Damian Lewis | |
---|---|
Born | Damian Watcyn Lewis 11 February 1971 London, England |
Education | Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1993–present |
Spouse | |
Partner | Alison Mosshart (2022–present) |
Children | 2 |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments |
|
Labels | Decca |
Damian Watcyn Lewis CBE (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers . Lewis won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland , and received nominations for his performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall . He portrayed Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions in six out of seven seasons, and appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as actor Steve McQueen.
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] and he says he considers himself "London Welsh". [7] 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) who killed George V and the eminent naval shipbuilder and philanthropist Sir Alfred Yarrow, 1st Baronet (see Yarrow Shipbuilders), who was of partial Sephardic Jewish descent. [8] Lewis has said 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 '". [9]
As a child, Lewis made several visits to the US to visit relatives during summer breaks. [10] [11] 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] and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993. [12]
Lewis once worked as a telemarketer selling car alarms. [13] His first television appearance was as a medical student in "Hickory Dickory Dock", a feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot , an ITV Studios TV production, broadcast in 1995. [14] 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.
At this time he was also working as an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing among other roles Borgheim in Adrian Noble's production of Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf and Posthumus Leonatus in William Shakespeare's Cymbeline . [15] He would later go on to star in another of Ibsen's plays, as Karsten Bernick in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre in November 2005. [16]
He also 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. [10]
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. [17] 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. [10] 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. [18] [19] [20]
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. [21] [22] [23]
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. [24] 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 . [25] [26]
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. [27] Other cast members included Tara Fitzgerald, Keira Knightley and Dominic Rowan. [28]
Lewis played Tory Prime Minister Simon Laity in two seasons of Number 10 on BBC Radio 4. [29] [30]
He played Gareth, the father of an 11-year-old Liverpool F.C. fan, in the 2011 film Will . [31]
From 2011 to 2013, Lewis had a starring role as Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland , for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. [32] In 2013, he narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an "interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri". [33]
In 2016 he began starring as billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions . [34] He left the show in 2021 after five seasons, but returned for half of season 7. In 2016 he appeared in the British spy film Our Kind of Traitor.
In 2024, he played a duel role as Peter Radley and his brother Will Radley, alongside Kelly Macdonald in the vampire comedy film The Radleys . [35] [36]
In an interview with The Guardian in October 2022, Lewis said that he had long-standing ambitions to be a musician, and had been collaborating with jazz artist Giacomo Smith, firstly on cover songs and then writing new material for an album that would be released in 2023: "I started writing and found out there was lots that I actually did want to write, and before we knew it we had a record’s worth of songs. We’ve ended up with a rootsy, jazzy, rock’n’rolly, singer-songwritery-type album." [37]
Lewis released his debut single, "Down On the Bowery", on 13 April 2023. [38] His debut album, Mission Creep, was released in June that year on Decca Records. [39]
On 9 July 2023, he sang the national anthem at the British Grand Prix, accompanied by a saxophonist. [40]
In 2009 Lewis featured in Inspired By Music, a book commissioned by The Prince's Trust, written and photographed by celebrity photographer Cambridge Jones, [41] and sponsored by Starbucks. [42] [43] It features personal reflections by 36 celebrities as well as four ordinary people helped by The Prince's Trust, [44] about musical lyrics that inspired them. [42] Lewis's photo portrait also featured in Jones's exhibition Talking Pictures, featuring famous people of Welsh descent, that toured the world from 2010. [45]
In 2010, Lewis became a trade justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid. [46] In May 2006, June 2016, June 2018, and June 2022, he played for England in Soccer Aid, [47] [48] [49] and played golf for Europe in the All*Star Cup in August 2006, both shown on ITV. [50]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis and his wife Helen 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. [51]
Lewis was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to drama [52] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. [53] [54]
Lewis' portrayal of U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers earned him a Golden Globe nomination. [55]
Lewis' performance as U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 2012. [56]
His performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall earned him his third Primetime Emmy nomination and fourth Golden Globe nomination. [57] [58]
Lewis suffered a period of depression following a motorcycle accident in north London in 1998. [59] [60]
Having previously dated Katie Razzall, Kristin Davis, and Sophia Myles, [61] Lewis married actress Helen McCrory on 4 July 2007. They have a daughter and a son. [62] McCrory died of cancer on 16 April 2021, aged 52. [63] [37]
Lewis is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. [64]
Since 2022, he is in a relationship with singer Alison Mosshart. [65] [66] [67]
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 | |
2007 | 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 [68] | Rob Ford | |
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Steve McQueen | ||
2020 | Dream Horse | Howard Davies | |
2024 | The Radleys | Peter Radley / Will Radley | [35] [36] [69] |
TBA | Pressure | Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery | Filming |
TBA | Fackham Hall | Lord Davenport | Filming |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Micky Love | Clive | Television film |
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 film |
2000 | Life Force | Kurt Glemser | 5 episodes |
Hearts and Bones | Mark Rose | Main role (season 1) | |
2001 | Band of Brothers | Maj. Richard D. Winters | Miniseries |
2002 | Jeffrey Archer: The Truth | Jeffrey Archer | Television film |
2002–2003 | The Forsyte Saga | Soames Forsyte | Main role |
2003 | The Forsyte Saga: To Let | Soames Forsyte | Television film |
2005 | Colditz | Cpl / Lt. Nicholas McGrade | 2 episodes |
Friends and Crocodiles | Paul | Television film | |
Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | Television film | |
2006–2020 | Have I Got News for You | Presenter | 7 episodes |
2007–2009 | Life | Charlie Crews | Main role |
2011 | Stolen | D.I. Anthony Carter | Television film |
2011–2014 | Homeland | Nicholas Brody | Main role |
2015 | Wolf Hall | Henry VIII | Miniseries |
2016–2023 | Billions | Bobby Axelrod | Main role (seasons 1-5, 7) |
2019 | Spy Wars | Host | 8 episodes |
2022 | A Spy Among Friends [70] | Nicholas Elliott | Main role; also producer |
2024 | Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light | Henry VIII | Miniseries |
Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
---|---|---|---|
1994 | The School for Wives | Horace | Almeida Theatre |
1995 | Hamlet | Laertes | Belasco Theatre |
1996 | Little Eyolf [15] | Borgheim | Swan Theatre |
1997 | Cymbeline [15] | Posthumus Leonatus | Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
1998 | Much Ado About Nothing | Don John | Barbican Theatre |
Into the Woods | The Wolf Cinderella's Prince | Donmar Warehouse | |
2003–2004 | Five Gold Rings | Daniel | Almeida Theatre |
2005 | Pillars of the Community [16] | Karsten Bernick | National 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 |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Mission Creep |
|
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Down On the Bowery" [38] | 2023 | Mission Creep |
"Zaragoza" | ||
"Makin' Plans" | ||
"She Comes" [1] |
Title | Year | Credited artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"William I - Introduction by Damien Lewis" | 2021 | Damian Lewis | Music of Kings and Queens |
"Henry VIII - Introduction by Damien Lewis" | |||
"Charles II - Introduction by Damien Lewis" | |||
"George II - Introduction by Damien Lewis" | |||
"George VI - Introduction by Damien Lewis" |
Mandel "Mandy" Bruce Patinkin is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television, and film. As a critically acclaimed Broadway performer he has collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Patinkin's leading roles on stage and screen have received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for seven Drama Desk Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Natascha Abigail Taylor, known professionally as Natascha McElhone, is an English actress. In film, she has starred in the action thriller Ronin (1998), the psychological comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the science fiction drama Solaris (2002). On television, she has starred in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014), the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor (2016–2017), the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018), the Netflix historical series The Crown (2022) and the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Awards, two Grammy Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Andrew Scott is an Irish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Television Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards, along with nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
Rupert William Anthony Friend is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine (2004) and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He portrayed George Wickham in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lieutenant Kurt Kotler in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Albert, Prince Consort in The Young Victoria (2009), psychologist Oliver Baumer in Starred Up (2013), CIA operative Peter Quinn in the political thriller series Homeland (2012–2017), Vasily Stalin in The Death of Stalin (2017), Theo van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018), and Ernest Donovan in the series Strange Angel (2018–2019).
Howard Gordon is an American screenwriter and producer.
Helen Elizabeth McCrory was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her professional stage debut in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1990. Other theatre roles include playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Rosalind in As You Like It in the West End, and Medea in the eponymous play at the Royal National Theatre.
Peter Julian Robin Morgan is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has covered extensively in all major media. He has received a number of accolades including five BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. In February 2017, Morgan was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship.
Alison Nicole Mosshart is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and the lead vocalist for the rock bands The Kills and The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discount which disbanded in 2000. She then co-founded the Kills with British guitarist Jamie Hince in 2000 in London.
Nicholas Joseph Braun is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Hirsch in the HBO series Succession (2018–2023), for which he has received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He has also appeared in several films, including Sky High (2005), Princess Protection Program (2009), Red State (2011), Prom (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), The Watch (2012), Date and Switch (2014), How to Be Single (2016), Zola (2021) and Cat Person (2023).
Susanna White is a British television and film director.
Homeland is an American espionage thriller television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War which was created by Gideon Raff, who serves as an executive producer on Homeland. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Brody was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, and Mathison becomes convinced that he was "turned" by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States. The series storyline grows from that premise, together with Mathison's ongoing covert work.
The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2011, until May 31, 2012, were held on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. ABC televised the ceremony in the United States. Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Primetime Emmys for the first time. Kimmel and Kerry Washington announced the nominations on July 19, 2012. Nick Offerman was originally scheduled to co-announce the nominations, but had to cancel due to travel delays. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 15 and was televised on September 22, 2012, on ReelzChannel.
"Pilot" is the first episode of the psychological thriller TV series Homeland. It originally aired on Showtime on October 2, 2011.
The first season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on October 2, 2011, on Showtime and concluded on December 18, 2011, consisting of 12 episodes. The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. The first season follows Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who has come to believe that Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine Sergeant, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy and now poses a significant risk to national security.
The second season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on September 30, 2012 on Showtime and concluded on December 16, 2012, consisting of 12 episodes. The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
Wolf Hall is a British television series adaptation of two of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, a fictionalised biography documenting the life of Thomas Cromwell.
The Bottle Yard Studios is a British film and television production studio facility in Bristol, South West England. It is the largest dedicated production space in the West of England. As of November 2022, it has offered a total of 11 stages across two sites.
The Radleys is a 2024 British comedy horror film directed by Euros Lyn and written by Talitha Stevenson, based on the 2010 novel by Matt Haig. It stars Damian Lewis, Kelly Macdonald, Harry Baxendale, Bo Bragason, and Jay Lycurgo, Siân Phillips and Shaun Parkes.
{{cite book}}
: |website=
ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)Cambridge Jones's "Talking Pictures" appears at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts through Nov. 27. The exhibit will launch in early 2011 at the Chateau Marmont before moving to The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery March 3.