Damianista’s Dream Role for Damian Lewis

I was very lucky to meet Damian Lewis in person for the first time at Cheltenham Literature Festival in October 2014. I probably stood out as the crazy fan at their book signing after his and Helen’s brilliant performance of reading love poems to each other from Allie Esiri’s The Love Book compilation. The Brits are proper. They do not ask for photos. I think I was the only one in that long queue who asked for a photo but also for a bit of his time citing that I came all the way from North Carolina – his state of residence for six months every year between 2011-2013 thanks to Homeland – to meet him! Continue reading “Damianista’s Dream Role for Damian Lewis”

Nicholas Brody has LEFT the building… *UPDATED*

source: Daily Mail
source: Daily Mail

I bet, being a BIG Elvis fan, Damian would approve my title for this piece 🙂

Well, tell me, what could be a better day than combining a shopping trip to Ikea in Charlotte with a quick visit to my Homeland Mecca?

Even though Brody family resides at 3319 West Chapman Street in Alexandria, Virginia, Homeland was shot in North Carolina before they moved to South Africa for Season 4. They filmed the first three seasons mostly in Charlotte, a two-and-a-half hour drive from our house. And, I never even tried to visit the set thinking  they would always be there and I could always visit one day… Oh, yes, I did not see it coming – shoot me!

The Brody house was at the core of Homeland in many ways in the first three seasons. It is the place where it all started and also ended in a way… Continue reading “Nicholas Brody has LEFT the building… *UPDATED*”

Throwback Thursday to Desert Island Discs with Damian Lewis

source: BBC
source: BBC

SUMMER is here – a fabulous time of the year where life is typically more laid back than the rest of the year. And we at Fan Fun have come up with a couple of fun projects for summer! Here is one!

Today we are taking you back to December 2014 to re-visit Damian when he was Kirsty Young’s Castaway on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs (DID).

Here’s the drill if you are not familiar with the program: The castaway comes having done his homework; with eight pieces of music — one of which he will choose as his favorite — plus a book and a luxury item that he will take to his island with him. You hear the music during the program accompanied with a story from the castaway about why he has chosen this particular piece. We focus on Damian’s selections today on the blog, and you can listen the entire Damian Lewis DID here and download it to listen on the go, too!

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Desert Island Discs with Damian Lewis”

A Lesson in Rhetoric: Damian Lewis as Antony

To be filed in the category of “This is a guy who makes you want to go back to school”, we learned and reported (on our lovely sister site damian-lewis.com) that Damian’s version of Antony’s funeral speech from Julius Caesar, for The Guardian’s video series Shakespeare Solos, was featured in a seminar on rhetoric. This wasn’t an avenue for literary criticism or drama theory, but a newsletter on effective public speaking.

How is speaking any different from writing and reading, you may wonder? Well, there are components to classical rhetoric, when dissected, can show you what makes one speech different from another. Such an analysis would reach your brain (or at least attempt to). Alternatively, we can talk about how a speech makes you feel. Granted we’re not seeing much great oratory from our current elder statesmen, so examples are few and far between. But, there was a time, wasn’t there? In our not too distant history, when a leader spoke, it did a heart good to hear, didn’t it?

Continue reading “A Lesson in Rhetoric: Damian Lewis as Antony”

Off To The Races: Damian Lewis in Dream Horse *UPDATED*

Dream’ took us to places you couldn’t even imagine. There we were going to Aintree for probably the greatest race on the planet. – Howard Davies

Howard Davies

The man you see in the picture above is Howard Davies. He is a tax adviser in Cefn Fforest, a small Welsh town where the community has gone through hard times since the mining industry collapsed in the area. Howard worked for the biggest tax firm on the planet for 15 years, got sick of it, resigned and did his own thing for a while but it did not work very well. He is a middle-aged man who wants to get a bit more out of life.

Okay but why are we suddenly interested in a tax adviser living in South Wales? Well, Howard Davies is the man Damian Lewis is bringing to life on screen in his upcoming movie Dream Horse. Continue reading “Off To The Races: Damian Lewis in Dream Horse *UPDATED*”