Tag: London

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Pillars of the Community

This post was originally written in 2016. With Damian set to star in Jack of Spades alongside Lesley Manville, it feels like the perfect moment to share it again. Enjoy!

It all began when a dear colleague—someone who shares my deep love for theatre—asked me to name my favorite male and female stage performances of 2015. Easy.

Lesley Manville in Ibsen’s Ghosts.
Damian Lewis in Mamet’s American Buffalo (with Mark Strong in Miller’s A View from the Bridge a very close second).

So what was it about these performances that made me fall in love with them?

One word: precision.

Then I thought about the heart-breaking performance Lesley Manville gives in Ghosts which, in fact, brought her an Olivier Award in 2014 (I saw the play later when it visited Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2015). I know Manville mostly from her work on big screen such as Secrets and Lies (1996), Vera Drake (2004), Another Year (2010) and Mr Turner (2014) all of which were some of my favorites in the year they were released. But I really did not know about her stage work. So I googled her.

And here is the first image I hit! Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Pillars of the Community”

Damian Lewis in The Runner: A First Look

Another movie we’re excited to see Damian Lewis in later this year is The Runner, written by Mark Gibson, directed by Kevin Macdonald, and starring Gal Gadot in the lead role. The film was shot in London over the spring–summer of 2025 and will be distributed by Amazon MGM Studios.

Damian Lewis hasn’t just been cast in The Runner — he’s been spotted on set in a way that raises a lot of questions. His look, his position next to the main characters, and the fact that we don’t know his role yet make him one of the most interesting mysteries in the film.

While Gal Gadot might be the official star of The Runner, if you are a Damian Lewis fan, you already know where the real intrigue lies: Damian showed up on set sporting the most serious mustache of 2025.

And since we still don’t know who he is playing in the movie, the only sensible thing to do is speculate wildly, irresponsibly, and with great enthusiasm! If the production wanted us to behave, they would release a character description… So let’s go! Continue reading “Damian Lewis in The Runner: A First Look”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Sondheim’s Into The Woods

I was fortunate enough to interview Damian in March 2o24 after his gig in Norwich during the second leg of his Mission Creep UK Tour. We spoke mainly about music, but the conversation eventually drifted to theatre. I mentioned meeting his father, Mr. Watcyn Lewis, who had told me how much he hoped to see Damian return to theatre. With Damian now focused on music, the idea of musical theatre naturally came up. When I asked him about it, he admitted he would love to do it, though family responsibilities and the demanding nature of theatre make it a difficult prospect. Still, as we keep our fingers crossed that he might step into musical theatre one day, it feels like the perfect moment to revisit the only musical he has performed on stage so far: Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

“Hello, little girl!”

Many viewers were surprised, as they watched the BBC Broadcast of the fabulous Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends Gala, to see Damian appear as the Wolf to Bernadette Peters’ Red Riding Hood from the musical Into the Woods – one of Sondheim’s greatest musicals. 

But the thing is that Damian is not a stranger to the role at all. In fact, he was the Wolf in Into the Woods  at the London revival of the musical back in 1998! So why don’t we travel back to that time and visit a 27 year old Damian on stage?

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in Sondheim’s Into The Woods”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at the Royal Shakespeare Company

I was lucky enough to see the Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 documentary during its opening days at the IFC in New York at a special screening, which was followed by a Q&A with director Raoul Peck. One of the highlights of the evening was getting to ask a question myself — I asked Mr. Peck about how he brought together the film’s striking imagery with Damian Lewis’ narration, and his answer gave a fascinating glimpse into the creative process behind this award-winning documentary. I’m pasting his answer below for those interested in the behind-the-scenes magic.

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at the Royal Shakespeare Company”

We Celebrate Damian Lewis as a Dad!

Damian Lewis with children Gulliver McCrory-Lewis and Manon McCrory-Lewis at the Burberry Winter 2025 show during London Fashion Week on February 24, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Burberry)

Damian Lewis is a fantastic actor. A talented musician. A generous philanthropist. He is a skilled player on the football field. But, among all different hats he wears, that of fatherhood stands out as the most precious one. And how beautiful the stories we read and the images we get of Damian as a father. And in honor of Gully’s 18th birthday, he turned 18 yesterday, we’re celebrating the kind of father Damian has been — caring, funny, and full of love for both Gully and Manon. Happy Birthday, Gully!

Damian and Gully at Day 8 of Wimbledon 2025

Continue reading “We Celebrate Damian Lewis as a Dad!”