The star of Sunday night’s most addictive drama, talks to Craig McLean about playing a Muslim, living between LA and London and why he couldn’t say no to Homeland
CRAIG MCLEAN
Monday 2 April 2012 11:01
Damian Lewis, star of ITV’s new US series Life, tells Michael Deacon about his role as an ex-convict, being a British actor in America and his love of bicycle
Charlie Crews, the character Damian Lewis plays in Life – ITV’s new drama import from America – is perpetually defeated by modern technology. Lewis isn’t too hot on it himself. The London-born 37-year-old can’t stand Facebook, worries that video games are a threat to the film business and struggles with text messages. When we meet he is wrestling with his mobile phone: ‘Sorry, I’ve just got to text my sister-in-law, who’s a tyrant – if I don’t text back within half an hour she shouts at me,’ he says. ‘My text response time is usually about two days.’ His mobile, grey and chunky, is a model so antiquated that most teenagers would probably mistake it for a TV remote control.
Continue reading Damian Lewis: Life, The Telegraph, October 25, 2008
Actor Damian Lewis rose to fame playing a US soldier in the Second World War drama Band of Brothers. He is married to actress Helen McCrory and has two children (Manon, 1, and Gulliver, 7 months).
You spend half your year in LA. How is it?
LA is like an eccentric beach town. Next to London, it feels utterly provincial but remains fascinating. My wife says she doesn’t like living in a town where you may get swallowed up by an earthquake at any moment. But it’s fantastic for our children to be able to walk on Hampstead Heath one half of the year and on Santa Monica beach the other.
Continue reading The Public-School Psychopath – June 15, 2008
He plays Detective Charlie Crews, who was falsely imprisoned and is back solving crimes on NBC’s acclaimed series “Life,” but the British actor with the flawless American accent was first seen on HBO’s “Band of Brothers.” Damian Lewis talks about acquiring the accent, growing up in London and repressing his repressive side. The writers strike has shut down production of “Life,” but past episodes can be seen at nbc.com/life.