeland and Billions, Lewis is big in American.

We’re meeting to discuss his first venture into the world of documentaries, fronting and producing a series about spies on the History channel.

Lewis, now 48, was born in London but was sent to boarding school at a young age, which, he thinks, would make him a very good spy.

“If you are sent away from your family at the age of eight, it gives you a rigor, a dissociative quality that is extremely useful for spies because they have to be able to shut down parts of their emotional life. That’s why the British secret services actively recruited public schoolboys. Guy Burgess is the most extreme example of that. He was flamboyant, charming and mostly drunk – how he didn’t reveal what he was doing is a mystery to me.”

Continue reading Radio Times Magazine Interview – Oct 2, 2019

Print Media Spy Wars

The Real Stories Behind Some of the World’s Most Intriguing Espionage Cases – Sept 27, 2019

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Spy Wars: kNOw More Secrets

by Nicole Lampert | Weekend Magazine | September 27, 2019

Damian Lewis thinks he would probably make a good spy, partly because of his schooling. Some of Britain’s best known spies – and traitors – went to public school, and the Eton- educated actor isn’t surprised.

‘If you’re sent away from home at the age of eight and you’re asked to cope with that situation, I think there’s an instinctive compartmentalising of one’s emotional life,’ he says.

‘That’s very helpful to a covert life of espionage. It helps you develop a mild sociopathy, which is clearly what spies need to have. Often they’re living multiple lives, not just double ones.

‘I think I’d be a good spy, better than James Bond, who’s a rubbish spy,’ he adds, despite being one of the favourites to take over the role from Daniel Craig.

‘What’s brilliant about Bond is his recovery. Each movie is two hours of him getting himself out of a massive mistake he made quite early on.’

It’s little wonder he’s fascinated by spies. He won acclaim as soldier-turned-potential-terrorist Nick Brody in Homeland, and was cast as MI6 agent Hector in the film adaptation of John le Carré novel Our Kind Of Traitor.

But as outlandish as those stories were, they don’t compare to the twists and turns in the real spy dramas he explores in his first documentary series, Damian Lewis: Spy Wars.

Continue reading The Real Stories Behind Some of the World’s Most Intriguing Espionage Cases – Sept 27, 2019

Interviews Print Media Screenings Spy Wars

Damian Tells of His New Docudrama Series Spy Wars and His Take on Ian Fleming’s Hero – Sept 21, 2019

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The World of Espionage: Traitor or Hero?

by Dalya Alberge | The Guardian | September 21, 2019

His award-winning performances have included the hit espionage drama series Homeland and he is among actors tipped to take over from Daniel Craig as James Bond. Now Damian Lewis has taken on his first role in a television docudrama about spies, whom he describes as “often quite grubby and banal”, a world away from the glamour of 007.

The Hollywood star presents and produces the eight-part show about some of the most significant espionage operations of the last 40 years. The series features undercover agents – some still identified only by their code names – who were persuaded to tell their stories for the first time.

“I find the different reasons for turning traitor or being a hero, depending on your view, are often quite grubby and banal. I’m interested [in] the motives of these spies. That’s the series we’ve tried to make,” Lewis said.

Continue reading Damian Tells of His New Docudrama Series Spy Wars and His Take on Ian Fleming’s Hero – Sept 21, 2019

Appearances Interviews Print Media Screenings Spy Wars

Damian Lewis Looks at Real Life Spies in History’s New DocuDrama – Sept 12, 2019

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From Our Kind of Traitor to Spy Wars

by Matthew Bell | Royal Television Society | September 12, 2019

Having played a fictional spy in the John le Carré adaptation Our Kind of Traitor and a turncoat in long-running US thriller Homeland, Damian Lewis has turned presenter for History’s new espionage series.

The actor was initially reluctant when his brother, Gareth – one of the executive producers of Damian Lewis: Spy Wars – asked him to present. “I hadn’t done factual [before] and I don’t consider myself a presenter.

“But I enjoy the [spy] genre and I thought it was an opportunity to look behind these popular stories and see if we could unearth something a bit more intimate about the people themselves, and the ramifications on global politics of very personal decisions taken by individuals.”

Lewis was talking after a screening of an episode of Damian Lewis: Spy Wars at the British Museum in mid-September.

Continue reading Damian Lewis Looks at Real Life Spies in History’s New DocuDrama – Sept 12, 2019

Appearances Events Screenings Spy Wars Video

Spy Wars Q&A Transcript Highlights and Video – Sept 11, 2019

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The Spy Stories That Still Intrigue Us

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | September 11, 2019

Gareth Lewis second from left, Damian Lewis far right.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2019 The Royal Television Society hosted an exclusive sneak peek screening of History UK’s Damian Lewis: Spy Wars , followed by a Q&A, at the British Museum in London, England. Damian, along with his brother Gareth Lewis, Johanna Woolford Gibbon, Dan Korn, and more were present. Here is a highlight of the evening:

Damian Lewis: I wanted to get involved because I’ve been to Langley the CIA headquarters for Homeland…but I wanted to look at the personal intimate decisions people have made.

Johanna Woolford Gibbon: We wanted to speak to people who were in the room at the time and could give us that personal testimony to get into the mind of the spy.

Johanna Woolford Gibbon: We have Russian and French speaking specialists who gained the trust of people over months so we could get the testimonies.

Dan Korn: Having the small human stories has made this series what it is. It’s about getting to the story behind the story.

Gareth Lewis: We’re telling stories that go back 40 years and yet we’re still reading these kind of things today. How we’ve come to this point is mind boggling, that we’re still locked in this kind of conflict, it’s slightly worrying.

Continue reading Spy Wars Q&A Transcript Highlights and Video – Sept 11, 2019

Premiere Screenings Spy Wars

Spy Wars Advanced Screening and Q&A – Aug 23, 2019

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Damian Will Attend Exclusive Screening

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | August 23, 2019

Royal Television Society and A+E Networks UK have partnered for an exclusive advanced screening of the new ground-breaking docu-drama from HISTORY, Damian Lewis: Spy Wars on Wednesday September 11, 2019 in the Stevenson Lecture Theatre at the British Museum, located on Great Russell Street in London. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. start time.

Damian Lewis will be attending the screening along with the production team and key A+E Networks UK programme makers. Following the screening of the episode, there will be a Q&A with key creatives behind the series. Click here to book now!

The global premiere of Damian Lewis: Spy Wars will be on the HISTORY channel in the UK on Monday, October 7, 2019. The new UK series focuses on many of the most critical and remarkable espionage operations which defined intelligence warfare and reveals remarkable true stories. Click here for more information about the show.

Booking Details: Tickets for RTS members are free and non-member tickets are £10. Tickets are non-refundable and must be booked in advance.

Source: Royal Television Society

Spy Wars Trailer Video

Spy Wars Teaser Trailers, Air Dates, and Episode Titles/Descriptions – Aug 21, 2019

On August 21, 2019November 27, 2019 By Gingersnap Comments Off

I Spy With My Little Eye…

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | August 21, 2019

UK’s History Channel has updated their website to indicate Damian Lewis: Spy Wars will air it’s first of eight episodes on Monday, October 7, 2019! The factual series will reveal the remarkable true stories behind some of the most gripping and important international spy operations of the last forty years. Packed full of espionage, surveillance, undercover work, and covert operations, the series brings forth these real events as well as the profound personal and geopolitical consequences for all involved. Utilizing innovative and highly stylized reconstructions, Spy Wars was shot on location in London, Moscow and Israel.

Be sure to visit our Gallery here for not only promo photos, but some behind the scenes photos as well!

Episode Titles/Plot Descriptions:

EPISODE 1: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD
This is the story of Oleg Gordievsky, one of the West’s most valuable Cold War agents who risked everything to avert a third World War. Appearing to be an ambitious diplomat stationed at the Soviet embassy in Denmark, Gordievsky was actually a Russian spy and a rising star of the KGB. After a few years in Copenhagen, he was recruited by the British and posted to London by the KGB. Whilst in London, President Reagan authorized the largest NATO war game in its history: Able Archer.

From the KGB’s station in London, Gordievsky passed key intelligence to the British which many believe single-handedly pulled the world back from the brink of nuclear annihilation before being summoned by the KGB to return to the USSR immediately. Uncertain if his cover had been blown, Gordievsky was accused of being an MI6 spy. Refusing to blow his cover, he set in motion his MI6 extraction plan, leaving behind his wife and children. It would take 6 years and the collapse of the Soviet Union before his family could flee Moscow to join him. In 2007, Gordievsky was appointed ‘Companion of the Most Distinguished Order’ for services to the security of the United Kingdom by the Queen. Monday 7th October at 9pm.

Continue reading Spy Wars Teaser Trailers, Air Dates, and Episode Titles/Descriptions – Aug 21, 2019