Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis
OBE
Lewis at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, February 2015
Born Damian Watcyn Lewis
(1971-02-11) 11 February 1971
St John's Wood, London, England
Nationality British
Alma mater Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation Actor, film producer
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s)
Helen McCrory (m. 2007)
Children 2

Damian Watcyn Lewis, OBE (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor and producer. He played U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and also portrayed U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland (which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award).[1] His performance as King Henry VIII in Wolf Hall earned him his third Primetime Emmy nomination and fourth Golden Globe nomination. He currently plays Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions (2016-present).

Early life

Lewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the elder son of Charlotte Mary (née Bowater) and John Watcyn Lewis, a City insurance broker with Lloyd's.[2][3][4][5] His paternal grandparents were Welsh.[6] His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Sir Ian Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Lord Dawson of Penn (a doctor to the Royal Family) and the philanthropist Alfred Yarrow.[4][7] He has stated that he "went to English boarding schools and grew up around people very much like Soames and in a milieu very much like the Forsytes'".[8]

As a child, Lewis made several visits to the U.S. to visit relatives during his summers.[9][10] He first decided to become an actor at age 16.[5] He was educated at the independent Ashdown House School in Forest Row, East Sussex, and at Eton College. He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993, after which he served as a stage actor for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

During his time with the RSC, he played Borgheim in Adrian Noble's production of Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf and Posthumus in William Shakespeare's Cymbeline. He also starred in another of Ibsen's plays, as Karsten Bernick in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre in November 2005.[11]

Career

Lewis once worked as a telemarketer selling car alarms, a job he detested.[12] He appeared in Robinson Crusoe (1997) as Patrick Conner. He appeared in Jonathan Kent's production of Hamlet, playing Laertes. This production was seen by Steven Spielberg, who later cast Lewis as Richard Winters in Band of Brothers, the first role of several that required him to have a credible American accent.[9]

Subsequently, Lewis portrayed Soames Forsyte in the ITV series The Forsyte Saga, which earned him rave reviews.[13] He returned to the US to star in Dreamcatcher, a Stephen King film about a man who becomes possessed by an evil alien. The character is American but when possessed he takes on a British accent.[9] On the heels of this role, he starred in Keane as a Manhattanite with a fragile mental state who is searching for his missing daughter. Despite the film's poor box-office performance, the role won Lewis rave reviews.[14][15][16]

He played Jeffrey Archer in the TV special Jeffrey Archer: The Truth. Since 2004, he has appeared in a number of films, as well as the 2005 BBC TV adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, as part of the ShakespeaRe-Told season. Lewis played the role of Yassen Gregorovich in the film Stormbreaker. In 2006, he appeared in Stephen Poliakoff's BBC drama Friends and Crocodiles. He has appeared on BBC's Have I Got News for You as guest host several times; on 10 November 2006, 1 May 2009, 18 November 2010, 27 April 9 November 2012 and 31 October 2014.

In 2008, Lewis starred as the main character Charlie Crews in the US television series Life on NBC. The show premiered in the U.S. on 26 September 2007 and was affected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Only half of the first season's shows were produced. Regardless, the show won a 2008 AFI Award for best television series.[17] Although the show received critical acclaim, when it returned the following television season, it was shuffled from night to night, and eventually cancelled by NBC to clear its time slot for the less expensive nightly programme, The Jay Leno Show.

Lewis appeared, the following year, in the lead role in The Baker, a film directed by his brother, Gareth. Damian took a supporting role of Rizza in The Escapist, which he also helped produce. He led the cast in Martin Crimp's version of Molière's comedy, The Misanthrope, which opened in December 2009 at the Comedy Theatre, London.[18] Other cast members included Tara Fitzgerald, Keira Knightley and Dominic Rowan.

Since 2010, Lewis has played Tory Prime Minister Simon Laity in two seasons of Number 10 on BBC Radio 4.[19][20]

He played Gareth, the father of an 11-year-old Liverpool F.C. fan, in the 2011 film Will.[21]

From 2011 to 2013, Lewis had a starring role as Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland.[22] In 2013, he narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an "interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri".[23]

Since 2016, he stars as billionaire Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions.[24]

Lewis was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[25]

Personal life

On 4 July 2007, Lewis married actress Helen McCrory. They have a daughter, Manon (born 8 September 2006), and a son, Gulliver (born 2 November 2007).[26] Lewis and his family left England in the latter half of 2007 to live in Los Angeles, California, while he worked on the NBC-TV crime drama Life. However, after the completion of that series' final episode in early 2009, he, his wife, and children returned to England to reside in a Victorian townhouse located in Tufnell Park, in north London.[27]

In March 2010, Lewis became a trade justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid. In May 2006 and June 2018, he played for England in Soccer Aid, and played golf for Europe in the All*Star Cup in August 2006, both shown on ITV.

Damian Lewis is an avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997Robinson CrusoePatrick
2003DreamcatcherGary "Jonesy" Jones
2004KeaneWilliam Keane
BridesNorman HarrisOriginal Greek Title: Νύφες
2005ChromophobiaMarcus Aylesbury
An Unfinished LifeGary Winston
2006The SituationDan Murphy
StormbreakerYasha "Yassen" GregorovichReleased in the US as Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
2008The BakerMilo "The Baker" ShakespeareAlso producer; also known as Assassin In Love
The EscapistRizza
2011Your HighnessBoremont
WillGareth
2012The SweeneyDetective Chief Inspector Frank Haskins
2013Romeo & JulietLord Capulet
2014The Silent StormBalor McNeil
2015Queen of the DesertLt. Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, VC
BillSir Richard Hawkins
2016Our Kind of TraitorHector
2019 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Steve McQueen Filming
Run This Town[28]Rob FordFilming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1993Micky LoveCliveTelevision movie
1995Agatha Christie's PoirotLeonard BatesonEpisode: "Hickory Dickory Dock"
1996A Touch of FrostAdam WestonEpisode: "Deep Waters"
1999WarriorsLt. Neil LoughreyTelevision movie
2000Life ForceKurt Glemser2 episodes
2000Hearts and BonesMark Rose8 episodes
2001Band of BrothersMaj. Richard D. Winters10 episodes
2002–2003The Forsyte SagaSoames Forsyte10 episodes
2002Jeffrey Archer: The TruthJeffrey ArcherTelevision movie
2003The Forsyte Saga: To LetSoames ForsyteTelevision movie
2005ColditzCpl / Lt. Nicholas McGrade2 episodes
2005Friends and CrocodilesPaulTelevision movie
2005Much Ado About NothingBenedickTelevision movie
2006–2014Have I Got News for YouHimself6 episodes
2007–2009LifeCharlie Crews32 episodes
2011StolenD.I. Anthony CarterTelevision movie
2011–2014HomelandNicholas Brody31 episodes
2015Wolf HallHenry VIII of England6 episodes
2016–presentBillionsBobby Axelrod36 episodes

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ "Winners at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards". USA Today. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Damian Lewis's Transformations".
  3. ↑ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1990, ed. Charles Kidd, pg 759
  4. 1 2 Profile at thePeerage.com; accessed 14 January 2009.
  5. 1 2 Interview with The Sunday Express, 25 May 2003; accessed 22 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Mottram, James. Damian Lewis interview with Marie Claire, 25 February 2008. accessed 14 January 2009.
  7. ↑ Fascinating Fact 4144. Contact Music, 21 October 2007; accessed 14 January 2009.
  8. ↑ "An Interview with Damian Lewis". Public Broadcasting Service. 2002. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 Iannotti, Lauren. "Esquire Style". Esquire, April 2003, 139 (4):120.
  10. ↑ "Fighting Talk". New Woman, November 1999. republished at Damian-Lewis.com. accessed 22 December 2008.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Prato, Alison. "Out on the Town with This Season’s Breakout Stars", Maxim (October 2008); accessed 15 December 2008.
  13. ↑ Kelleher, Terry (14 October 2002), "The Forsyte Saga". People. 58 (16):36
  14. ↑ Rozen, Leah (19 September 2005), "Keane". People. 64 (12):40
  15. ↑ Kauffmann, Stanley (19 September 2005), "Heights and Depths". New Republic. 233 (12):28–29
  16. ↑ Travers, Peter (6 October 2005) "Keane". Rolling Stone. (984):164
  17. ↑ "AFI Awards 2008". American Film Institute. 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  18. ↑ "The Misanthrope's London production". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012.
  19. ↑ Staff. "BBC Media Centre Programme Information – Afternoon Drama: Number 10". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  20. ↑ "Number 10". Radiolistings.co.uk. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Why we chose LFC and Istanbul". 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  22. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (21 December 2010). "Damian Lewis Cast As The Male Lead In Showtime's Pilot 'Homeland'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  23. ↑ "The Love Book App, poetry read by great actors".
  24. ↑ "Damian Lewis Suits Up for New Showtime Drama Billions". People. 11 August 2015.
  25. ↑ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b13.
  26. ↑ "''The Mirror'' article". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  27. ↑ Collins, Lauren (2016). "Blue Blood, Blue Collar: Damian Lewis's transformations," The New Yorker, 18 January 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  28. ↑ "Damian Lewis to Play Controversial Ex-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in Drama".
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