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Damian Lewis on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – March 11, 2019

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

Damian danced his way onto The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday, March 11, 2019 in New York, bringing gifts of Michter’s Whiskey, so cheers to that! Watch his unforgettable entrance here:

When Stephen brings out cocktail glasses and an ice bucket from a secret bar beneath his desk and begins to pour the whiskey, Damian is amazed, exclaiming,

“This is fantastic, You can go home, it’s fine. We’re just going to sit and drink. This is amazing. Look at this! I’m very excited.”

Then they clink glasses as Damian “cheers” to Stephen in Welsh.

Continue reading Damian Lewis on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – March 11, 2019

Categories Band of Brothers Billions Fashion and Style Hamlet Hearts & Bones Homeland Interviews Life Magazine The Goat or Who is Sylvia? Theatre Wolf Hall

Rake Magazine Interview: A True Leading Man – Feb 15, 2018

Easy Company

by Tom Chamberlin | The Rake Magazine | February, 2018

Source: The Rake Magazine – Photo by: Kalle Gustafsson

In an exclusive interview with The Rake, Damian Lewis tells Tom Chamberlin why we all, in spite of ourselves, love an anti-hero.

Lewis – from Life to Homeland, Wolf Hall to Billions – has become the finest purveyor of modern drama’s moral ambiguities. In fact, writes Tom Chamberlin, if you can think of an actor who has influenced our golden age of television more than him, speak up…

Among the more ambiguous archetypes of the celluloid age, that of ‘leading man’ is perhaps the least defined. Far from the specific criteria of commedia dell’arte and melodrama, in which the characters are demarcated (bad guy = black hat and moustachioed, etc.), the leading man is purely subjective. Arguably he is the origin of celebrity, pulling screen presence into the limelight of fame. But the list of leading men over the years has shown that no colour, size, hair, manner or cultural identity has ever had dominion over the sobriquet. That is until Damian Lewis entered the fray. For Lewis is a man who, above anything else, is an exemplar of leadership and integrity at a time when the acting world could use a dose of it.

Damian Lewis takes charge of rooms when he enters them. Photoshoots with celebrities are often led by either the photographer, who squeezes every image he or she can from the available time; the stylist, whose job is to make sure a well-curated variety of clothes appears in the magazine; or the publicist, who tends to be the powerbroker. The ‘talent’ can often struggle through the day (except, of course, former Rake cover subjects), regarding the experience as a necessary nuisance. Not so with Mr. Lewis.

Continue reading Rake Magazine Interview: A True Leading Man – Feb 15, 2018

Categories Print Media Rumored TV/Film Projects

Richard II of England: Potential for Damian? – Feb 2, 2018

Richard II or Bolingbroke: Potential Work Lined Up for Damian?

by Jake Coyle | SF Gate | February 2, 2018
by Dalya Alberge | The Guardian | August 12, 2017

L: Richard II of England – R: Damian Lewis

Veteran director James Ivory claims financiers think he’s crazy for attempting the Shakespeare adaptation of Richard II. Despite 50 years of critical acclaim and Oscar recognition, plus British actors Tom Hiddleston and Damian Lewis lined up to star in his production, financiers are refusing to part with their money. “They look at you like you’re crazy,” he said. “There is an assumption that there is no money to be made from such an investment. A Shakespeare film does not grab the hearts of financiers, I can tell you,” he says. “At the moment I’m very optimistic it will happen.”

For the past several years and after stalled efforts, Ivory still hopes to direct a film version of Shakespeare’s Richard II, with a script penned by Chris Terrio (“Argo,” ”Justice League”) and envisions feature roles for Tom Hiddleston as Richard II and Damian Lewis as Bolingbroke.  Not all that unheard of since according to Damian’s filmography, he voiced Bolingbroke on a Richard II radio broadcast. In fact, James Ivory proposes Damian for the role of Bolingbroke in this March, 2018 video.

Both actors have extensive experience of Shakespeare. Hiddleston, who starred in the BBC’s award-winning The Night Manager is playing Hamlet this month in a Branagh stage production. Lewis appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company before television dramas such as Homeland, Wolf Hall and Billions.

Continue reading Richard II of England: Potential for Damian? – Feb 2, 2018

Categories Media Personal and Family Life Print Media

Damian Lewis: “I’m still trying to make it”, Epigram, May 20, 2013

Original article here

Interview: Damian Lewis

by Edward Carden
Saturday, 25 May 2013

I was fortunate enough to secure an interview with actor Damian Lewis for my student newspaper. This is the result:

A household name both sides of the Atlantic, Damian Lewis came to international prominence starring in Band of Brothers, furthering his reputation in The Forsyte SagaLife and numerous stage plays. A consummate actor of theatre, film and television, his recent triumph in Homeland won him a Golden Globe and an Emmy. I tried to uncover a few pearls of wisdom from the most exciting British actor of the moment. Continue reading Damian Lewis: “I’m still trying to make it”, Epigram, May 20, 2013

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Damian Lewis: Making it Big on Small Screen, The Irish Examiner, October 14, 2012

Making it big on the small screen

It’s been a slow and steady rise to stardom for Damian Lewis. But now he’s hit the jackpot with an Emmy win for his role in Homeland. He talks to Craig McLean about fame, fatherhood and fan clubs.

Continue reading Damian Lewis: Making it Big on Small Screen, The Irish Examiner, October 14, 2012

Categories Homeland Media Print Media

Interview: Damian Lewis, actor and star of The Sweeney, The Scotsman, September 2, 2012

Interview: Damian Lewis, actor and star of The Sweeney Damian Lewis, actor and star of The Sweeney.

12:56 Sunday 02 September 2012

FRESH from the US hit Homeland, which won him fans in high places, Damian Lewis is relishing his role in a great British classic set on his home turf Continue reading Interview: Damian Lewis, actor and star of The Sweeney, The Scotsman, September 2, 2012

Categories Homeland Media Print Media

Soldiering on: Damian Lewis in Homeland, The Telegraph, February 4, 2012

Soldiering on: Damian Lewis in Homeland

After his breakthrough 10 years ago in Band of Brothers, Damian Lewis’s finest work has been for television, his latest role that of a US Marine held captive for eight years

Damian Lewis in Homeland

Photo: Channel 4
Damian Lewis opens our conversation with a sheepish mention of his ardent admirers. ‘I’ve a set of fans who call themselves – you’re not allowed to laugh – Damian Bunnies.’ Their name seems to be a reference to those other copper-top characters, the Duracell Bunnies. They have been following him since his 2001 breakthrough in Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed Second World War series Band of Brothers, ‘and they’re absolutely lovely. In the end, I realised they knew so much about me, I let two of them run a fan site.’
Categories Media Print Media The Misanthrope

Fame Becomes Her: The Misanthrope’s Damian Lewis Chats About Co-Star Keira Knightley, Theatre.com, January 6, 2010

Fame Becomes Her: The Misanthrope‘s Damian Lewis Chats About Co-Star Keira Knightley

It’s tempting, but misleading, to think of the new London production of The Misanthrope as “The Keira Knightley Show,” if only because the movies’ popular “it girl” is making her West End debut at the Comedy Theatre with director Thea Sharrock’s production of the 17th-century classic. In fact, Knightley has a supporting role as an American film actress named Jennifer (the play’s Celimene updated to today’s celebrity culture) in this rewrite by Martin Crimp of the Moliere original. But it is leading man Damian Lewis, making his own West End debut, who does the heavy lifting as the misanthropic Alceste, a man who can’t help but calling life’s fakery as he sees it—and who has the dubious luck to fall hard for Jennifer. Broadway.com caught up with Lewis, newly returned to London after several years in L.A. starring on the TV show Life, in the midst of the festive season, where the gifted, ever-articulate Londoner spoke of many things, including his famous co-star.

Continue reading Fame Becomes Her: The Misanthrope’s Damian Lewis Chats About Co-Star Keira Knightley, Theatre.com, January 6, 2010

Categories Media Print Media The Misanthrope

Damian Lewis Interview for The Misanthrope, The Telegraph, November 24, 2009

Damian Lewis Interview for The Misanthrope

By Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph, November 24, 2009

Damian Lewis talks about appearing with Keira Knightley as she makes her West End debut in an updated version of Moliere’s The Misanthrope.

Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley - Damian Lewis in The Misanthrope

Damian Lewis could well be the luckiest actor in London. Or the unluckiest. Luckiest in that he’s about to play the lead in The Misanthrope, which – with tickets flying out of the box-office at record-breaking speed – must be accounted one of the most eagerly awaited West End openings of the year. Unluckiest because the main reason for all the mounting hullabaloo is his co-star – Keira Knightley.

While there’s no disputing the combined allure of the assembled cast – Tara Fitzgerald and Dominic Rowan are also names to conjure with – when it comes to added spice, Knightley’s promised theatrical debut is eye-wateringly hot stuff. The prospect of a live encounter with the ravishing Pirates of the Caribbean star, recently ranked the second highest paid actress in Hollywood, has tipped the internet exchange price for tickets into triple figures. We’re potentially in the same realm of hysteria as that which enveloped Jude Law’s Hamlet, when fans queued through the night for a chance to bag a day-seat.

If the flame-haired Lewis, 38, feels any anxiety or concern about the fact that Knightley looks set to be the centre of much frenzied attention in the coming weeks, he’s not confessing to it when we meet. His last stage appearance, as the inwardly tortured businessman Karsten Bernick in Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community earned him rave reviews at the National in 2005. The part of the people-hating Alceste – the biliously witty anti-hero reconceived as a hip playwright in Martin Crimp’s smart update of Moliere’s 1666 classic comedy – should cement his reputation as one of theatre’s finest talents. But will he get his chance to capitalise on the opportunity?

Read the rest of the article here.

Categories Life Media Print Media

Damian Lewis: Life, The Telegraph, October 25, 2008

Damian Lewis: Life

By Michael Deacon – The Telegraph – 25 October 2008

Damian Lewis

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

Categories Keane Media Print Media

Red Hot: The Irresistible Rise of Damian Lewis – Sept 8, 2006

Damian Lewis: The Chameleon Performer

by Liz Hoggard | The Independent | September 8, 2006

Damian Lewis is an intense chap, capable of conveying a huge range of emotions with the smallest gesture. He’s hotly tipped for an Oscar for his new film. And he’s a real gent. Just don’t call him posh, whatever you do.

“Ask him about that intense thing he does with his eyes,” a female journalist suggested when she heard I was interviewing the actor Damian Lewis. What’s striking about Lewis is how much he manages to convey by doing so very little. There is stillness about him on screen, a faraway look that can evoke anger or desire or – if you saw his rollicking performance as Benedict in BBC1’s modern-day version of Much Ado about Nothing – sheer hilarity.

The press love to brand Lewis as an arrogant posh boy. Like David Cameron, he went to Eton. But, among his generation of actors, no one does grief and repressed emotion so well. In Spielberg’s Second World War epic, Band of Brothers, he played an American soldier facing up to fear with a quiet certainty (it won him a Golden Globe nomination). He was the bewildered newlywed who doesn’t understand why his marriage is falling apart in Hearts and Bones. And in the remake of The Forsyte Saga, he did the unthinkable – making the brutal Soames sympathetic.

For several years now, 35-year-old Lewis has been a successful actor on the verge of becoming a major star. Unlike Ewan McGregor or Joseph Fiennes, his contemporaries at London’s Guildhall drama school, you might still walk past him in the street. But all that should change with the release of his new film Keane: his performance is already sparking Oscar rumours in the States.

Continue reading Red Hot: The Irresistible Rise of Damian Lewis – Sept 8, 2006