Lewis returns as ‘Axe’ – the hedge fund billionaire
Damian Lewis is back as hedge fund billionaire Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod in the second series of Billions. The actor, 46, who has two children with the actress Helen McCrory, talks about reuniting with Paul Giamatti, who plays US attorney Chuck Rhoades, the power plays the pair continue to have and the benefit of shooting an epic TV series.
WHAT’S IT LIKE WORKING WITH PAUL GIAMATTI?
Paul is sensational. He’s one of the most delightful men I’ve ever met and so being on camera with him is thrilling. He’s smart, he’s funny and he also brings a physical presence to all his characters, so I think we enjoy the physicality of being in that cage together. Two lions, if you like, prowling. I think we both get a kick out of that.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN BOBBY AND CHUCK?
Bobby has made the decision that if he’s going to be able to operate freely without government interference, the US attorney Chuck Rhoades [Giamatti] has to be taken down, and the first shot he takes is citing undue harassment and unlawful harassment in the workplace. So they’re right back at it. No one’s let up. There’s not a moment of peace.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE SOURCE OF BOBBY AND CHUCK’S FEUD?
I think part of Axe’s indignation about the whole thing is, you know, ‘Dude, why did you get this bee in your bonnet? What’s going on? Why did you just come at me so aggressively?’ We were very happy in our own little worlds. Bobby is a full believer in libertarianism and the individual’s right to make money, and make something of himself.
Of course Bobby stretches the definitions of that, too, because, as you will see in season two, he cares less about hiding now, about the way in which he gets his information. How you get the edge is up to you, but having the edge is everything.
DO YOU THINK PEOPLEHAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS WORLD SINCE THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS?
I think everyone is a bit more clued up about the financial industry and astonished how little the CEOs at the big banks were aware of what was actually going on.
The hedge fund guys have their own story entirely and people have their own views about hedge funds. I think a lot of it is pretty ignorant, mostly because they’re quite clever at obfuscating what actually goes on. And at other times I think people are just wrong.