Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in The Misanthrope

Damianista’s note (02/15/2024): When a good friend shares this picture from Damian’s dressing room with you, you know it is time to travel back to 2009 and re-visit our guy in The Misanthrope. It is Damian’s handwriting on the mirror: I would recognize that capital “G” anywhere. And it says ““Rouse tempers, goad and lacerate, raise a whirlwind.” A little research shows that this was Kenneth Tynan’s lifelong motto, pinned above his desk at the National Theatre when he was its literary manager. ENJOY!

It was 2009 when Damian played the lead role of Alceste in Martin Crimp’s modernized version of Moliere’s 17th century comedy. After his appearance in The Misanthrope he was not seen on stage again until American Buffalo six years later. Dare we say, The Misanthrope marked a turning point for Damian, the last one where he was the nearly A-list actor playing against decidedly A-list’er Keira Knightley. NOW, of course, he is not nearly anything but a full-blown highly sought commodity on stage and screen. In this post, I’ll tell you a bit about the play, then, beg your indulgence as I wax philosophical about the extent to which the themes of the play translate to Damian’s own career trajectory.

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis in The Misanthrope”

Following Footsteps of Damian in London

Taking inspiration from Vicky’s fun retelling of walking in the footsteps of Milo Shakespeare, here’s me walking in some of the footsteps taken by Damian in his home town. Enjoy!

Gotta love it when a passing thought from one post leads to an entire new fully-fleshed-out post. I had remarked, during my two-week tour in London, I was reminded often of places I’d seen Damian in images and film. In particular, when I was walking from Shakespeare’s Globe west towards Blackfriars Bridge along the Thames Path I looked down to the river and saw the moss covered walls where Damian and Helen leaned and loafed for a photoshoot, as well as the pier under which Hector made a phone call in Our Kind of Traitor.

That bit of Proustian mind-wandering lead Damianista to the thought, “Hey, why not do a post where we follow along in Damian’s footsteps throughout London?” “Isn’t that a bit stalkery?” I worried. “Nah,” we both concluded. Happily, Damian knows we are the most harmless variety of stalkers he could ever have. So, here it is, a catalog of all the places and sites where we “saw” Damian, characters he’s played, and stories he’s been a part of in his beloved home town.

Continue reading “Following Footsteps of Damian in London”

“Is She the Tutor?” Or Throwback Thursday to American Buffalo Stage Door

Prologue

Hey all, Damianista here!

My husband Lewisto wrote this post about how he became a Damian Lewis fan a few years ago. While it is an extremely funny story centered around Damian, it is quite personal and says as much about the two of us as about Damian. That is why I am sharing it again this week marking our 24th wedding anniversary! Since it is Lewisto’s story I do not intend to give any spoilers but I cannot help say if you think of Carrie and Brody as the best cat and mouse you have ever seen… you ain’t seen nothing yet 😀

ENJOY!

source: Damianista
source: Damianista

Folks, I have a fun story to tell.

First, let me put the record straight: We are a lucky generation. Our life time has given us geniuses of all sorts, from Maradona to Michael Jackson, to Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Banksy, Steve Jobs, Mandela, Philip Glass, Haruki Murakami, Serena Williams…. and our very own Damian Lewis. Continue reading ““Is She the Tutor?” Or Throwback Thursday to American Buffalo Stage Door”

TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2017: Hand in Hand

“He’s never given me any reason to be jealous.You know… he’s lovely, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen him. If I don’t think he’s lovely, we’re all screwed.” – Helen McCrory

Damian and Helen hand in hand at Chessington World of Adventures, source: Daily Mail

It is no secret we adore these love birds, or love butterflies, if you will, and we are extremely pleased to end the year, exactly like we did in 2015 and 2016, with our favorite Damian & Helen moments of 2017!

Well, it is obviously not easy to be two ridiculously talented and busy actors living together and raising a family. I remember Damian telling us at Cheltenham Literature Festival that the problem never goes away:

“When you’re two actors living together, you’re always asked to do work away from your home, so you just have to decide which ones are important enough to go and do away from home and try to spend the rest of the time together.”

And that is exactly what Damian and Helen have done in 2017.  Continue reading “TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2017: Hand in Hand”

All Her Big Loves Came as a Shock. So did Damian Lewis: Petra’s Story

Hi everyone! Damianista welcomes you to a NEW Fan Story Tuesday!

Today’s story comes from Petra, aka Lucky Fellow as she likes to call herself, a wonderful fan from Germany, who has been one of our very loyal readers and supporters. Our interaction with Petra is quite special since she always writes in German, and we google-translate her note to English and then respond. And how can you not LOVE this technology letting us overcome any language barrier and share our love and admiration for Damian Lewis regardless of who we are and where we are? And after all, we all speak the same language when it comes to Damian!

copyright: Petra

Petra sent me her fan story in German. I google-translated the piece and then did my best to polish it. I also sent a couple of sentences that google-translate did not do a good job with (word by word translation does not always work!) to Carolin, another German fan and friend, who very kindly helped me translate them. So please find Petra’s story below both in German and English! Big thanks go to her for this lovely contribution and to Carolin for her help with the translation. Enjoy! Continue reading “All Her Big Loves Came as a Shock. So did Damian Lewis: Petra’s Story”