Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis CBE (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor,[1] presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. He also portrayed U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.[2] His performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall earned him his third Primetime Emmy nomination and fourth Golden Globe nomination. He portrayed Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions in the first five seasons and appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as actor Steve McQueen.
Damian Lewis | |
|---|---|
Lewis in 2015 | |
| Born | Damian Watcyn Lewis 11 February 1971 St John's Wood, London, England |
| Alma mater | Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
Lewis was born on 11 February 1971 in St John's Wood, London, the eldest son of Charlotte Mary (née Bowater) and John Watcyn Lewis, a City insurance broker with Lloyd's.[3][4][5] His paternal grandparents were Welsh.[6] His maternal grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ian Bowater, Lord Mayor of London, and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand, Viscount Dawson of Penn (a doctor to the Royal Family) and the eminent naval shipbuilder (see Yarrow Shipbuilders) and philanthropist Sir Alfred Yarrow, 1st Baronet, who was of partial Sephardic Jewish descent.[7] He has stated that he "went to English boarding schools and grew up around people very much like [his character] Soames and in a milieu very much like the Forsytes'".[8]
As a child, Lewis made several visits to the US to visit relatives during summer breaks.[9][10] He first decided to become an actor at the age of 16.[5] He was educated at the independent Ashdown House School in Forest Row, East Sussex, and at Eton College.[3] He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993, after which he worked as an actor with 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] His first television appearance was as a medical student in "Hickory Dickory Dock", an episode of Poirot, broadcast in 1995.[13] He also appeared as a rakish student in an early episode of the drama series A Touch of Frost (1996). 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 (2001), the first role of several that required him to have a credible American accent.[9]
He was in the 2000 series called Hearts and Bones as the love interest of Dervla Kirwan. Subsequently, Lewis portrayed Soames Forsyte in the ITV series The Forsyte Saga, which earned him positive reviews.[14] He returned to the US to star in Dreamcatcher, a Lawrence Kasdan 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, Lewis's performance in the role was very well reviewed.[15][16][17]
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 the Shakespeare 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 American television series Life on NBC. The show premiered in the US 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.[18] 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 Jay Leno Show.[citation needed]
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.[19] Other cast members included Tara Fitzgerald, Keira Knightley and Dominic Rowan.
Lewis played Tory Prime Minister Simon Laity in two seasons of Number 10 on BBC Radio 4.[20][21]
He played Gareth, the father of an 11-year-old Liverpool F.C. fan, in the 2011 film Will.[22]
From 2011 to 2013, Lewis had a starring role as Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland.[23] In 2013, he narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an "interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri".[24]
From 2016 to 2021, he starred as billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions.[25]
Honours
Lewis was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama[26] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.[27][28]
Personal life
Lewis suffered a period of depression following a motorcycle accident in North London in 1998.[29][30]
Having previously dated Katie Razzall, Kristin Davis and Sophia Myles,[31] Lewis married actress Helen McCrory on 4 July 2007. They have a daughter, Manon (born 2006) and a son, Gulliver (born 2007).[32] McCrory died of cancer on 16 April 2021, aged 52.[33][34]
Lewis and his family left the UK in 2007 to live in Los Angeles while he worked on the NBC-TV crime drama Life. After completion of that series' final episode in 2009, they returned to the UK to live in a Victorian townhouse in Tufnell Park, north London.[3] They also have a house near Sudbury in Suffolk.[35]
In 2010, Lewis became a trade justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid.[36] 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.
Lewis is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.[37]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis and McCrory supported Feed NHS, a fundraiser to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff. By April 2020, they had raised £1m for the charity. The initiative started in London, but following its success, plans were announced to roll it out to other cities in the UK.[38]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Robinson Crusoe | Patrick | |
| 2003 | Dreamcatcher | Gary "Jonesy" Jones | |
| 2004 | Keane | William Keane | |
| Brides | Norman Harris | Original Greek Title: Νύφες | |
| 2005 | Chromophobia | Marcus Aylesbury | |
| An Unfinished Life | Gary Winston | ||
| 2006 | The Situation | Dan Murphy | |
| Stormbreaker | Yasha "Yassen" Gregorovich | Released in the US as Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker | |
| 2008 | The Baker | Milo "The Baker" Shakespeare | Also producer; also known as Assassin in Love |
| The Escapist | Rizza | ||
| 2011 | Your Highness | Boremont | |
| Will | Gareth | ||
| 2012 | The Sweeney | Detective Chief Inspector Frank Haskins | |
| 2013 | Romeo & Juliet | Lord Capulet | |
| 2014 | The Silent Storm | Balor McNeil | |
| 2015 | Queen of the Desert | Lt. Colonel Charles Doughty-Wylie, VC | |
| Bill | Sir Richard Hawkins | ||
| 2016 | Our Kind of Traitor | Hector | |
| 2019 | Run This Town[39] | Rob Ford | |
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Steve McQueen | ||
| 2020 | Dream Horse | Howard Davies |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Micky Love | Clive | Television movie |
| 1995 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Leonard Bateson | Episode: "Hickory Dickory Dock" |
| 1996 | A Touch of Frost | Adam Weston | Episode: "Deep Waters" |
| 1999 | Warriors | Lt. Neil Loughrey | Television movie |
| 2000 | Life Force | Kurt Glemser | 2 episodes |
| Hearts and Bones | Mark Rose | 8 episodes | |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Maj. Richard D. Winters | Miniseries |
| 2002–2003 | The Forsyte Saga | Soames Forsyte | 10 episodes |
| 2002 | Jeffrey Archer: The Truth | Jeffrey Archer | Television movie |
| 2003 | The Forsyte Saga: To Let | Soames Forsyte | Television movie |
| 2005 | Colditz | Cpl / Lt. Nicholas McGrade | 2 episodes |
| Friends and Crocodiles | Paul | Television movie | |
| Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | Television movie | |
| 2006–2020 | Have I Got News for You | Presenter | 7 episodes |
| 2007–2009 | Life | Charlie Crews | 32 episodes |
| 2011 | Stolen | D.I. Anthony Carter | Television movie |
| 2011–2014 | Homeland | Nicholas Brody | 38 episodes |
| 2015 | Wolf Hall | Henry VIII of England | Miniseries |
| 2016–2021 | Billions | Bobby Axelrod | 60 episodes |
| 2020 | Spy Wars | Host | Current |
| 2022 | A Spy Among Friends[40] | Nicholas Elliott | TV series; also acts as producer |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The School for Wives | Horace | Almeida Theatre |
| 1995 | Hamlet | Laertes | Belasco Theatre |
| 1998 | Much Ado About Nothing | Don John | Barbican Theatre |
| Into the Woods | Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince | Donmar Warehouse | |
| 2003–2004 | Five Gold Rings | Daniel | Almeida Theatre |
| 2009 | The Misanthrope | Alceste | Comedy Theatre |
| 2015 | American Buffalo | Teach | Wyndham's Theatre |
| 2017 | The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Martin Gray | Theatre Royal Haymarket |
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ "Homeland's Damian Lewis rooting for Wales in Six Nations". Independent.co.uk. 20 March 2013.
- ^ "Winners at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards". USA Today. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ a b c Collins, Lauren (2016). "Blue Blood, Blue Collar: Damian Lewis's transformations," The New Yorker, 18 January 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1990, ed. Charles Kidd, pg 759
- ^ a b Interview with The Sunday Express, 25 May 2003; accessed 22 December 2008.
- ^ Mottram, James. Damian Lewis interview with Marie Claire, 25 February 2008. accessed 14 January 2009.
- ^ . HighBeam Research. 5 November 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ . Public Broadcasting Service. 2002. Archived from the original on 15 February 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ a b c Iannotti, Lauren. "Esquire Style". Esquire, April 2003, 139 (4):120.
- ^ "Fighting Talk". New Woman, November 1999. republished at Damian-Lewis.com. accessed 22 December 2008.
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Prato, Alison. "Out on the Town with This Season's Breakout Stars", Maxim (October 2008); accessed 15 December 2008.
- ^ "Poirot" Hickory Dickory Dock (TV Episode 1995) - IMDb, retrieved 16 January 2023
- ^ Kelleher, Terry (14 October 2002), "The Forsyte Saga". People. 58 (16):36
- ^ Rozen, Leah (19 September 2005), "Keane". People. 64 (12):40
- ^ Kauffmann, Stanley (19 September 2005), "Heights and Depths". New Republic. 233 (12):28–29
- ^ Travers, Peter (6 October 2005) "Keane". Rolling Stone. (984):164
- ^ "AFI Awards 2008". American Film Institute. 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 11 January 2012.
- ^ Staff. "BBC Media Centre Programme Information – Afternoon Drama: Number 10". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ "Number 10". Radiolistings.co.uk. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ . 2 November 2011. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (21 December 2010). "Damian Lewis Cast As The Male Lead In Showtime's Pilot 'Homeland'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ "Damian Lewis Suits Up for New Showtime Drama Billions". People. 11 August 2015.
- ^ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b13.
- ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B10.
- ^ "Queen's Jubilee birthday honours: Damian Lewis, Stella McCartney and Clare Balding on list". BBC News. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ "Damian Lewis: my depression after motorbike crash". www.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "Wolf Hall's Damian Lewis on the one thing he has in common with Henry VIII". The Independent. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "Red hot: The irresistible rise of Damian Lewis". The Independent. 9 September 2006.
- ^ "The Mirror article". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ "Peaky Blinders actress Helen McCrory dies aged 52". BBC News. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Damian Lewis on grief, espionage and his new musical ambitions: 'When someone dies prematurely, you're left careering in a different direction'". Guardian. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ Jarvis, Gemma (27 March 2020). "Actors Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory urges Suffolk to "dig deep" after launching FeedNHS". East Anglian Daily Times.
- ^ "Actor Signs up to Christian Aid Trade Campaign".
- ^ McCoid, Sophie (25 May 2018). "Damian Lewis posts cringeworthy video as he travels to Champions League Final". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ "Homeland and Peaky Blinders stars raise nearly £1m to feed NHS workers". BBC News. BBC. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ Kit, Borys (10 April 2018). "Damian Lewis to Play Controversial Ex-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ White, Peter (6 October 2021). "Damian Lewis & Guy Pearce Lead Cold War Limited Series 'A Spy Among Friends' For Spectrum Originals & BritBox UK". Deadline. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
External links
- Damian Lewis at IMDb
- —A compilation of Rose's interviews with Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, the stars of the hit drama Homeland. 2 January 2014.