Englishmanin NewYork
Damian Lewis talks about his transatlantic career – including buffing up to play a predatory trader – and taking advice from fellow British actor Hugh Laurie
two children, Manon, 10, and nine-year-old Gulliver.
With impressive credits such as Band of Brothers, Wolf Hall and The Forsyte Saga in his portfolio, Damian is the acting equivalent of blue-chip stock – which is handy considering his work in Sky Atlantic’s hit thriller series Billions.
While hedge funds and talk of hostile takeovers, virtual bets, asset-stripping and short sells may baffle outsiders and non-billionaires, Damian has equipped himself with a clear, working understanding of the world occupied by his predatory Billions character Bobby.
He said: “I researched it. I play football with a hedge funder but it is difficult to find someone who can explain it to the layman. I discovered that hedge funders are natural gamblers, basically. They are predators and no one is safe.
“I learnt that all the CEOs of the big companies have these red Batman phones on their desks and are waiting for one of these guys to call on it and say, ‘Your numbers are all wrong and we’re coming in’. It is scary.”
He added: “Bobby is an alley cat. A blue-collar kid who attended a mid-range university but is street smart.
“He is an outsider, not Ivy League, or particularly well-read. He probably devoured a lot of business, self-help and finance books on the way up. The character is written in a very bullish manner, full of bravura. Scenes escalate in aggressive, alpha-dog style.”
One sequence finds him diving into an outdoor swimming pool, stark naked.
Damian said: “I guess I am conscious of being more buff when I’m in New York. It’s right for the role. There exists in the US a certain type of controlling, blue-collar male who is all muscles, pumped up and worked out. You know, a man is a man. Build a barn. Go logging.
“Of course, men who are stuck in the city are unable to do those things so they go to the gym. I’m not that guy. I am a coat hanger normally. If I want to get bigger I have to work at it.”
Damian says he feels more at home with the pace and energy of television than Hollywood. He said: “The most important thing is the story and script.”
Playing Agent Brody in Homeland was a stroke of luck. He said: “It wasn’t particularly hyped by the channel. It just kind of took off after the first episode and everyone was talking about it.”
Modern TV, he is at pains to stress, is old-fashioned hard work.
Damian added: “A show like Billions means extraordinarily long hours. You get a 60-page script every week. You have to get learning it immediately. You are doing 60 or 70-hour weeks. The turnover is relentless and everyone is working flat-out. There’s no time for a beer when you’ve wrapped for the day because you are exhausted.”
Hugh Laurie failed to warn him about this. In 2007, Damian discovered he had bought a home in London’s Tufnell Park which was formerly owned by the House, Blackadder and The Night Manager actor.
Since their career trajectories are fairly similar, Damian tracked him down.
He said: “I called him and said, ‘I know this is weird but I have just bought your house and I’m sitting in your bedroom.’ “I asked for his opinion on a TV show I’d just been offered [NBC’s ill-fated Life]. He was very diplomatic and encouraging. ‘You should go for it’, he said. So I did.” “But every single person I spoke to afterwards told me Hugh had been utterly miserable doing House. The hours were outrageous, it was impossible to learn the lines and he didn’t have a life any more.” Didn’t that put him off ? “Not at all,” said Liverpool FC fan Damian, who describes the character as “an intuitive street-fighter”. ● Season 2 of Billions starts on February 21 on Sky Atlantic. ● Damian will appear in comedy The Goat, which opens on April 5 at Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. ● Read the full interview with Damian at mrporter.
All the CEOs of the big companies have Batman phones on their desks DAMIAN LEWIS