musings about the actor and the characters he brings to life
Well, 12 weeks were gone with the wind and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? has now closed. And, as if we need another reason to celebrate Damian’s work, I would love to take the closing of The Goat as a unique opportunity to celebrate 12 weeks of Damian Lewis on stage. Please enjoy our Fan Fun Goat Party from previews to media appearances to jam sessions to stage door experiences!
The times I can see Damian in person are few and far between. It was at Damianista’s urging, i.e. pretty much taking me by the hand and flying me out to NY, that my first “sighting” and “meeting” even happened. (I have no idea what those quotes mean or why I used them, just go with me here) I vacillate often between “I’d be fine if I never saw him in person again, good riddance to that level of stress-filled gut-wrenching fangrl angst” to “Fine, I’ll see him on stage or something, but no reason to talk to him privately, is there? Can’t we be normal people for once and just go home and not talk to him?” to “OMG, when are we going to see him again, in what circumstances, for how long, can we possibly have it go longer, and what if…etc. etc. etc.” Truthfully, I spend about equal parts brain energy on those three states of fangrl-ness. Quite similar, in fact, to the brain energy allocation of an average 17 year old girl around prom time.
So, when we heard about The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? coming to London and started talking about it, there I was, torn among those three states. “I’ve got a sister right outside London,” I said. “I can stay with her!” And maybe take a couple weeks and see London, make like I’m 19 again, but, this time, somewhat have the money to do all the London things I’ve never had the chance to do. “Make it about London and not just about him,” said the part of my brain reserved for how crazy all THIS makes me look, justifying the insanity of all THIS by diluting it with a legitimate sight-seeing trip to a legitimate world capital city with loads of things that interest me anyway, even if it weren’t Damian’s home town.
Continue reading “London, The Goat, and Meeting Damian Lewis”
Speaking of Shakespeare in his anniversary month and of Damian’s return to stage also this month, let’s revisit Damian’s turn as Antony. Seems one Antony visited another at the opening of “The Goat”.
Look, a convergence of Antony's! #JamesPurefoy #damianlewis pic.twitter.com/ZmSojrvT9n
— JaniaJania (@zarqa) April 5, 2017
In the talk with Stacey Wilson Hunt at SAG-AFTRA Foundation, it is notable that Damian never had straight up formulaic answers for any of the excellent questions asked by the interviewer. He seemed to put some real thought into all his answers. Something struck out as requiring further exploration from that interview. When asked about the best advice he’d been given as an actor, Damian turned it around into a story of his biggest professional regret. Damian tells us that he was once offered a major role in a major Shakespeare production to be staged at the very major National Theatre by, as you can imagine, an appropriately superlative artistic director. In sharing this story, he provided a perfect instance of the notion that our biggest lessons come from our biggest mistakes. Continue reading “Damian Lewis and Shakespeare”
Billions Season 2 premiered in NYC on Feb 13. You know as well as we do that where there’s a red carpet and our beauties are out and about being beautiful, we’ll be there to bring you the glamorous highlights.
Variety and Vogue both tell us the party and screening of the first episode of the new season were held at Cipriani on Broadway, an opulent events space, fittingly right across the street from Wall Street’s iconic charging bull sculpture.
Gotta love this shot of Showtime’s David Nevins taking a selfie with his peeps.
Let’s just call this one Poise. Continue reading “Billions Premiers in NYC”
The Billions cast and show runners were all present and accounted for at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. We gathered some fine tidbits from the various people and places covering this industry event yesterday as well as a look at the first official trailer for Season 2, premiering on Showtime, Sunday, February 19 at 10pm.
