DAMIAN LEWIS
“There’s no-one more competitive than Bobby”
The third season finale of Billions was a complete game-changer. Previous enemies hedge-fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and US attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), whose animosity had driven the show up until that point, formed an alliance of mutual benefit.
At the same time, Axe’s former mentee Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), who he’d previously left in charge of his business, set up their own firm and won a lucrative deal from under his nose. In Season 4 (on Stan from Mon., Mar. 18), the scene is set for some explosive showdowns as Axe, in particular, looks to settle the score.
“There’s no-one more competitive than Bobby and we see what he’s prepared to do to in order to get what he wants,” says Lewis, 48. “The compulsion to go on and make a billion rather than just have a successful company that does well, that’s very different. To keep going and amass that kind of wealth shows a highly competitive nature, and we examine that in Billions.”
Like Chuck before them, Taylor is proving to be a major stumbling block standing in Axe’s way – something Lewis is thrilled about.
“It’s become an even more interesting show,” he says. “With Bobby, I think it’s fun just to see … you know, you want to see Muhammad Ali take a few punches and then watch him come back. That’s more interesting drama, I think. Bobby is an alley cat; he’s a blue collar scrapper and that’s part of what makes him charming as well. He lives on his wits. He’s not an Ivy League privileged, educated guy. He’s a guy who has made it on his own, but he’s a brawler.”
Besides the thrill of seeing these characters go up against each other, Lewis enjoys the fact that Billions shows “there is moral consequence for what you do. I can’t tell you where it’s going to end up in Season 5 or 6, or however long we go for, but there are consequences on the human beings perpetrating all these acts, and I hope there will be punishment and retribution of some kind.”