Original article here
Battle Royale
Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance revel in a new take on king and countryman in Masterpiece Theatre’s Wolf Hall.
Continue reading Battle Royale, Emmy Magazine, March 2015 Issue
Original article here
Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance revel in a new take on king and countryman in Masterpiece Theatre’s Wolf Hall.
Continue reading Battle Royale, Emmy Magazine, March 2015 Issue
As he plays a handsome Henry VIII, pacing his palaces as he negotiates a split with Rome, one might have thought Damian Lewis would turn to the history books for assistance.
But the actor has disclosed an unusual inspiration for his part in Wolf Hall: The Duke of Cambridge and his brother, Prince Harry.
Damian Lewis speaks onstage during the ‘MASTERPIECE Wolf Hall panel discussion at the PBS Network portion of the Television Critics Association press tour at Langham Hotel on January 19, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
“Henry [VIII] as a brand, is right up there with Coca Cola,” Damian Lewis said, of the oft-portrayed Tudor king he plays in PBS’s six-part miniseries Wolf Hall. “My vanity will always relish a challenge,” Lewis said, of trying to turn in a fresh performance of the historical figure. “In fact, that probably encourages me.”
Not so fresh, maybe, were his answers to question about his character, on stage this morning at Winter TV Press Tour 2015; his “syphilitic, philandering Elvis” line, in re how Henry VIII is most often perceived/portrayed, is getting a little worn out as Lewis make the press rounds to promote the project.
Continue reading Damian Lewis Says Henry VIII “As Big A Brand As Coca-Cola” – Jan 19, 2015
Will Henry VIII be Emmy winner Damian Lewis’ first, great post-Nick Brody role? Directed by Peter Kosminsky and written by Peter Straughan (one half of the Oscar-nominated “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” duo), this six-part BBC drama adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s hit novels “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” will broadcast stateside on PBS April 5.
Lewis plays the eighth Henry opposite top-shelf Shakespeare thespian Mark Rylance, playing the King’s ruthless counselor Thomas Cromwell. Claire Foy, Mark Gatiss, Charity Wakefield, Joanne Whalley and Jonathan Pryce, who was recently seen as a narcissistic asshole professor in Alex Ross Perry’s “Listen Up Philip,” head up the sprawling cast.
Sunday Express TV Editor David Stephenson has uploaded the audio of the Q&A interview panel that was done after a screening of Wolf Hall episode 1 back on December 10th. Damian Lewis, Mark Rylance, Claire Foy, director Peter Kosminsky, writer Peter Straughan, and executive producer Colin Callender were there for the interview. Damian comes in at the 19.08 mark.
Here are a couple write-ups from that Q&A:
The Telegraph – Wolf Hall TV show uses ‘too small’ Tudor codpieces
Deadline – ‘Wolf Hall’ Creatives & Cast On Codpieces, Tudor Politics And Killing Anne Boleyn
theartsdesk.com – Wolf Hall comes to BBC Two
Radio Times – Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky urges the nation not to “p**s away” the BBC
by Christopher Stevens – The Daily Mail – 15 January 2015
Should you have plans for Wednesday night, cancel them now. With its brilliant cast, sumptuous settings and jaw-dropping attention to detail, Wolf Hall — the BBC2 adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning Tudor novels — is the TV event of the year and must not be missed.
Of course, Henry VIII has been no stranger to our screens. The most notorious monarch in British history is also its an enduring TV star: the story of his six marriages as he strived for a male heir has gripped audiences again and again.
But Wolf Hall, a breathtaking series that uncovers the ferocious political battles at the heart of his court, may be his most magnificent portrayal yet.
Anne Boleyn schemes to be queen, the king dismantles the all-powerful monasteries and England’s enemies circle, waiting to destroy the nation.
To tell the story on such an epic scale requires a stellar cast . . . and Wolf Hall has it, headed by Homeland’s Damian Lewis as the king.
Stand by for a take, please. And we’re turning. Quiet, please. And action.’ Live trumpets sound at the entrance to Bristol Cathedral, before the heavy doors open to reveal Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn, silhouetted against the sunlight. Guards in red capes and gold sculpted breastplates frame her as she begins her slow approach down the blue-carpeted aisle towards the altar, her stiff silk train carried by ladies-in-waiting, the bulging belly that will one day be Elizabeth I played by a neat rounded cushion. She proceeds towards the bottom right-hand corner of the shot until she is out of focus. ‘Cut there!’
Damian Lewis, who plays the lesser character of Henry VIII in the adaptation. ‘He comes on occasionally, dazzles, and going away again,’ he says. PHOTO: Ed Miller
On the monitor, a clapperboard marks the take, and a flurry of activity ensues: a blur of taffeta dresses, the back of the director Peter Kosminsky’s head. The shot is replayed, silently. The long blue carpet is moved fractionally to the left. They start again. ‘Stand by for a take, please.’
It is July 3 2014 and Bristol Cathedral is doubling for Westminster Abbey in the BBC’s six-part drama Wolf Hall. Based on both of Hilary Mantel’s novels about the life of Thomas Cromwell – Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies – Kosminsky’s evocative and dazzlingly precise adaptation stars some of Britain’s very best actors and features many of its finest buildings, and is destined to be one of the most talked-about series on television this year.
by Gerard Gilbert – The Independent – January 9, 2015
Source: BBC
BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s award-winning novels begins this month. It’s only early January but it seems that we might already have the best new British drama of 2015 about to air, although some readers may need to suppress a yawn when it’s added that this is a BBC costume drama led by a great Shakespearian actor. Safe as houses?
Not so. Writer Peter Straughan and director Peter Kosminsky’s engrossing adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, starring Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII, reinvigorates a genre grown comfortable in its award-winning ways, shaking it up in a manner not seen since I Claudius in the 1970s.
Continue reading Wolf Hall: Bringing the Intrigue of the Tudor Court to Life – Jan 9, 2015
By Lucy Worsely
PUBLISHED: 17:01 EDT, 3 January 2015 | UPDATED: 04:31 EDT, 4 January 2015
You won’t find any left-handers in Henry’s court. Or extras in specs. Or XXL codpieces. Accuracy is king in the most eagerly anticipated TV event of the new year… but how does Wolf Hall stand up to the scrutiny of historian Lucy Worsley? Event joined her behind the scenes to find out
Continue reading Wolf Hall: Henry’s Horrible History, Daily Mail, January 3, 2015
BBC2, Original article at the Times
A post-Homeland Damian Lewis – now in tights and a codpiece for the BBC’s Wolf Hall – talks fame, class and family with Polly Vernon
Polly Vernon
January 3 2015, 4:50pm Continue reading From Eton to Wolf Hall, The Times Magazine, January 3, 2015
By Lucy Mapstone for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 07:39 EDT, 2 January 2015 | UPDATED: 13:58 EDT, 2 January 2015
Actor Damian Lewis says his elite upbringing, attending a leading public school, helped to prepare him for his portrayal of a king in Wolf Hall. Continue reading Wolf Hall, Damian Lewis: “I share character traits with him.” Daily Mail, January 2, 2015