Tag: Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis, An Englishman in New York: 2016 Edition

You know the worst thing about being a hardcore fan is the dry spells, these times when the object of your fandom is hard at work, filming, and no where to be seen. You’ve already watched most of his entire oeuvre, some of it many times over. And there is nothing to fill the void. Particularly egregious for such a time to come as we are also mired in the sludge of arguably the worst election of recent history, when the worst possible words and images are assaulting us from all our screens on a daily basis. Wherefore humanity? Wherefore truth and beauty? Wherefore art? And alas, wherefore Damian?

But, you know the best thing about such times is that we have you, dear fans, posting your sightings and run-ins. And we have dear Damian himself graciously posing for pics with you, his dear fans. So we bring you what has become an annual post: Our Englishman in New York.

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Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Romeo & Juliet

capuletsToday’s throwback takes us to, probably, the most famous star-crossed lovers in history… Oh, no, sorry, I am not talking about Carrie and Brody 😀

Damian Lewis is no stranger to Shakespeare. He played Romeo in Birmingham Rep’s Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet in Hamlet in the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, London in 1993 and 1994, respectively, as a fresh graduate of Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Then he did his Broadway debut as Laertes to Ralph Fiennes’ Hamlet in Almeida Theatre’s production in 1995. Damian also performed as Posthumous in Cymbeline and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also brought to life a lovely Benedick on BBC’s Shakespeare Retold: Much Ado About Nothing. Damian took on the role of Lord Capulet in a 2013 big screen adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. And, finally, he kicked off Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday Celebrations in 2014 at Guildhall Library reading the great man’s first five sonnets! Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Romeo & Juliet”

Book Review: Meeting Damian Lewis

Need a suggestion for some summer reading on the beach? Here’s my review of Christine Wilson’s Meeting Damian Lewis. Enjoy!

Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers.
Il ne faut pas toucher aux idoles: la dorure en reste aux mains.
― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

How I love when art gets meta: when a writer or artist has the self-awareness and genuine capacity to make fun of themselves. That’s what we mean when we say the writing is “honest”. There’s no agenda to convince or win over the reader, just a need to show, everything, even the warty not-attractive bits.

With her first novel, Meeting Damian Lewis, Christine Wilson has succeeded beautifully in that effort.

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Previously on Billions: ‘Magical Thinking’

 

 

Previously on Billions…

Bobby waves Mafee into his office, but Mafee stays where he is. Bobby is perplexed until Wags explains Mafee wishes to talk about BioLance so has sent Wags in to get permission because Bobby told him he would be fired if he brought that up. Mafee thinks that they are about to lose £400+ million and is basically saying Bobby has this one wrong. Since he is executing the trade, Mafee fears if he does not speak up now, he’ll be fired after they lose the $400+ Million. Bobby sees how this could be a sticky one.

Bobby loves Mafee though so permission is granted.

Mafee has been losing sleep over this BioLance trade and he sleeps like a bear. Axe does that thing he does and asks Mafee what type of bear he usually sleeps like.

There is a special announcement call about BioLance in 9 minutes and Mafee is uneasy. Bobby, however, is giving Mafee no leeway when it comes to the actual information as Bobby understands the risks and has done the homework. So, despite the fact that the other analysts agree with Mafee and him being so loveable, Mafee is the one standing in front of Bobby and Mafee is fired.

He tried.

He is still there 9 minutes later when the announcement is made that BioLance has not gotten FDA approval. What does this mean? It means that Mafee would be perfectly entitled to jump up on the desk and scream “I told you so”. However, Mafee looks genuinely disappointed by the announcement. If he is fired, why does he care that Axe just lost $430 Million dollars for being an over confident and dismissive ass? Mafee might just be a team player.

The news has hit Bobby like a ton of bricks, but it is not really the fact that he just lost $430 million that is bothering him or that he really owes Mafee an apology. It is the realisation he has lost his mojo. He was wrong. Him! Bobby Axelrod.

Bobby
Source: Showtime

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Value of Loyalty and Bobby Axelrod’s varying degrees

A warning for those just starting to watch Billions in the UK, this blog will contain spoilers for all of season 1.

To know who Bobby Axelrod is means having an understanding of where he has been and how he has gotten to here. At the moment we just have ‘the here’ with a couple of anecdotes thrown in. Granted the 9/11 reveal was fairly big, but in the end just added more questions.

The simple view of Bobby Axelrod is a husband, a father and the owner of Axe Capital. Digging under the surface the clear picture starts to blur.

His wife loves him and is loyal to him yet it is clear there are things she does not know about him or about how he will react in certain circumstances. In Magical thinking Lara tells her sister Lu that she needs Bobby “to give her something” i.e. she needs him to share with her. It probably hurt her knowing he was off sharing his feelings with Wendy. In ‘the Conversation’ we see the first slither of doubts cross her mind even as the words she speaks say the opposite. I found it interesting that Bobby decided to leave all that money in the house rather than return it to the bank. Is this a test for his wife? At this stage I wouldn’t put it past him. Lara did not appreciate the inference of having to up and run soon by keeping the money in the house. Nor did she appreciate the affection with which Bobby spoke of Wendy in the same scene. It seems to me Mr & Mrs Axelrod may be about to hit choppy waters. I hope that boat came with life jackets.

Source: Showtime
Source: Showtime

His boys look up to him but then they are children who still think that dad knows best and are still at the stage where they prefer ‘cool’ dad far better than ‘realistic and responsible’ mum. The reality is that cool dad is not doing himself or his boys any favours. They are childish enough that they thank him for his undermining of whatever their mother says and does. They will grow out of that eventually. Continue reading “Value of Loyalty and Bobby Axelrod’s varying degrees”