Well, How Did I Get Here? Lady Trader’s Fan Story

And you may ask yourself, well
How did I get here? – Talking Heads

Damianista often visits New York, and when she does, we try and get together to chat and catch up. On one of her Spring visits, on a subway ride home, she asked me how I became a fan of Damian Lewis. I told her the story and her reaction was: “You should post that on the blog!” When I finally wrote up my story, Damianista came up with the brilliant idea of getting stories of how others became fans of Damian Lewis and posting them on the blog. How interesting it would be to read everyone’s stories and to see just how we all became a happy, FUN community! Damianista sent the word out, and the response was amazing!

We will be publishing fan stories right here every Tuesday. Damianista was gracious enough to let my story be the first one to get us rolling, so here it is!

I am an Anglophile. There, I said it. I love all things British (could it have anything to do with my maternal grandfather being born and raised in Glasgow?). I have always been fascinated by Tudor England, with a particular interest in Elizabeth I. Since I try to read and watch almost everything Tudor, of course I read Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies”. Imagine my excitement when learning those books would be made into a mini-series! As much as I loved Showtime’s “The Tudors” (which started my appreciation for Jonathan Rhys Meyers, but that is another blog!) I knew it was not historically correct on many levels. “Wolf Hall” would be more accurate to history.

wolfhall

When reading the list of the cast, I was very familiar with many of the actors from my love of British drama. But in the role of Henry VIII would be Damian Lewis. I had never seen him act before, but knew he was in “Homeland”, which many of my friends had watched and enjoyed.

I asked my friend and partner (who loved “Homeland”) about this actor who would be playing Henry. Was he any good?  “He’s good, but I don’t know why they are getting an American to play Henry VIII” he said. He told me that along with playing Brody in “Homeland”, Damian Lewis was in “Band of Brothers” which my friend to this day raves about. Two roles, two Americans. Now I had to do some investigating on this American actor who would play Henry!

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

After a quick search on IMDb, I learned Damian was not American at all! Now I really needed to see the actor that fooled most people into thinking he was American.

That weekend, I basically binge watched “Homeland” and was hooked! (I was also happy that finally a ginger would be playing Henry!) I felt that he brought all the complexity of the character Nicholas Brody to life, and just kept you guessing.

Thanks to Amazon Prime and Netflix, I was able to watch Damian play Charlie Crews in “Life”, and Soames Forsyte in “The Forsyte Saga”, all in anticipation of seeing him as Henry VIII.

source: BBC
source: BBC

And he did not disappoint! Although “Wolf Hall” is about Thomas Cromwell, Henry is the figure who looms large throughout the series. Not to mention that I actually prefer Damian when he is speaking his native English.

It seemed too good to be true when I learned that Damian would be playing a hedge fund manager in Showtime’s “Billions”. One of my favorite actors, playing a role that I knew intimately, filming in the city I was raised, live and work in? Yes, I pinched myself. Even before I watched the first episode, I knew I was #TeamAxe!

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

My appreciation for Damian and his amazing acting lead me to this amazing group of ladies that is “Fan Fun”. I offered any and all help I could with any insights to the world of Wall Street to the blog in preparation for “Billions”. It is great to be part of such a smart, insightful, fun group.

So, that is how I became of fan of Damian Lewis, and became of member of this sisterhood. Now, I can’t wait for Season 2 of “Billions” to start and for the FUN of Bobby Axelrod (and the superb acting of Damian) to start again!

Author: Lady Trader

"Lady Trader" is a Brooklyn girl, and a Wall Street lifer! Recently fought cancer, and won! I love heavy metal, history, sci-fi, oh, and blogging about Billions and it's great lead actor, Damian Lewis!

9 thoughts on “Well, How Did I Get Here? Lady Trader’s Fan Story”

    1. Thank you! I am so looking forward in reading everyone stories too! We may all have different stories, but the one thing we all have in common is our appreciation for the fine actor that Damian Lewis is!

  1. I first heard this story from you on NYC subway of all places and I again laughed a lot this morning, exactly like I did that evening in NY, when I read it! “Now I had to do some investigating on this American actor who would play Henry!” I LOVE IT! I think it’s your partner’s tribute to Damian’s flawless American accent – give our thanks to him!

    And our conversation turning into this sweet Fan Fun project is PRICELESS! We kindly asked and fans kindly responded, I think it will be a really beautiful series of posts, each one personal and special in its own right, dedicated to this fine actor that we all love! Thanks for kicking off the festivities – can’t wait to read them all! <3

  2. What a fun and lovely story! I think Damian himself has spoken about how people were shocked to hear his British accent when meeting him on the streets post-band of brothers. His accent is incredibly convincing!

    These posts and the big fun birthday post will be a lead into a fantastic new year and birthday/Valentine’s Day for the big man! I’m sure he’ll be blushing furiously(or if he’s anything like my own ginger husband, his ears will be blushing!)

    1. I’m glad you enjoyed it! When I told my partner DL was British he almost fell over! He’s a better “American” than some I know! I can’t wait to read your story, and the many, many others from fellow fans!

  3. Your DL story was so fun to read, Lady Trader. Looking forward to more stories, as varied as we are different fans from across the globe. Great idea!

  4. Great story! I love the occasional jokey tweets from folks saying: there Damian is again trying to do that awful English accent. So funny! And so true that he transverses the continents so easily in every way. Both he and we are very lucky!!

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