“Suddenly, the TV industry transformed itself and, arguably,
I was in the vanguard of that with Band of Brothers,” he continued. “For the
first time, someone was prepared to spend $120 million on a TV show, go and
film it abroad, hire local crews and local talent to make use of the tax break
— that’s starting to sound a bit like a film to me. Then, after that, Brits
were allowed to do American TV, Australians were allowed to do American TV. It
had always been a very American thing. I can only think of Pierce Brosnan on
Remington Steele. Sure, there was
the occasional Brit that showed up in things, but it just got opened up to us
and it’s because TV became this more independent-feeling art form and people
would go abroad to shoot. The whole thing is terrific for someone like me; I’m
just very lucky that it happened in this time.”
After HBO’s
acclaimed WWII miniseries Band of Brothers, Lewis starred in 2002’s 10-episode
retelling of The Forsyte Saga, 2003’s big-budget adaptation of Stephen King’s
Dreamcatcher, 2005’s powerful Keane, and Life, a 2007 NBC drama about a man who
is released from prison after 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit.
“After Band of
Brothers I was given opportunities and I just had a not very good experience being
in Hollywood,” Lewis said nonplused, the passing years having dulled the sting.
“At that point, I resolved to follow the good scripts, whether they be in film,
TV, theater, or radio. And I’ve done that — mostly. I think I’ll continue to
try to do that. I’m not very good at taking projects because there is some
perceived wisdom that this is what one does next. If it doesn’t speak to me, I
won’t do it. That’s the truth of it.”
If the industry
finds Lewis unwilling to play their game that’s because he carries with him the
lessons of years and projects past, and reminds himself as he would remind his
students: “Just remember that people have short memories. They will love you
while they love you, and then after that it’s ‘Damian who?’ That’s show business.
You’ve got to just concentrate on doing the thing that exercises you, energizes
you.”
Hollywood is — at
least for the time being — a much more hospitable environment for Lewis this
time around. “I have even more choice,” he said of the projects offered to him
with Homeland on his resume and a Best Actor Emmy on his shelf. “I made two or
three films, the scripts of which I really liked, and then I didn’t really read
any other film scripts I really liked. Gone are the days when you take a movie
because it’s a movie. Fifteen years ago, that’s what you did. You don’t do that
anymore because you could very quickly be in three very not good films and
that’s it — your Homeland window just closed. Because TV is now what it is, you
can choose TV and no one looks at you funny and says, ‘Why are you doing TV
instead of movies?’”
That notion led
Lewis to Wolf Hall, a six-part miniseries adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker
Prize-winning novels about Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), the conniving
confidant to King Henry VIII (Lewis) during his reign. “I loved the books, I
loved Hilary Mantel’s reimagined world, and a little bit of a reappraisal of
this central character, Thomas Cromwell, who — certainly if you’re a Catholic —
is second only to Satan,” Lewis said.
He was also
attracted to Mantel’s incarnation of the oft-played Henry VIII. “We find a man
who is not this great philandering, syphilitic Elvis,” said Lewis. “He’s a
rounded, complex, Renaissance prince who desperately wants a son and is
clearly, in our version of it, at times childlike, impetuous, explosive,
tender, and loving. It’s interesting to get a look at Henry in this rounded way
— and also quite a fresh way to approach Henry because he’s not the star at the
center of his own story. You tell a story about the Tudor court, Henry the VIII
is usually the starring role. Thomas Cromwell is the star here, so you get
snapshots of Henry and I think it gives us opportunities to show the man,
individual moments of him that I think will ring very clearly and loudly in a
different way.”
Through that
role, Lewis learned that sometimes you must rely on the gifts of others to
support and enhance the skills that you bring to the table. “It’s hard to play
a king,” Lewis said. “You realize that you have to let external things
influence your power. So, [they] put me in these extraordinary clothes — he’s
very much the peacock, always the most colorful man there. He’s always got a
bit more fur than anyone else, his codpiece is a little bit longer. Then, with
the brilliance of Mark and others, they play a slightly more deferential role.
Choosing when to make eye contact, choosing when not to make eye contact,
stillness, sometimes a measured quality in the delivery: All of those things
can help you with status. People who … feel no need to rush, they’re used to
being listened to and not interrupted. It’s finding different pace and rhythm.”
Lewis will next
return to a place he knows all too well, starring (alongside Paul Giamatti) in
an episodic television series for Showtime, Billions, a Wall Street drama
written and executive produced by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders)
and Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big to Fail). While Lewis learned the hard way what
can come from building a character piecemeal as scripts come in, it’s also an
exhilarating experience that he can’t wait to tackle again.
“I used to worry
that you won’t always know what’s going to happen in the story because, quite
frankly, sometimes the writers don’t know,” he said. “They have a broad
outline, but things shift and change from week to week. People come in with
ideas and they develop a slightly different storyline than they thought they
were going to. I’ve come to like the spontaneity of that. Getting a new episode
every 10 days is like going to bed, picking up your novel, and reaching the
next chapter. And it’s great fun to go, ‘Wow, I did not see that coming — and
now I’m going to play that!’”
Perhaps the most
important lesson Lewis has taken to heart is to confront the past and not run
from it.
“I put myself
back in the situation I was in before, which is always a slightly
ball-tightening moment,” he said, with a laugh, of committing to another
long-term series. “There’s no way of knowing how a show is going to turn out,
but it’s the same with film. You can sign up with some of the most respected
names in Hollywood and it can be a turkey.
“Everyone’s doing
their best, but things don’t always work out. It’s the same in everything you
do. I’m going to do a play in the West End (American Buffalo) and it’s David
Mamet, so it’s only ours to fuck up. I mean, we won’t try to — but we might!”
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| source damian-lewis.com |
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