Pic of the day or battle of the day:-)

copyright:showtime

Quiz Quiz!!!!

Wow doesn't a week fly by?

Its Wednesday quiz day again and this week I have asked the lovely Sabrina to chose a film and character day, so this one has been chosen by her!

Can you name the Character Damian is playing here and what Film? The answer as always will be on Fridays blog so DONT MISS IT x

In the meantime if you log on to www.damian-lewis.com and go to the gallery, you'll find the answer there!

source: damian-lewis.com

Tea and a Mag....Yahoo News said:

Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti Give Us 2 Reasons to Watch 'Billions'

There are already two great reasons to watch Billions — specifically the leading men, Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. But a new teaser trailer for the series, which will premiere on Showtime in early 2016, gives us a billion more reasons to be excited for this financial world drama. Those reasons include timely subject matter, beautiful New York cinematography, and glimpses at a supporting cast that includes Malin Akerman and Maggie Siff. Oh yeah, and it also boasts one of the best lines of dialogue we’ve heard all year. Toward the end of the trailer, Lewis says, “What’s the point of having f–k you money if you never say ‘F–k you’?” (Did we mention that the trailer is most definitely NSFW?)

Billions stars Giamatti as an ambitious U.S. Attorney who makes it his personal mission to bring down Lewis’s business magnate, Bobby Axelrod. It’s an admirable goal, but also a foolhardy one as Axelrod has friends in high places and a general disregard for government. If a mere minute of watching these two Emmy-winning acting titans go toe-to-toe is this much fun, just imagine how great 12 one-hour episodes will be.  

Billions will premiere on Showtime in early 2016.   

Inspired by Music book...Damian Lewis

"When I was a child, we used to spend summers in a beautiful big country house in Norfolk near Hunstanton. There was an attic that my brother and I would escape to and listen to music.

 They were summers full of the sounds of Madness (the first time round) and The Beatles (not the first time round). I was about ten. In truth, I might easily choose any one of their songs but as I sat daydreaming, looking out of the attic window, one song not so much inspired me as always haunted me and that song was Eleanor Rigby. As a young boy, it was a collection of sounds and images only. 

But even then, at the age of ten, it was startling to hear a song open with a choral: "Ah, look at all the lonely people." Even more startling to hear that Eleanor "wears the face that she keeps in a jar by the door ...." Now of course as I sit daydreaming and staring out of windows, something I am almost always doing when sitting at my desk, the song has a clear resonance: it is a song about solitude, but more tellingly, loneliness. 

It is a beautiful song charged with a pulsing melancholy. As a ten-year-old, I would listen quite literally to the lines: "All the lonely people, where do they all come from, All the lonely people, where do they all belong?" Now when I lsten to them, I think more of how terrible loneliness is. That no one should be allowed to be lonely. That no one should be buried "... along with their name." The most important thing we can do is interact with one another. To embrace one another with all our faults. It comes with frustrations, sure. But nothing is as awful as loneliness."

Meet the Axelrod's

So far we can see a strong, aggressive and very strong character (ok sexy too, I know your thinking it) emerging from the new show Billions.  Like me I am sure you cannot wait to have it hit your TV screens in the new year, some of you are luckier than others as you will see it before us, but come January I am sure the tweets will be coming in thick and fast on how much we love this new Damian Lewis character.   I can't believe how quickly its coming round till the big day, well night, we have a couple of months then Christmas and before we know where we are Billions will be on - Hooray I hear you say, or was that just the happy Damian place in my head screaming lol.

So what else do we think we can expect from this wonderful new character.  Rich, er yes well thats an obvious one, strong and aggressive? well again we can see this from the trailer too, Bobby seems to not care what he says or even who he says it to, but one thing we have not yet looked into is him being a Family man..... Bobby has a family a wife and kids, two boys..... Will they have the Axelrod attitude or will they be sweet kind boys... It seems that his wife is feisty and not afraid to say how she feels so something tells me that the Axelrod boys won't be the sweet little kids that the Rohdes family  seem to have.  

I am really looking forward to  meeting our new family, the last family we had to get used to were the  dis functional Brody's and now we are about to meet the Axelrod's, possibly as dis functional but who cares I cannot wait.................

Source - showtime

Pic of the day

American Buffalo and Emma:-)

So its now months ago since American Buffalo shut its tatty doors of the junk shop that was owned by Don Dubrow. I already miss the characters Don, Bob and of course Teach.  Before American Buffalo I have to be honest that although I have seen Damian Lewis in pretty much every TV show and film he has don,  this was the very first time I have seen him live on stage acting, and I have to say I was blown away.

Damian Lewis is an amazing actor, no I have not just stated the obvious, I am merely confirming what we all know! But on stage he is sensational, John Goodman and Tom Sturidge were also great in the play, but when Damian performed it was like the whole audience were captivated by him.

 Teach is a great character and I don’t think anyone else would be good for that role.  American Buffalo has been a large part of my life this year, when I booked the tickets with my partner in crime Sabrina back in December (I think) I had no idea back then how much a part of my life the Damian lewis fan blog is, how big the site has become and of course how lucky I am to have such an amazing friend like Sabrina to share this great journey with.  I am so excited about seeing Damian on stage again and after Billions I hope we don't have to wait too long…...

Quiz Answer

So did you get it right??? The answer was Hearts and Bones.

A TV Drama about a group of friends who move from Coventry in the Midlands of England to London, Damian Lewis stars along side well know actresses, Amanda Holden and Sarah Parish as well as many other well known actors.  Damian Stars with Sarah Parish again in Shakespeare Re told, Much a Do about Nothing only a few years later.  Damian Character is called Mark Rose who is Married to Emma however is really in love with Marks brother Richard who is played by Hugo Spear.  I enjoyed watching the 2 series made, although dated it has a good story line and shows that Damian not only can act on the big screen he is great as a down to earth every day character too.

source:damian-lewis.com

Pic of the day

NR.10 or Prime Minister Simon Laity

Number 10 was a series made for BBC radio and had a brilliant script and idea.

As I told you before I love audio books and radio drama series and this is a well

made radio drama with fabulous speakers and a edgy script written by Jonathan Myerson

and produced by Cliff Brill.

Number 10. is a series about a fictional prime minister and his staff.

Its very well played and Damian Lewis came on board this radio drama in its third

season speaking or playing Simon Laity a politician who wants to become the new prime

minister for the labour party and after season three Simon Laity moves in to Number 10.

as the new Prime Minister.

Simon Laity is not only the new Prime Minister but he’s also gay a fact that is unfortunately

still something that could hinder you to get the well paid jobs and the important political

leadership positions but Simon Laity gets it and moves into Downing Street together with

his partner and by the end of season four the relationship becomes a new level

because of certain circumstances and you witness moving and caring dialogs as well as

aggressive arguments a partnership inhabits when it’s on the edge and one of the two

has to make a decision…

Number 10 is timely , interesting and a pleasure to listen to!

Do You Know Damian??

Its Quiz Time!!!! Who is Damian Playing here and what series is it?
The answer will be revealed on Fridays Blog so stay tuned......

source:damain-lewis.com

Pic of the day

Tea and a Mag

Tea and Mag

  I Can't Believe I'm Getting Paid For What I've Always Wanted To Do'

Damian Lewis talks to Gabrielle Donnelly about work, marriage -- and why he'd like to star in a romance.

by Gabrielle Donnelly, Woman's Weekly, July 30, 2013

On screen, Damian Lewis tends to specialise in characters that, frankly, would make your heart sink if your daughter brought them home. They're either withdrawn (Major Winters in Band Of Brothers), tortured (Soames in The Forsyte Saga) or impossibly complicated (Nicholas Brody in Homeland). So it's a bit of a treat to find that, off screen, he resembles nothing so much as a friendly ginger-haired puppy, all jokes, windmill-armed impressions of himself and other actors, and self-deprecatory comments delivered in his real-life accent -- neither American nor old-Etonian (which he is), but down-to-earth London with, endearingly, a hint of his Welsh grandparents.

Softly spoken, and with piercing blue eyes,  he sits in front of me…

"Whether it's Homeland or Romeo & Juliet, great writing has great subtext, meaning there isn't just one thing going on at any one time," he enthuses. "Having so many things happening makes it very interesting to play. Of course, there were some days on Homeland when there was so much going on, I had no clue what I was supposed to be doing, so I just looked slightly blank and everyone thought 'Brody's being complicated,' which is great!"

source damian-lewis.com

Quiz Answer

So did you get it right? 

in 2002 Damian plays MP Jeffery Archer alongside Gretta Scacchi who plays a rather attractive ex Maggie Thatcher.

The film is a satirical look at the 'secret' TRUE life of Jeffrey Archer. The Truth, the whole truth and everything BUT the truth.  An amusing film written by Guy Jenkin.

I recall at the Times Talks Damian spoke about this project which sounded like a lot of fun to make.

Check out www.damian-lewis.com to see more pics and info on this project.

source- www.damian-lewis.com

Pic's for your weekend:-)

Its...... Quiz Time.

Can you work out what film and character a not so red head Damian is in below?

The answer will be revealed on Fridays blog so don't miss it

source - www.damian-lewis.com

Follow us on Twitter @emsjbabb and @DamianLewisCom

Pic of the day

Damien Lewis - All Shook Up

start the day with a smile:-)

Damian Lewis....and Emma re read her entry:-)

Emmas fan story....

It was September 2012 and I was getting a train into London with two friends to do a charity walk for cancer research - on the way into London we were discussing the TV that was on the night before and my two friends were discussing "Homeland" "noooooo" I said to them "I don't watch it" both friends agreed i was mad and would love it especially the main character Damian Lewis?? Who? We then googled him so I could see what they were on about! Yeah he's ok!  The next day I then asked my husband to download Homeland seasons 1 and 2! He was also interested in watching it as he had been told it was an excellent series we were missing out!
WOW not only was it one of the most fantastic things I had ever watched, I was officially a Damian Lewis fan! I got straight into the Internet to google what else this fantastic actor had appeared in! I knew I recognised him from The Sweeney which we had only seen a couple of weeks before,  but so many other things I had seen and not realised he was even in, including "Hearts and Bones" a very 1990's series on the BBC and a BBC film called "Stolen" which I had missed and recently watched thanks to my fabulous friend in Germany who sent it to me.  I then went on to watch "Life" which I think Is one of my favourite things Damian has done closely followed by the Baker, or Assassin in Love if your from the states.  I then found the fantastic website DAMIAN-LEWIS.COM which had some great photos and info on there to help feed my addiction.... From this I found the twitter site along with the twitter fan site and thanks to them, in may this year I was able to go to the Times Talks in London where Damian was interviewed - and even luckier that I was able to ask him a question at the end, and whilst in the que found someone who is now one of my best friends and work colleagues
There are so many reasons why I am a fan, not only because of his handsome face, his charming manner and of course his amazing acting but because he comes across as such a kind and nice person too and if it were not for him I would never have found my friend xxx

personal note: thank you Em,will never forget the start of all that....look forward to share more moments with you.thanks for a beautiful journey.S

I'm Henry the VIII.......

As its the week of the Emmy's and Damian has been nominated for one for his role as Henry in Wolf Hall, it has made me think back to when I was a little girl and we did a tudor school play.

I have not thought about this particular time in my life for years.  I was about 10 and we were told by our history teacher that we were going to do a school play on The Tudors as we had spent a whole term learning about them and wanted to show all the parents what we had learned.  We were all given parts to play and I got the part of a peasant street person (My drama was awful - not the greatest of actors, the closest I would get to an Emmy is my name lol) - at the age of 10 you can imagine what I must have looked like in the full tudor costume, dirty looking face and blacked out teeth.

Source: damian-lewis.com

The rest of the memory is a bit of a blur but all I can remember is this kid called Jack who played the part of Henry, not because of his fantastic acting skill but because he was the only ginger child in the school who could play the part - Jack's Mum had made his the most excellent outfit and I remember more than anything his fake ginger beard that he had made out of some felt fabric and the poor boy completely lost his lines just as his beard fell off.

The song is the thing that I don't think I will ever forget - about 30, ten year old kids dressed up as Tudors, all singing "I'm Henry the eighth I am I am, I'm Henry the eighth I am"

I wonder if Jack ever thinks of that play!

wow that was 32 years ago!!!!!!!

source: damian-lewis.com

Pic of the day

Eton Emma explains it to you:-)

Eton is one of nine English independent schools, commonly referred to as a "Public School" Following the public school tradition, Eton is a full boarding school, which means all pupils live at the school, and it is one of four such remaining single-sex boys' public schools in the UK.   Eton has educated nineteen British Prime Ministers.  Eton is the 6th most expensive boarding school in the UK.  Many an actor has been to Eton including our own Damian Lewis, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Dominic West.  Did you know fictional character James Bond 007 was also said to have been educated at Eton too.


When Damian Lewis had an interview when he received his OBE back in November 2014, he spoke about the educational establishment, previously Damian told Esquire magazine "Suddenly these little kingpins arrived from their own schools, your surrounded by the best of the best" he went on to say "Eton is an extraordinary place, and its interesting because unless you are going to Oxford or Cambridge, you feel a bit like you have been to the best university already."

However after receiving the honour, Damian said his time at the school had prepared him well for taking on his role as Henry V111 in the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall which aired earlier this year on BBC2.

weekend picture

So who was this young Damian character?

The answer is Clive and he was a character who played a young TV  runner in Mickey Love, Damian was in this film for a few minutes, but long enough to see the flock of red hair.  The film stared the late and very talented Rik Mayall who I was a huge fan of when I was growing up - he was in great British comedies such as the Young Ones, The New Statesman, An American Werewolf in London and a great film called Drop Dead Fred , a huge loss to British comedy when he died last year.

Below is a short synopsis on the film.  I remember watching it myself in the 90's not knowing I was watching a certain Damian Lewis who was destined for bigger things.

"Mickey Love is an aging television quiz show host who after climbing his way back to the top after conquering alcoholism has hosted the highly rated "Family Values" for over ten years. But when he hears a false rumor that his show will be axed to make way for a new one to be hosted by young upstart Greg Deane. Mickey bitterly resorts to desperate measures to cling on to his career. Little does Mickey know however is that his bosses actually have something else in store for him. "            

Character Wednesay

So who is this character? and what is the British TV film he was in
Catch up on Friday for the answer.........

Pic of the day

still one of our proudest moments:-)

Tea and a Mag... Damian's London

Damian Lewis: My London (2005)
The Evening Standard ES Magazine, October 28, 2005


Where do you live and why?
Camden. I've always liked this part of London. I remember, when I was younger, I used to make it along to the Electric Ballroom in Camden High Street on a Friday night and jump up and down to the rock music.

How long have you lived there?
I've lived in North London all my life. I grew up in St. John's Wood, although I was at boarding school a lot of the time. Afterwards, I returned to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I was at Guildhall at the same time as Joseph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor and Jude Law.

What was the last play you saw in London and did you enjoy it?
As You Like It at Wyndhams Theatre with my girlfriend Helen McCrory and Sienna Miller. Helen's performance as Rosalind was quite stunning -- I loved it.

What have been your most memorable London meals?
Long Sunday lunches in great pubs with good wine and good friends. I also like eating at The Wolseley on Piccadilly. I can't really tell if I'm in a Viennese brasserie or a car showroom -- but it's very grand.

What do you miss most when you're out of London?
The magnificent views of the city when you're standing on the top of Primrose Hill or from Waterloo Bridge -- they're breathtaking.

What is your life philosophy? 
Be brave. Regret nothing.

What items are in your winter wardrobe?
Long johns and woolly socks -- especially if it's going to get as cold as everyone is predicting this winter.

Which aftershave do you wear?
Acqua di Gio by Giorgio Armani or something by Christian Dior.

What are your current projects?
I'm currently rehearsing for a Henrik Ibsen play at the National Theatre called Pillars Of The Community, which opens on 1 November. Then I've got Much Ado About Nothing, which is on BBC One, also on 1 November. And there's my film Keane which is being screened at the London Film Festival. I play a man struggling to come to terms with the disappearance of his six-year-old daughter.

-- Bookworm --
What were the last books you bought?
The Spanish Game by Charles Cumming, a spy story, and an introduction to the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. I get most of my books from Charing Cross Road.

-- Little black book --
Who is in your secret address book?
Paradise Cleaners, the flower stall, the Odeon cinema and Tupelo Honey restaurant for its chicken pie -- all on Parkway in Camden. I used to love flicking through books in Regent Bookshop, also on Parkway, but sadly it's now closed.

-- Hot tip --
What advice would you give to a tourist?
Bring a brolly with you.

-- Memory lane --
What is your earliest London memory?
Solving crimes along Abbey Road with my brother Gareth on our Grifter bikes.

-- Air waves --
What do you listen to on your iPod as you travel around London?
In a perfect world I would always be bicycling through Bloomsbury just as my iPod shuffled to Artie Shaw.

-- Top tracks --
What was the last CD you bought?
Damian Marley's Welcome To Jamrock. It's a reggae album by the son of Bob Marley.

-- Globetrotting --
Where were the last three places you went on holiday?
My family house in Wales, then Norfolk and before that Morocco.

-- Power trip --
What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?
Hand out bicycles, free, to everyone.

source damian-lewis.com

So...... This is what its like to write for the blog and post it too!!! This amazing blog was created by my beautiful talented friend Sabrina, who has always believed in me, and told me that it was not so hard to do the blog and help properly run it, but in my own way I have always been a bit nervous, not because I cannot write because writing has always been a passion of mine, but scared that I press a button and thats it the whole blog gone!!!!!!

But no... so far so good - SABRINA THIS IS FOR YOU!!!

The last few weeks have not been good for me, after the most incredible spring and summer I have felt a little low and I want to take this opportunity to say sorry to Sabrina for being a difficult and maybe sometimes a selfish friend, and sadly losing the fan aspect of everything which is something I never wanted to happen, so this, right now is my way of putting an end to the low and brining back the highs and remembering why we do this..... Spring 2015 will always be a wonderful memory for me it was the year that Sabrina and I were lucky enough to see American Buffalo and be invited by Damian into the green room at the Wyndham theatre in London.  Just over 16 months ago I was just a fan, someone who watched Homeland for the first time and loved it and from there got myself on IMBD to see what else this talented red head had to offer!  I then found DamianLewisCom on twitter and found out Damian was doing a live interview in London for the New York Times, without even looking at dates and times I booked 2 tickets, dragging my best friend Andee with me - that was the evening I met my friend Sabrina, she was standing outside the venue, also 2 hours early like I was, we got chatting and from there a friendship was planted and from that day it just grew!  Sabrina had always wanted to run a blog and over the weeks after Times Talks we chatted daily, in July 2014 I went to Cologne for a "business meeting" with Sabrina which turned into a weekend of shopping eating and laughing, we created the idea there and then and I guess the rest is history.  The fan blog is a great place to be - well I think so anyway, I adore the fan site too and think damian-lewis.com is a wonderful informative community, and the two complement each other so well.

This blog post is to say thank you - to say Sabrina you were right I can do it, thank you for telling me time and time again that its not as hard as it looks and thank your more than anything else for being my friend.

Pic of the day

Tea and a Mag...

Damian Lewis: my depression after motorbike crash

Damian Lewis says his experience of depression as a result of a motorbike accident informed his performance as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall

Damian Lewis has described how a brain injury sustained in a motorbike accident left him suffering from depression, a condition that has proved unlikely inspiration for his latest screen role as Henry VIII.

Lewis stars as the monarch in the BBC’s forthcoming drama Wolf Hall, based on Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels.

The actor is intrigued by the theory that Henry VIII became increasingly tyrannical as a result of concussion suffered when he fell from his horse during a jousting tournament.

The insight comes from Lewis’s own experiences in a road accident when he was in his late 20s. He has seldom spoken of the crash or the trauma that followed. He made a full recovery, but in a new interview the 43-year-old gave a vivid description of his symptoms.

“I’ve suffered from concussion myself from a motorbike crash,” he said. “I spent three months afterwards getting into needless fights and suffering from bouts of depression, unable to watch TV or read because of migraines.

“I would often not get dressed and just do puzzles in my flat. So I think it’s absolutely plausible that it had an effect on Henry’s character.”

The accident occurred in 1998, when Lewis was appearing in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Much Ado About Nothing in London.

Returning home on his motorbike after a performance, he was struck by a taxi that pulled out in front of him near Pentonville Prison in north London. He hit the windshield with such force that it shattered, and he was unconscious for several minutes.

Three weeks after the accident, Lewis believed he was well enough to return to work. But mid-way through a soliloquy during his first night back on stage, he sank to the floor.

“I gave the rest of my speech from there. If I hadn’t sat down, I would have keeled over. I probably wasn’t ready to go back.”

Lewis described his symptoms in an interview for the Mail on Sunday's Event magazine. In a 2003 interview, he recalled: “I know what it’s like to come round in the middle of a road in the middle of the night, with rain just dripping on your and the blur and sounds of a ring of faces peering down at you.”

The Homeland star mentioned the accident during a 2013 guest appearance on the BBC’s Top Gear, but made light of it. Lewis raised a laugh from the audience when he recalled that he was tended by a nurse who had been travelling in the back of the taxi after a night out, and who later admitted: “I couldn’t tell if you were actually dying or if I was just so p----- I couldn’t find your pulse.”

Lewis believes Henry VIII underwent a similar but more severe personality change as a result of his accident. In January 1536, the year that Anne Boleyn was sent to the Tower, Henry fell from his horse during a jousting tournament and the heavily-armoured horse fell on top of him. He was said to be out cold for two hours.

Lucy Worsley, the television presenter and historian, has claimed that the resulting brain injury transformed Henry “from sporty, promising, generous young prince to cruel, paranoid and vicious tyrant. From that date the turnover of the wives really speeds up, and people begin to talk about him in quite a new and negative way.”

Pic's of the day

Tea and Mag....an extract

When Damian Lewis was in his second year of drama-school, he and two fellow-students took the boat to Amsterdam. Lewis (laughing): "Guess what we did there ...

 I still remember on the way over there we were sitting all three on deck in the middle of the night gazing at the stars and we shouted in a romantic way that we were the new generation of actors and we were going to change everything, stuff like that. I would like to say that that really happened, but I think it didn't quite go that way. ..."

He is self-confident, sexy and certainly not afraid of Hollywood but doesn't want to be "sold as the newest sportscar!" He refused a nice role in Black Hawk Down in efavour of The Forsyte Saga.

For an actor it is always fun to play the bad guy. Was this also the case? "Soames has something petty and ugly, something I could only shake of with some alcohol at the end of the day. But I didn't hate him, if I did I couldn't have played him. In the book he is a complex personality; in the BBC-series from 1967 he was evil and Irene was only the victim. We wanted to show some more sides to him.

 Even if no one likes Soames -- he is a bastard, a racist, a sexist, a snob -- then still you should be able to understand his obsession for that woman and how it destroys his life."

Pic of the day

The Quote

Quote from Tom Hanks: "We were looking for an enigmatic leader, a guy you can't explain, but how explains himself by his mere presence. Lewis had that without question, as soon as he sat down we knew."
Telegraph, December 9, 2003