Nine Years with Damian Lewis

OH. MY. GOD.

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis is nine years old today!

Nine years?!?!?!

YES, nine years!

I was burst with excitement when I shared my first ever post on Fan Fun. And I was very lucky to  catch Damian on Billions pilot set a month later to introduce myself and let him know about the blog. Believe it or not, he had my contact information in his jacket pocket as he was filming the very famous “FU money” scene.

Nine years of thinking, brainstorming, researching, writing, posting, sharing on social media,  interacting with fans, responding to reader feedback, managing the website, and doing all this while holding a full-time job is not trivial. I take pride in not missing a day on the blog even when I was under the weather (rarely), on vacation (sometimes), or buried under work (always). And after 9 years, 1445 blog posts and over 4.2 million views from 234 countries… I feel extremely happy about the fan community we have collectively created and I am deeply committed to writing about the one and only Damian Lewis and his brilliant work in the years to come  <3

Now, please bear with me as I reflect on the last nine years, get a bit emotional, and thank all the people that made Fan Fun with Damian Lewis a success story.

When I kicked off the blog on January 5, 2015 I knew that I would have fun doing this and meet like-minded fans along the way to team up with. What I did not know was we would have the best team! I thank all my blog mates, current and former, who have contributed to Fan Fun over the years, from the bottom of my heart. And I want to give a standing ovation to one person who deserves much more than that: Gingersnap has been doing a fantastic job on our sister site damian-lewis.com giving the fandom all the news, events and pictures! Thank you, Gingersnap, for being you, a true friend and a confidante. Your work ethic is inspirational. I love you to the moon and back!

Lewisto, my number one guy and our Fan Fun tech guy, who has supported the blog since its inception, deserves special thanks! I would never ever have started a blog should he have not encouraged me. I will never forget him saying:

“Some people love golf. You love Damian Lewis. What’s the difference?”

Right?!?!

Have I ever told you Lewisto named the blog, too?  He said:

“You are a big fan and you will be doing this for fun so why not call it Fan Fun with Damian Lewis?”

And I ran with it.

Lewisto, you are absolutely the best thing that ever happened to me. THANK YOU for playing ball with me, even in my craziest endeavors like Fan Fun, making everything in life better, funnier and happier!

I cannot thank Damian enough for his kindness, trust and generosity towards us. I do not know about other fandoms but I do not think actors typically introduce the fans who manage their fan sites / blogs to their agent, PR person and their personal assistants, invite them backstage after their stage performance, make a “thank you” video for them, treat them like a friend on a film set, or call them “a lovely, smart woman” in an interview with GQ magazine or introduce them to their cousin as someone who has become part of the family. I need to stop because I start to tear up now. Damian, you are one in a billion. And you are my muse. Thank you for the inspiration <3

These nine years have brought so much love and laughter to my life thanks to YOU, our wonderful readers! And this anniversary is a great opportunity to thank YOU for the overwhelming love and support you have given us! As we collectively share Damian Lewis FUN, you make our dreams come true. Her is a BIG thank you to each and every one of you for reading us, following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, giving us feedback, and spreading the word about the blog.

As I review the blog’s year, the first thing that pops up is the birthday party we put together for Damian on the blog! I think we have been able to put a smile on his face with the 52 celebratory drinks that the fans stirred for him and with the birthday cake we sent him!

Holy shit. Unbelievable. Look what just came through my door. Thank you Bahar and Krista and all my fans ⁦@FanFunDamian⁩ @cakes_by_robin. My dog just tried to eat my head. I stopped her but now I have a bald patch at the back….. what a way to start my bday. Thank you! x pic.twitter.com/AKr9sZPkAu

— Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) February 9, 2023

Then comes the music!

Damian released his debut album ‘Mission Creep’ in April following the release of his four singles Down on the Bowery, Zaragoza, Makin’ Plans, and She Comes in early months of the year. The album received stellar reviews all of which you can find on Damian’s music page on damian-lewis.com.

Damian played a number of gigs in London this year: a magical night at Hoxton Hall in March followed by a triple treat of a chat, a gig and an album signing at Rough Trade East in Jun, and his biggest gig to date at Union Chapel. And on the heels of his gig at Union Chapel, he hopped across the pond for his first  gig in NYC at Mercury Lounge.

Damian also played at Cheltenham Music Festival and Black Deer Music Festival, and he performed the National Anthem and rocked the paddock with songs from ‘Mission Creep” at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.

He then kicked off his UK tour in September and took ‘Mission Creep’ and a couple of new songs to several UK cities, including but not limited to Brighton, Manchester, and Leeds –  these are the ones several of my die-hard fan friends and I attended!

I LOVE Damian’s music, I am so lucky he is playing the kind of music I live for. I LOVE it that his live music gigs give his fans the opportunity to meet their favorite actor/musician. And I LOVE it that Damian makes sure everyone goes home happy.

Damian’s UK tour will continue in 2024 and all the information you need about the gig dates, venues and tickets is here.

And, do not worry, Damian is not leaving acting for his musical career. In addition to the release of his debut album ‘Mission Creep’ and live music gigs, we have seen him in the brilliant mini-series A Spy Among Friends that made the NY Times ‘Best TV Shows of 2023’ list…

…and he returned to Billions to play the iconic character Bobby Axelrod one more time in the epic final season of the series! Hell yeah!

And the cherry on the top for me was to catch Damian act sketches with Indira Varma as part of the Centenary Celebration for Noel Coward’s London Calling! at Duke of York’s Theatre.

And believe it or not, I met Damian’s dad after the performance! He is such a lovely gentleman.

And, in 2024, ladies and gentlemen, we are will be able to see Damian in two fantastic projects!

The first one is The Radleys, a supernatural black comedy directed by Euros Lyn, in which Damian is playing twin brothers Peter and Will Radley. The production marks a reunion between Lyn and Damian since they also worked together on Dream Horse.

The Radleys is based on Matt Haig’s popular book that follows a seemingly ordinary suburban family, The Radleys, who hold a huge secret: they are vampires! Only the parents Helen (Kelly MacDonald) and Peter know about the family’s secret, they actually decided to be abstainers, vampires who choose not to drink blood despite their natural cravings, when they wanted to start a family. Helen and Peter are forced to share the secret with their teenage children Clara (Bo Bragason) and Rowan (Harry Baxendale) after Clara has a very strange incident one evening. And as uncle Will, who is a practicing vampire, arrives, nothing will ever be the same again for the Radleys.

Damian was covered with tattoos at his gig at Rough Trade East in June, and when I asked him about the tattoos, his answer was not very convincing 🙂

“I was very drunk Saturday night.”

As my Twitter friend Anabel Stark has rightly pointed out, the tattoos seem to have been made to look old. So… hello, Will!

Talitha Stevenson has adapted the script for the big screen. The film is a Genesius Pictures production, produced by Debbie Gray with Damian as an executive producer through his Ginger Biscuit Entertainment. Cornerstone Media is handling the worldwide sales. They filmed the movie in London and Yorkshire last summer. The Radleys is expected to come to Sky Cinema  in 2024.

To be honest with you, I am not a big fan of the vampire genre. That said, I listened to the audio book (read by Toby Leonard Moore aka Bryan Connerty from Billions!) as well as read the paperback and loved it. In my humble opinion, The Radleys is a fresh take on the vampire genre, and a very funny one at that! It is more of a satire of the middle class suburban lives with a darkly humorous look at addiction (substitute “blood sucking” with any other harmful addiction you can think of) and how it can ruin families. Stay tuned for my write-up about what to expect as we are expecting The Radleys in a month or so!

The second project is one that we have been waiting for years now. In fact, I left the following wish on last year’s Fan Fun anniversary post:

“BBC confirmed that they would adapt The Mirror and The Light, the final volume in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, for TV as early as in May 2019. The Guardian reported that the BBC adaptation will see director Peter Kosminsky and screenwriter Peter Straughan resuming their partnership from 2015. Mark Rylance has announced in March 2022 that he was to reprise his role as Thomas Cromwell and that he hoped for a 2023 date to start the production. And we are hoping to hear that Damian will resume his role as Henry VIII.

And, finally, in an interview with Natalie Boare of ITV News ahead of his Brighton gig late September, Damian shared the news that he would start filming Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light soon! See the interview in its entirety here and repeat after me: LONG LIVE THE KING!  

They started filming late November and we have seen a few pictures of Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell on the set. Even though we have not seen Damian in full royal regalia yet, a recent picture that a fan took of Damian on the Lisbon Metro shows that the beard is there!

And last but not the least, in his very busy work schedule, Damian once again made time to support the charities close to his heart, namely Cure EB and Sir HvH Arts Foundation, as well as Ride4Hugo, a campaign Damian’s family ran to raise funds for four charities in memory of Damian’s nephew Hugo and Helen who passed away only months after Hugo’s tragic accident. We love this guy’s big heart and look forward to seeing him host the Sir HvH Arts Annual Exhibition in honor of Helen McCrory once again in March.

One of my favorite Damian quotes is “best journeys are shared.” It is a privilege to share this journey with you. Hope you enjoy both sites, come visit us often, spread the word and we keep following Damian’s brilliant career together! Cheers <3

Gingersnap

Happy 9th Birthday to Fan Fun with Damian Lewis and the wonderful team we have. I jumped at the chance to be a part of this team 7+ years ago and the rest, as they say, is herstory!

It has been a joy posting the news over at our sister site damian-lewis.com since 2017, blogging here with my blog mates since 2016, interacting with the fandom on social media and commenting with all of you readers. I am grateful for this community and its continued patronage because we wouldn’t be here without loyal readers like you.

It’s also been a blessing to see Damian so active in 2023, especially the reprisal of his Bobby Axelrod role on the Showtime hit series Billions. I “discovered” Damian Lewis (and this blog) due to Billions and was not part of the Homeland craze until after Axe. So it was bittersweet to see Bobby on my screen again for the series finale this year. What a way to close out the series with a bang!

Damian also shared with us poetry readings, charitable events, social outings, a pleura of interviews, the mini-series A Spy Among Friends (2023 release for us in the USA, which I devoured), some theatre bits, the release of his debut album ‘Mission Creep’ with UK tour and so much more!

Though I couldn’t travel for the UK Tour, my blogmate Damianista made sure I didn’t miss out on all the merch and goodies. I received a personalized autographed album and concert poster signed by Damian live on the spot, a setlist, tote, t-shirt and so much more. THANK YOU DAMIANISTA! MUCH LOVE <3

Being a part of the Damian Lewis fandom and part of the Fan Fun With Damian Lewis team means concert goodies galore. Personalized autographed album & concert poster, plus CD, single, tote, t-shirt, set list and flyer! #DamianLewis #DamianLewisMusic #MissionCreep #UnionChapel pic.twitter.com/Sbu0pbumeJ

— Gingersnap (@GingersnapDamo) September 1, 2023

Probably the biggest surprise of 2023 was when Damian took the time to call me on the phone after his music gig in Leeds at the Brudenell Social Club on Sunday, October 1, 2023 . WHAT?!?! Yeah, it happened.

https://twitter.com/GingersnapDamo/status/1708607544367710336

Surprisingly I remained SUPER calm, but I did black out a little bit so here is what I remember about the conversation:

Damian: “Krista, hello. It’s Damian Lewis.”

Gingersnap (Krista): “I’d recognize that voice any where! It’s wonderful to speak with you.”

Damian: “Where are you?”

Stupid me thought he meant literally but afterthefact I realized he was probably asking why I wasn’t at his gig LOL 😉

Gingersnap (Krista): “I’m in Oklahoma. How was your gig? I see you met up with Kevin Rankin of Flock of Seagulls earlier this evening.”

Damian: “Yes!  He came and said hi. Flock of Seagulls…we’re on the same night and…” (insert Charlie Brown’s teacher talking here because this is where I blacked out and only heard “wha-wha-wa-wah-wa”). Watch this clip of Damian speaking to me on the phone:

https://twitter.com/GingersnapDamo/status/1708633752803381649

Fun fact: My blogmate Damianista does not know the band Flock of Seagulls. Go ahead, razz her about it…I did 😉 Flock had the 80’s hits I Ran (So Far Away), Space Age Love Song, The More You Live, The More You Love, Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You), and more. I want to send a special shoutout to Damianista for coordinating the surprise call from Damian and Tsveti for recording it. Thank you ladies! What a special treat.

What is on the horizon for 2024? Well last year in our 8th birthday post I wrote: “Now if we could just hone in on that Wolf Hall sequel…”  Well ladies and gentlemen, consider that project honed in! Damian and Mark Rylance are back filming Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light and I can’t wait for it to hit our small screens soon. I’m also looking forward to the release of his upcoming vampire film, The Radleys, his UK tour part two, and the fan collaboration for Damian’s 53rd birthday project in February!

Here’s looking forward to 2024 and another trip around the sun for the blog.

Lady Trader

Happy 9th Birthday FanFun! And as they say, 9 is fine!

Has it really been nine years? Those years seem to have just zoomed by! But, as the saying goes “Time flies when you are having FUN”, and that certainly is what the blog is! At it’s core, it’s what this blog is all about: the FUN of writing and interacting with each other and the readers and all the FUN of writing and exploring the amazing acting, philanthropy and now the musical stylings of Damian Lewis!

It never goes without saying how much I appreciate all the hard work that everyone puts into this labor of love. We all have lives: jobs, families, and other commitments that everyone must attend to; but the attention, level of commitment, and enthusiasm of everyone who is involved with this project is amazing. Damianista is the brilliant leader, and she continually astounds me with her writing, her organization, her world touring, her encouragement and her tireless support that makes this blog what it is today. Most of us fans are living vicariously though her so we thank you for all that you do and share!

2023 was a great year for Damian Lewis and his fans. I guess the biggest thing was Bobby Axelrod was back on our screens! And though it may have only been for 6 episodes of Billions, Axe was at the forefront of the storyline. Having Axe return to closeout the series was perfect – he sent Mike Prince packing, got his company (and offices) back and all was right in the Billions universe. It was also great to get back to recapping the show with my fellow blog mates. The different perspectives of the characters and the storylines always added so much more to watching and recapping Billions.

2023 also saw Damian got out on tour across the UK (and a few stops in the States) supporting his album Mission Creep. It was a smashing success and we can certainly look forward to more music in the coming year.

When we are here next year celebrating 10 years with Damian Lewis, we will have so much to relive: more tour dates, The Radleys, and what I can’t wait for, Damian reprising his amazing Henry Tudor in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light!

Happy 9th anniversary, and can’t wait for the big 10!

Holliedazzle

Well, time sure does fly. It’s hard to believe it’s been 9 years, but it’s not hard to see all 9 of those years in the collective work and progress this blog has made.  I still remember vividly stumbling across the blog in a google search for Damian, reading the articles and thinking “wow, this blog is really thoughtful and deep.” It was so much more than an average fan account or site. The tone was there from the start, and over time, it has really blossomed into something special. I am so grateful that a long-winded comment about my observations about Damian’s acting opened the door to writing my first articles.  I feel very proud to say I am part of this team, and frequently share my admiration and love for this team with my friends and family.

Damian-business aside, I am also super grateful for the friendships that have come from this whole thing. Getting to know these people has been a treat, and I sure hope I get to meet some of them in person one day.  They’ve seen me through good times and bad, supported me personally and as an entertainer, and provided this wonderful creative outlet.   They’ve also inspired me to “swing big” in life. What if Damianista hadn’t trespassed onto a set all those years ago? The risk can definitely be worth it, in some cases.

Can’t wait to see what the tall one, as we, get up to in another 9 years.

The Tail that Wags the Dog

I was always the one that was a little bit different from the others  – obviously because I was the lone male among the regular posters, but also because I came into this group more of a fan of Bobby Axelrod’s right-hand man Wags then Bobby himself. (Full disclosure, for those unaware, I went to high school with David C – and he and I were in shows together – mind you, his roles were always far, far greater than mine.)

Anyway, I remember that first season of Billions and loving the show, not just because David had this awesome character in Wags, but the writing was so good, and Damian and Paul G were such tremendous adversaries. And so I was looking for anything and everything I could find to read on the episodes when I stumbled upon this site.  I remember sending congratulatory messages to Damianista about her summaries and explained my connection to the show when she very generously asked me to join the group. How could I turn that down?  What follows was 7+ years of amazing episodes, stirring conversations between us – you should see our twitter threads. 🙂

And over the years I was honored to meet up not only with some of the members of the production

but I also got to meet a couple of my fellow authors when we attended a talk-back with David in New York one summer afternoon…

But the absolute highlight for me actually happened at the beginning of the COVID outbreak. The show had to go on hiatus for obvious reasons and we needed material to keep the blog going. Back then you could count on 5 or 6 of the cast members posting on Twitter every Sunday night as the episode was airing with running commentary and interacting with the fans – it was so much fun! Because of that I had been able to connect with the bromancers of all time – Kelly Au Coin and Stephen Kunken, and they agreed to let me interview them over Zoom and create a post out of it.  We talked for 90 minutes and it was one of the most fun times I have ever had.

They were so decent to give me that time and made the show all the more special.

You’ll notice that in my tribute to the site I am leaving out one very important person – Damian Lewis himself!  Unfortunately I have not had the chance like Damianista to actually interact with him – I came real close last year when I was almost in that last scene of episode 10, but alas it was not meant to be. Rest assured if I ever do, I will remind him of this blog and what fun it was to follow his character (not to mention from Homeland as well). I can’t wait to see if he does episode television again – I am sorry to lose Bobby – he was  such a great character, but I am overwhelmingly pleased with how they ended the show. Even if it means I have to move on as well.  Thank you to the writers, the actors, the crew and to Damianista and my fellow Billion-heirs for the past near-decade of posts, talks and memories.