Pick Your Billions Team: We Say GO Team Axelrod!

First things first: Many thanks go to Malin Akerman for sharing this FUN pic showing Billions cast having a blast!

source: Malin Akerman Facebook account
source: Malin Akerman Facebook account

Now… What do you see in this pic?

I see Team Axelrod in action!

Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) on the right. The brilliant and ambitious manager of Axe Capital hedge-fund.

Lara Axelrod (Malin Akerman) on the left. Bobby’s wife. The Queen 🙂

Mike Wagner (David Costabile) in the middle. Chief Operating Officer for Axe Capital or the King’s Right-Hand.

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

We all know that Billions will follow two characters, Chuck Rhoades “a hard-charging, whip-smart U.S. Attorney” and Bobby “Axe” Axelrod “A brilliant, ambitious hedge-fund king”, butting heads and getting into some high-wire conflict.

The anticipation for Billions heightens by the minute as the shoot is well under way in New York with cast and crew as well as fans sharing last minute information on social media. And, so… ladies and gentlemen, it may be TIME to put everything in perspective so we all know our place in the war between Team Axelrod and Team Rhoades!

Do I need to tell you which team I am on?

Of course, not, but I admit it’s difficult. Bobby Axelrod is definitely not the kind of man I typically like. But, exactly for that reason, I LOVE the fact that Damian Lewis is taking on this role. I know that his magic touch will give us a complex character that stays in that “gray” area constantly teasing us, enticing us and confusing us…Having seen just 60 seconds of him in the first teaser, and let me note there is really not much “gray” area in that teaser, Bobby is this extremely cocky guy that believes in himself. Man, his  “F*** you money” line to Rhoades in the teaser is priceless…

I said it before, I’ll say it again… Quoting the great Charlie Crews, “I am not attached to Bobby Axelrod. I am not attached to Bobby Axelrod. I am a little attached to Bobby Axelrod.”

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

In case you missed it, I have already done a first sketch of our team captain here… Now… What about the rest of the team? 🙂

source: variety.com
source: variety.com

Lara Axelrod is Bobby’s wife – she’s the queen! Lara, according to Hollywood Reporter, “is a former nurse who, once from humble beginnings, is now married to billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod.”

We had talked earlier about Damian Lewis hinting to Evening Standard that Bobby is a “self-made man – though he does work his way up to be a hedge fund manager.” Recently, his “screen better half” Malin Akerman has also given a hint or two to Glamour Magazine about Lara: “My character is a self-made woman, and her husband is a billionaire and has tons of money. She comes from quite the background, and she’s a tough cookie. You don’t mess with her. She has built quite a life [with her husband], and she’s not afraid to threaten you if she needs to. She’s also really lovely and a strong female character.”

Hmmm… My imagination is already at work… First of all, how come Bobby meets a nurse and marries her? I don’t think billionaires and nurses hang out in the same circles! So… Did Bobby have a hospital stay at one time and Lara attended him there and stole his heart? Or did she attend Bobby’s mom or dad in the hospital? Was Bobby already rich when they met? Or… did they grow up together or were they high school sweethearts? My hunch, relying on the couple of hints we have gotten so far, is that Bobby and Lara MADE IT together and so they have a strong partnership in life as well as in business.

And, you know, a self-made man and a self-made woman in holy matrimony always make a good story! And, from the single scene we have seen them together in the first teaser, Bobby and Lara are love birds…

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Loved up or not, it seems these two tough cookies have the potential to give endless twist and turn possibilities to the storyline… We know from the first teaser that Bobby has some shady business deals. One thing I am curious about is how much his better-half is involved in business? How much does she know? Or… does she want to know? Regardless though, I am sure the Axelrods would do anything to keep what they have… and, of course, also protect their kids from this on-going war along the way… which brings me to the two young boys completing the Axelrod family.

Meet Dean and Gordie! Two talented young actors Chris Richards and Jack Gore play Dean and Gordie, respectively.

source: chrisrichardsactor.com and zimbio.com
source: chrisrichardsactor.com and zimbio.com

The Rhoades also have two children, a boy and a girl, so I am also curious if we will see any relations between the two families through their kids. I doubt it in a way but who knows? I can imagine the Rhoades being urban Brooklynites in Park Slope, jogging in Prospect Park, shopping at their local coop, and sending their kids to public schools where as the Axelrods being among the 1% that live in the New York suburbs maybe with a pied-a-terre in the city, probably a summer house in the Hamptons and sending their kids to elite private schools — so the two families probably don’t hang out in the same circles… But again who knows? There could be some interesting ways to connect them… I have one possibility in mind that deserves a separate blog post!

Now… Team Axelrod is, of course, not just limited to the family… You know… There is family… and then there is “family”… well like in Sopranos 🙂 So, Bobby should have a team of guys and gals helping him with the business. And, the guy at the helm of this team is Mike “Wags” Wagner (David Costabile).

costabile

Mike is the Chief Operations Manager for Axe Capital. He’s the king’s, in Costabile’s own words from an interview on ABC “inscrutable, right-hand man.” So, for those of you that have seen Wolf Hall… Can we say Mike Wagner is Bobby Axelrod’s Thomas Cromwell? 🙂 I LOVED David Costabile as Gale Boetticher in Breaking Bad and my joke is that it’s so cool to see that Costabile, who used to help Walter White with the Blue, will now assist Bobby Axelrod with the Green 😀

So we say… GO, Team Axelrod! We believe in our Captain, expecting some good defense from the team in the face of U.S. attorney’s aggressive attacks and then even play offense and score a point!

Let’s make it BIG for Billions together!

Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history!

8 thoughts on “Pick Your Billions Team: We Say GO Team Axelrod!”

  1. Love it. Likewise Bobby is a character I’d probably usually be screaming at the TV to see him get his comeuppance. However, with Damian on Board, I’m definitely on #TeamAxelrod.

    1. Haha, partner, that’s why I was very confident using “WE” when I made the title 😀 Wall Street should send a check to Damian…. or not 🙂 I wonder if Billions will be to Wall Street what House of Cards is to Washington DC. However, I’m sure Bobby will be this complex character that will keep us confused about who he is all the time… cannot wait! Regardless though… GO TEAM AXELROD!

  2. I’m SURE that you know what TEAM I am on as well!!! And all these years of Law and Order and rooting for the prosecutor, this time it’s #TeamAxelrod all the way!!

    1. Of course! Honestly, I have never thought I would root for the hedge-fund guy — now look at me ! Never say never, I guess! 🙂

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