Damian takes a break to focus on dad duties
He HAs created some of the most memorable Tv characters in recent history — including Nicholas Brody, the conflicted marine at the heart of Homeland and Henry VIII in Wolf Hall — but it seems we may have to get used to seeing less of Damian lewis on the box.
The star of long-running hit show Billions, and before that Band Of Brothers, is ‘on a hiatus’ from acting while he looks after his two teenage children following the death of their mother (and his wife) Helen Mccrory.
lewis shot a big budget thriller A spy Among Friends, based on the story of Kim philby, at the end of last year, but hasn’t taken on any new roles since.
A friend says: ‘He’s stepped up amazingly to look after the kids, and does so without any help. He is there at pick-up every day. His priority is being with them and he stepped in to do everything Helen did, and he’s doing it so well.
‘He won’t put them into boarding school or anything like that, so it looks like a hiatus from acting work for him for some time.
‘There was a little bit of work to do in America recently and he brought the kids with him, so they had a holiday — although they all came down with Covid, naturally.’
lewis himself said last October that he planned to stay in london for the foreseeable future ‘ for obvious reasons’.
He is aiming to release an album of music next year; and last week played a gig in london. many of the songs were about Helen, who died aged 52 after a battle with cancer in April of last year. lewis was visibly emotional on stage and at one point joked that he ‘shouldn’t have worn mascara’.
A friend said: ‘He still wears his wedding ring and all the songs were about Helen. No one could have grieved harder than he did.’
I’m told that he remains very close to Helen’s parents Iain and Ann, and consulted them before going public with his new girlfriend, musician Alison mosshart. Iain and Ann were in the audience at london’s Omeara when lewis played there.
He and mosshart, of The Kills, are thought to have got to know each other via mutual friends and went public at a fundraiser for the National Gallery in July. she wasn’t spotted in the audience at his gig.
A spy Among Friends is due out on the new ITV streaming service ITVX in November or December.