TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Billions at PaleyLIVE New York

I cannot agree more with Variety critic Maureen Ryan who writes the following about Billions as she includes the show in her Best 20 New TV Shows of 2016 list:

source: Showtime

“Too many dramas these days, even modestly ambitious ones, mistake plodding glumness and a dour tone for seriousness of intent,” but Billions doesn’t make that mistake. Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Malin Akerman, David Costabile and Maggie Siff all gave fierce, wry, committed performances as high rollers in the Manhattan financial elite, but “the most salient fact about Billions may be that it’s funny. Sarcastic asides, humorous insults and well-targeted quips are folded into it like truffles in a plate of handmade ravioli.”

Well, firstly, I approve this message as a huge truffle fan! And, secondly, believe me, it is truffle-level delicious to be in the same room with Billions cast and creators discussing the show. What an incredibly brilliant bunch! Lady Trader and I were very lucky to attend Billions Season 2 Sneak Peek and Discussion Panel at Paley Center in New York early December and we cannot thank enough for an hour full of intelligence, wit and laughter! Continue reading “TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Billions at PaleyLIVE New York”

Top Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
White House Correspondents Dinner

Happy belated Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. Minnesota has been quite chilly and snowy this winter, we are totally living up to our bitter, tundra-like reputation!

Painfully accurate.

Since it’s been far too dangerous to venture outside, I’ve been hunkered down inside, hiding under a blanket, getting some awesome posts written! I’m pleased to bring you a moment from the tall one’s year-specifically from Saturday, April 16th, when he headed to Washington, D.C. to attend the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner.

This black tie shindig, thrown by the Washington Correspondents Association, happens annually at The Washington Hilton. This year marked the 102nd anniversary of this dinner! You can read in great detail about the history of this organization, and it’s relationship with the White House and the president, both present and past. The stated goal of the gathering is stated as such on their website:

“Proceeds from the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner go toward scholarships and awards that recognize aspiring and accomplished journalists. Auctions and raffles of WHCA DINNER tickets designed to raise money for other organizations or for commercial purposes are against the policy of the WHCA.” Continue reading “Top Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
White House Correspondents Dinner”

TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Damian Storms Times Talks in NY!

source: Times Talks Program

I cannot agree more with Times Talks tag line: The brightest stars. The smartest conversations. And the very smart conversation that a very bright star, Damian Lewis, has with NY Times Culture reporter and new Carpetbagger Cara Buckley at Directors Guild Theater in New York marks yet another TOP Damian Lewis moment of the year!

source: Getty Images

Well, on the day the UK votes to stay in or leave the European Union, a conversation with a British actor calls for a question about Brexit. And that was Buckley’s opening question. And, somehow, the conversation turned more political than I thought it would and I enjoyed it immensely. We all know celebrities tend to avoid from getting involved in political conversation probably because they do not want to lose fans. And I understand that. On the other hand, one may be an actor, a doctor, a teacher, or anything else, but first and foremost we are all citizens and we have responsibility to speak our minds about issues that we care about. And just THIS, I believe, makes an individual, regardless of who she or he is, and regardless you agree with her or him, a good citizen of the world. Thus, I applaud Cara Buckley for her hard-hitting questions and Damian Lewis for speaking his mind thoughtfully, knowledgeably and graciously. He was certainly in TOP form providing compelling arguments along with brilliant humor that cracked up the room one too many times!

You know it is quite a task to turn a one hour and fifteen minute conversation into about 2500 words. But I have such delicious quotes from Damian that I would love to build the review around them.

Continue reading “TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Damian Storms Times Talks in NY!”

TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Sohana Research Fund

Sohana Collins, who gives her name to Sohana Research Fund, is a young teenager who was born with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB or EB) which means she lacks the protein that holds her skin together. Kids with EB have extremely fragile skin that they are sometimes called “butterfly children.” Lots of activities we take for granted as easy routines in our daily lives are a struggle for them. Can you imagine a day where your dressing up takes up to two hours and eating and drinking cause blisters in your mouth and throat? These kids have to deal with this kind of pain every single day.

Continue reading “TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2016:
Sohana Research Fund”

Top Damian Lewis Moment 2016: Antony’s Speech for The Guardian

Today’s Top Moment of the year is one that still comes up in Damian’s Twitter timeline, many months after it was first released, a brilliant short video of Damian reading Marc Antony’s “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech from Julius Caesar for The Guardian’s video series Shakespeare Solos. Several lit profs have tweeted thanks to Damian, remarking that they use his speech when they teach the play. Actually literature professors and acting teachers alike have found something remarkable in Damian’s prescient delivery. It’s a master class, both on the role of the speech within the play and on acting.

antonycollage

Continue reading “Top Damian Lewis Moment 2016: Antony’s Speech for The Guardian”