Categories Fashion and Style Friends & Crocodiles Pillars of the Community Print Media

Guardian Interview: It’s a Wrap

From Fendi to Gucci and Armani Inbetween

by Hadley Freeman | The Guardian | March 3, 2006

Actor Damian Lewis has shone on screen – but can he take centre stage in this season’s patterned shirts? Hadley Freeman asks him.

‘You’re making me trendy, aren’t you?” the actor Damian Lewis accuses us, with the cheeky smile of a man fond of being the centre of attention. “My God, the Guardian is going to make me trendy!” This extraordinary sentence is prompted by an equally extraordinary garment: a short-sleeved, button-down shirt by Fendi, seared down the front with chunky red and blue stripes and a most alarming chain print. It is, to my eyes, the spit of the sort of top my 90-year-old grandfather used to wear on the golf course in Miami. Lewis looks up for reassurance. I, with my usual photogenic tact, curl my left upper lip, scrunch my nose and shake my head. But Clare, the stylist, is adamant it will work – “you know, with a jacket” – and Lewis regards her suspiciously.

Lewis, 34, is one of Britain’s hardest working and highest profile actors. He is fitting in this shoot between international promotional tours for Stephen Poliakoff’s television drama Friends And Crocodiles, acting in the Ibsen play Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre, and preparations for producing his first feature film.

Since being nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in Band Of Brothers, he has played an impressively diverse range of characters, including Soames in The Forsyte Saga, Jeffrey Archer in Jeffrey Archer: The Truth, and Benedick in the BBC’s modern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. But he is probably most recognisable for the fiery patch of splendid ginger hair, an attribute that increasingly dictates his wardrobe as he gets older: “I used not to care at all and wear pinks and greens, and that’s so clichéd – red hair, green clothes. Now I tend to stick with dark colours,” he says, plucking at his dark blue Gucci (“but understated!”) shirt.

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Categories Media Personal and Family Life Print Media

Damian Lewis: My London – Oct 28, 2005

From Brolly to Woolly

Staff | Evening Standard Magazine | October 28, 2005

Where do you live and why?

Camden. I’ve always liked this part of London. I remember, when I was younger, I used to make it along to the Electric Ballroom in Camden High Street on a Friday night and jump up and down to the rock music.

How long have you lived there?

I’ve lived in North London all my life. I grew up in St. John’s Wood, although I was at boarding school a lot of the time. Afterwards, I returned to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I was at Guildhall at the same time as Joseph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor and Jude Law.

What was the last play you saw in London and did you enjoy it?

As You Like It at Wyndhams Theatre with my girlfriend Helen McCrory and Sienna Miller. Helen’s performance as Rosalind was quite stunning — I loved it.

What have been your most memorable London meals?

Long Sunday lunches in great pubs with good wine and good friends. I also like eating at The Wolseley on Piccadilly. I can’t really tell if I’m in a Viennese brasserie or a car showroom — but it’s very grand.

What do you miss most when you’re out of London?

The magnificent views of the city when you’re standing on the top of Primrose Hill or from Waterloo Bridge — they’re breathtaking.

What is your life philosophy?

Be brave. Regret nothing.

What items are in your winter wardrobe?

Long johns and woolly socks — especially if it’s going to get as cold as everyone is predicting this winter.

Which aftershave do you wear?

Acqua di Gio by Giorgio Armani or something by Christian Dior.

What are your current projects?

I’m currently rehearsing for a Henrik Ibsen play at the National Theatre called Pillars Of The Community, which opens on 1 November. Then I’ve got Much Ado About Nothing, which is on BBC One, also on 1 November. And there’s my film Keane which is being screened at the London Film Festival. I play a man struggling to come to terms with the disappearance of his six-year-old daughter.

Continue reading Damian Lewis: My London – Oct 28, 2005