What Makes The Billions Cast Such A Family? The Fun They Have Together *UPDATED*

Hi everyone! Damianista here. We have been following the Billions cast truly enjoying each other’s company and genuinely supporting cast members’ performances on screen and stage for some time now. We are thrilled to have The Tail that Wags the Dog on the blog today giving us the Billions Family and the fun they have together. And HUGE thanks go to Kelly AuCoin, Chris Carfizzi, Daniel K. Isaac, and Stephen Kunken for providing quotes for the article.

ENJOY! Continue reading “What Makes The Billions Cast Such A Family? The Fun They Have Together *UPDATED*”

“From the Trader’s Desk”:
Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED*

**UPDATED**

There are many things that Bobby Axelrod and I have in common: New York born and bred; working class backgrounds; very non-traditional road to Wall Street; our love of gambling lead us to our career paths. However, the one thing that has always been my favorite commonality is our love for heavy metal bands and their music. Heavy Metal is not the most well known genre of music, so let’s explore Bobby Axelrod and his music, and what it says about him.

In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and a t-shirt of a metal band that must be Axe’s favorites. The writers of Billions don’t do anything just to do it, so we know that these choices are there to tell a story, shine light on who the character is, and to set a tone.

Metal is very misunderstood: devil worship, drugs, biting the heads of bats, or just screeching guitars may come to mind if you say the words “heavy metal”. But, it is so much more than that! Last season, I used Black Sabbath lyrics to open (and in some cases close) my “From the Trader’s Desk” recaps. In most cases, if I hadn’t referenced it to Sabbath, you’d have wondered what philosopher or poet I was quoting. Metal lyrics are some of the best I have ever heard; they tell stories of pain, loss, confusion, success, etc. – lyrics that would certainly resonate with a young man from Yonkers whose Dad has up and left, and whose home life is full of conflict. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED*”

The Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Holiday Gift Giving Guide 2019 Edition!

Holiday greetings to you all!  I am thrilled to return, once again, for an updated version of our annual gift giving guide. If you have a Damian Lewis fan in your life, this post is for YOU!

another guide, another cute Holliedazzle photo by Vortex Photography

I am a burlesque performer, who specializes in holiday-themed acts.  Being known as the “Queen of Christmas”, I love merging my two worlds and bringing my love of the holiday season AND my love of all things Damian into one fun post.  It’s also a nice creative break for me, since I have been costuming and act developing for this season since August.  I’m putting down the tinsel and picking up the keyboard! Here are some of our tried and true favorites, and some new picks-enjoy! Continue reading “The Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Holiday Gift Giving Guide 2019 Edition!”

Claim: Damian Lewis is the Kindest
Human Being, Proof: See Below

This is a Damian Lewis Appreciation post. But it is also a scientific post. As a social scientist, I make a claim that Damian Lewis is the kindest human being anyone could meet and then prove it with solid evidence. Would you like to join me?

Continue reading “Claim: Damian Lewis is the Kindest Human Being, Proof: See Below”

A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight

“Pretend we’re having an argument.” —Bobby Axelrod

source: Showtime

Well, back-to-back tweets from Damian Lewis and Kelly AuCoin last January — and on my birthday of all days — made this re-post inevitable! 😀

https://twitter.com/KellyAuCoin77/status/1087820075321708545

I mean, a broken rib, a busted knee, what is next? It seems these two are not pretending anymore!!! 😀

And with the hope that both Damian and Kelly have had a full recovery by now, we share our tribute to everyone’s favorite Billions moment one more time.

ENJOY!

A good hour of television absolutely starts with good writing and I pride myself in calling Willie Reale, the writer of Billions Season 1 Episode 10 Quality of Life, a genius way before I find out that he is, in fact, one! I don’t know if you are familiar with MacArthur Fellowships also known as “Genius Grants” but Mr. Reale is a recipient of this fellowship “in recognition of his ingenuity in creating theater and theater education programs for young people.” Bravo!

Quality of Life, with Donnie’s memorial service being at its heart, has a number of moving parts; however, Mr. Reale delivers the story seamlessly with a number of timely back and forths between the memorial service and all else going on and the episode’s director Karyn Kusama perfectly translates the writing into action. And, in my humble opinion, Brian Koppelman’s tweet sharing with us that the fake argument scene between Axe and Dollar Bill was Reale’s idea alone deserves standing ovation for this brilliant writer! Continue reading “A Tribute to Everyone’s Favorite Billions Moment: The Fake Fight”