“Is She The Tutor?” or How I Became A Fan Of Damian Lewis The Man Himself…

Prologue 

Hey all, Damianista here! I am extremely happy to tell you that, today, we have our first ever guest blogger. And it’s not just that we have our first guest blogger, but we have a MALE guest blogger writing about how he became a Damian Lewis fan! And what tops it all is that this male guest blogger happens to be Lewisto – my husband! He has a FUN story to tell. Because it’s his story I don’t intend to give any spoilers — except for saying if you think of Carrie and Brody as the best cat and mouse you have ever seen… you ain’t seen nothing yet 😀

ENJOY!

source: Damianista
source: Damianista

Folks, I have a fun story to tell.

First, let me put the record straight: We are a lucky generation. Our life time has given us geniuses of all sorts, from Maradona to Michael Jackson, to Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Banksy, Steve Jobs, Mandela, Philip Glass, Haruki Murakami, Serena Williams…. and our very own Damian Lewis.

We are so very lucky to be indulging ourselves in one of the finest forms of acting from Damian Lewis in our life time. Well, we are also lucky to have this fan blog, too. It is an awesome blog and there is nothing like it. The level of fun, creativity, imagination and sophistication it offers cannot be matched by any other fan blog for any artist. And frankly, this is probably the most appropriate way of talking about such a genius and his art. Thanks ladies, I am a huge fan of yours, too!!!

Long story short, I have been addicted to Damian’s work since I met Brody in Homeland. But something else made me a true fan of Damian Lewis, the man himself.

Here is the story:

Your humble servant, that is me to be precise, is a close companion to Damianista, who happens to teach at some university during her seriously serious daily life.

Fact number one: They refer to her likes as “tutor” in Britain.

Fact number two: Damian is a pretty pretty good looking guy, even for a straight guy like me, but let us defer that discussion.

Now, it turns out that Damianista gets a chance to travel to London and see American Buffalo on stage.

Fact number three: I follow Damianista wherever she goes. Yeah, this is a lesser known fact, but it is a fact anyway.

So we book our flight, buy our theater tickets, and off we go to London.

Fact number four: I am a pretty smart and rational guy. Yeah, the “smart” part is up for debate, but really folks, anybody who creates such great content should try to meet with the dude who inspires them. That is rational, no? So I convince Damianista to try and meet with him in person.

The day of the play. You know, signing/selfieing with fans after performance is not a sure thing and besides, one needs to share the actor with fifty other fans at the stage door. So we decide to try and see him before the play.

source: Damianista
source: Damianista

We go to Wyndham’s Theater a little early that day. It is a standalone building in the middle of Leicester square with doors on all four sides. How do you know which door he would use? Damianista decides to place herself by the stage door at the back of the theater, where actors do their signing with fans after the show. I am located by the main entrance in front of the building. Citing one of Teach’s best lines from American Buffalo, “this is preparation!”

So I am waiting… Suddenly a seventies-porn-star handsome guy walks towards the front door of the theater. Have I already told you how good looking he is? Yeah, that is fact number two, man, he looks good in those sideburns and moustache!

ThisIsPreparation
Chart I: Our “preparation”

I quickly approach him. When I say quickly, what I mean is what you see in our “preparation chart” above. “Mr. Lewis, Mr. Lewis!” I shout, “I am with the woman from fanfunwithdamianlewis.com”

He turns to me: “Is she the tutor?” I know they met before but I am surprised he is remembering details about her.

Me: “Yes!”

Damian: “Where is she?”

Me: “Stage door at the back.”

He immediately cuts me off from the conversation (I mean, really dude, that was not nice at all), he gets out, walks to the stage door, murmuring his lines all the way, a few bystanders join our walk trying to talk with him to no avail, because he goes to Damianista and says “I have come to talk to you, how are you?” The next picture captures the moment with high precision indeed!

DamianWalkingToDamianista
Chart II: The Holy Trail

He is obviously very busy rehearsing his lines one last time. We find out later he and the family are quite busy with moving, too, that week. I told y’all, I am a rational guy, if I were him, I would say, “Really? How sweet! Say hi to her and give her a big hug, OK?”  Nope. He chooses to walk to Damianista in person and have a long conversation with her.

Now… This kind of generosity is enough to make me a true fan of the man himself! Oh, have I also said how great an actor he is? Well I’ve tried a bit at the beginning, but in truth, I cannot put it as well as those ladies do…

Until next time, hugs to y’all.

source: Damianista
Damian and Damianista having a seriously fun conversation, photo: Lewisto

Epilogue

Damianista is back for the last word! Hehe no wonder Damian Lewis asked after my husband last time I met him at New Yorker festival 🙂

Anyhow… to complete the story… I am standing across from the stage door for more than an hour now… Tom Sturridge is the first to arrive… John Goodman follows soon after, and he does not only give me an autograph but also chats a bit with me about Treme in which I adored him!

So, I wait a little more… And, all of a sudden, and exactly like Lewisto has it on his “Holy Trail” chart, four guys turn the corner at the same time… It feels exactly like the famous OK Corral scene except that the guys look a bit different! 😀

okcorral

On the left, Lewisto, jumping up and down, and waving the two hotel umbrellas he has in his hand (it was a rainy day in London!)… Then, in the middle, two guys that I have no idea about, cameras in hand and trying to make conversation with the guy on right who seems to have zero interest in them and is murmuring to himself… And that guy is… Damian! And, hey, he is not going to the stage door… He is walking crosswise… to me:  “I have come to talk to you… How are you?”

Some dreams come true, don’t they?

Anyhow… I do my best not to take a lot of his time because Damian will be on stage in less than an hour and we will be in our seats to see him in American Buffalo. But I, at least, say: “Look, Damian. I would love to kidnap you for a day just to have you sit down and read our blog. But I cannot do that. So I will do the second best. Here is a selection of our blog posts that you may like!” And I give him a fat dossier 😀 And he laughs. Just after we say our good-byes, an older lady comes to me and says: “You know how lucky you are, don’t you? You had your moment with him.” Yes. Yes, I know how lucky I am. I am over the moon. But not just because I had the chance to meet Damian. But because I have the BEST guy in the world that always plays ball with me, even in my crazy endeavors like this fan blog, making everything in life better and happier and funnier! We are celebrating our 21st anniversary (day 1 being the day we started dating) a week from today and I want 500 more years! Cheers <3

6 thoughts on ““Is She The Tutor?” or How I Became A Fan Of Damian Lewis The Man Himself…”

  1. what a beautiful story, your husband is great, he loves you and appreciates Damian!
    But I do not know any actor who would have done what Damian has done for you!
    This reinforces my idea, to think that Damian is an exceptional man!
    I’m happy for you, but I think you deserve, what did Damian for you!
    Bravo

    1. OMG Monique, you just make my day! Thanks so much for your very lovely words! Yes, I am very lucky to have my hubby always playing ball and supporting all my crazy endeavors in life. And this story, I think, is more about us than Damian, in some ways… Regarding the work we do, as all other fan sites and blogs, we are trying our best, I believe, to write our hearts out for Damian. But yes the way he appreciates is extremely kind. He’s really exceptional. Yes, I think any other actor would not do what he did. He’s a KIND man. The Best. And your words mean a lot – thanks so much for all the support! <3

    2. thanks Monique, Lewisto here. I absolutely agree with you on what you say about Damian and the ladies. OK, I agree with you on what you say about me, too 🙂

  2. Thank you, Lewisto, for sharing this journey with us. I enjoyed the re-telling very much. I love your charts of the voyage. Hope you won’t be too annoyed if I say I’m glad Damian cut you out to go speak to Damianista…for the record, I do not like Nicholas McGrade! I trust that puts me back in the good books!

    You are very right that we are all lucky to be enjoying Damian’s acting and if it inspires you to guest on the blog then all the better. This was very funny and heart-warming. I’m glad Daminista has you following her wherever she goes and encouraging her. 1+1 =1 seems fitting here.

    I wish the two of you a very happy anniversary next week…and may I suggest the song “I’m gonna be” which is the correct name for the song by the Proclaimers, but is commonly referred to as “500 miles”.

    The discussion on Damian being pretty pretty good looking may be deferred, but haste ye back to chair that panel.

    1. you know TBkWrm, it hurts when someone cuts you out like that. why, why? I did nothing to him. Oh, may be that is why 🙂 but hey, now that I have my first blog entry about him, some nice dinner with him would be fine… ok, beer will do it… hey I told ya, I am a rational guy 🙂

      500 big thanks, such a fun song!

  3. I have the chance, my husband is like you
    ! At first, he laughed a little about myself, but as I made him watch the DVD Damian, he says I am right, and that, he is a sensational actor
    I even a photo Damian next to my computer !!
    Monique

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