Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in A Touch of Frost

Before he hit the big time in cable TV, Damian did some smaller, lesser known roles in British television. The role of Adam Weston in a feature-length episode of mystery drama Touch of Frost may not be a role that Damian is particularly proud of, given how disdainfully he spoke of it at the NY Times Talk in May 2014.

Nonetheless, I’d say the role begs remembering, if, for nothing else, to give us a picture of Damian at 25. According to Damian, roles such as this one were the few available to British actors in television in 1996. It was either Merchant-Ivory-esque period drama or stories of the struggles of the underclass left in the wake of Thatcherism, both “classes” of roles Damian would have been uniquely qualified to play, but only later. First, he had to build up a resume with things like Touch of Frost. So here’s Damian at 25, a Shakespearean trained thespian and, they ask him to get down to his skivvies. Okay, he’s still doing parts that get him into his skivvies some 20 years later, but, hey, who’s counting. As Bobby Axelrod would say:

Those who can, do.

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in A Touch of Frost”

“From the Trader’s Desk”:
Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 7*

**UPDATED FOR SEASON 7**

In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and t-shirt of a metal band that are Axe’s favorites. (Even an Axe-less Season 6 featured Mötley Crüe’s “Wild Side“.)

Now that we know Axe is coming back for at least six episodes of the final season of Billions, I’d place money on him being in a metal shirt with a companion song to boot!  The writers of Billions make purposeful choices with music placement, so we know that these decisions are made to tell a story, shine a light on who the character is, or to set a tone. (Gingersnap and I are still holding out Season 7 will finally be the year of Iron Maiden!!)

So, let’s take a look back at a man and his music, and maybe make some predictions!

Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 7*”

Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day

damianlewisdickwinters2
source: People Magazine

Today is Memorial Day – a day of remembrance honoring all men and women that died in active military service. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “Let’s Salute Major Winters – the Rank and the Man – on Memorial Day”

“He’s more Just Like Us than we are”: Damian Lewis Takes The Tube (or Subway in NYC)!

Hello everyone!

While the original post is from 2016, I am inspired to share it again because Damian posted about him and Alison taking the subway in NYC earlier today! And may I just say I find their matching sneakers very cute!!!

Enjoy!

Here is the most HILARIOUS conversation between Damian Lewis and Nick Grimshaw, the host of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show that Damian joined last week. You can hear the radio bit (short version) here and (long version, starts at 01:33:48) here. BIG thanks go to JaniaJania for transcribing part of the conversation for me!

source: @R1breakfast
source: @R1breakfast

Continue reading ““He’s more Just Like Us than we are”: Damian Lewis Takes The Tube (or Subway in NYC)!”

From Lockdown to Mission Creep: Damian Lewis’ Music Journey – Part II

“I wanted the album to give a sense of a journey to this point, from busking ‘til now. I suddenly had a lot to say. People will judge if it’s any good or not, but for me, it felt entirely natural.” – Damian Lewis

photo credit: Rhys Frampton

You can read Part I here. We had a cliffhanger at the end of Part I… Steve Abbott introduced Damian to Giacomo Smith, one of the best  jazz musicians working  in London today…

…and then Jay Rayner of  Out to Lunch podcast let the world know about Damian performing Dr. John’s “Such a Night” with Giacomo and his band Kansas Smittys – and asked Damian if the experience was as fun as it looked… Continue reading “From Lockdown to Mission Creep: Damian Lewis’ Music Journey – Part II”