Author: JaniaJania

JaniaJania Writes: Why Damian Lewis?

Time flies. It’s been a year since JaniaJania brought her literary and forensic talent to this blog. And here’s her first ever post still as fresh as it was exactly a year ago.

Why Damian Lewis? Well, she knows why.

Cheers to many many years together, partner! Love, Damianista

March 4, 2015

Hi everyone!

I am extremely happy to introduce you to a new and absolutely brilliant
blogger on Fan Fun with Damian Lewis.

Please say hi to JaniaJania!

JaniaJania and I met on Twitter! She attracted my attention with her tweets
first — always intriguing, interesting and FUN! She can say so much about Damian Lewis with 140 characters at a time that I just kindly asked her if she would be interested in blogging on Fan Fun with Damian Lewis. And lucky
me, and lucky us, she has accepted. So, starting today, Wednesdays are “JaniaJania Writes” days!

Welcome, JaniaJania, and cheers to sharing the FUN together for a long, long time!

Damianista

Here’s JaniaJania’s HELLO to us all, followed by her first post! ENJOY!

“Thank you Damianista for inviting me to write what I love! Damian Lewis is an inspiration in so many ways. Great having this chance to ride the Fan Fun together. Enjoy!” Continue reading “JaniaJania Writes: Why Damian Lewis?”

Cover Man: Damian Lewis in Cigar Aficionado

Our guy,  Damian Lewis, is no stranger to being a feature cover story. He’s graced many a magazine cover, both alone and with co-stars: past, present, and (hopefully) future.

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The most recent magazine cover and story featuring “one in a billion” Damian is for the January/February issue of Cigar Aficionado.

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Continue reading “Cover Man: Damian Lewis in Cigar Aficionado”

Billions ep 6 – The Deal

This episode halfway thru the season opens with a scene I didn’t expect to see until series end. That’s where we start and that’s where we’re taken, into an episode that feels like a season finale. I’ll get to that starting scene in a bit. First, we must draw all hands to deck, look up and witness the King. Axe climbs up on office furniture, his head nearly grazing the dropped ceiling, and he gives his troops a war speech worthy of Patton.

Yesterday we came under attack from an unscrupulous adversary…

Unblinking, unflinching, determined righteous passion. Despite the zeal, Damian somehow keeps the speech from being over the top. It’s a rapid spitfire rallying speech, then, just as rapidly, Damian draws the energy he just exerted right back in. It’s this masterful balance between release and stillness, between exertion and absorption. Wendy watches from the sidelines and she feels the rawness too. Witness her halted breathing, and the decidedly dilated pupils watching Axe on stage, then the averted gaze as he descends and walks past her, spent. I’m making this all sound vaguely sexual aren’t I. Well, probably because it IS.

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imageedit_15_3186490062 Continue reading “Billions ep 6 – The Deal”

Billions ep 5 – The Good Life: Tete a Tete Sur L’Herbe

imageedit_4_8000993631Five episodes into Billions, and I’m thinking that instead of repeating a recap of the episode, already so expertly done by Damianista mere hours after the episode airs, I’ll keep these Wednesday posts to the facets I enjoy the most in any drama: the psychology and emotional reality behind the story.

We’re getting to know all characters more deeply, none more so than Robert Axelrod. Gotta say he was a bit of an ass in this episode, keeping all his most loyal confidantes out of the loop on the facts behind his supposed closing of the shop. Remember how he showed Lara his phone screen when Birch got bit at the fundraiser? And how Wags was always in on every single move Axe ever pulled?  Well, there’s no sharing of the screen here and Wags gets the brush off too, even as he’s imploring Axe with a deeply felt “Come on, you can tell me” in their one on one in the media room in Axe’s Xanadu.

Continue reading “Billions ep 5 – The Good Life: Tete a Tete Sur L’Herbe”

Our Kind of Traitor: On UK Screens May 13

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There’s been a long wait for the whirlwind of projects Damian did while on haitus from Homeland and right after wrapping up his stint. We just learned that one of those long-awaited projects, John Le Carre’s Our Kind of Traitor, will be in cinemas May 13 in the UK. The preview was released last week, and, boy, it sure does look to be a fun ride of a spy drama. Great talent on board with Ewan MacGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Naomie Harris, and, of course, Damian Lewis in the role of British intelligence fixer Hector Meredith.

I’ve been listening to the audiobook since this news came out and been bemused to hear the role of Hector, written as a weathered investigator well into his 50’s, read in a gruff no-nonsense baritone. Happy to report, as gruff as he may sound, they didn’t age Damian to fit the role, and, though he’s sporting vintage horn-rimmed glasses and may be pulling a specific MI6 inflection of a British accent, he is otherwise undisguised. Have a look at the preview here. And read on as we revisit some observations about the story, the characters, and some behind the scenes goodness.

Continue reading “Our Kind of Traitor: On UK Screens May 13”