Damian Watcyn
Lewis ,
OBE(born
11 February 1971) is an
English actor and producer. He is known for portraying
U.S. Marine SergeantNicholas Brodyin theShowtimeseriesHomeland(which earned him aPrimetime
Emmy Awardand aGolden
Globe Award), hedge fund manager
Bobby "Axe" Axelrod in another
Showtime seriesBillions ,
Soames Forsyte in theITVremake ofThe
Forsyte Saga ,
Detective Charlie Crews in theNBCdramaLife , and
U.S. Army MajorRichard Wintersin theHBOminiseriesBand of
Brothers . He appeared asHenry VIIIinWolf
Hall , which earned him his thirdPrimetime Emmynomination and fourthGolden Globenomination.Lewis was born inSt
John's
Wood ,
London, the elder son of
Charlotte Mary ( néeBowater) and John Watcyn Lewis, aCityinsurance broker withLloyd's .His paternal grandparents were
Welsh. His maternal grandfather wasLord
Mayor of London Sir Ian Bowaterand his maternal grandmother's ancestors includeLord
Dawson of
Penn(a doctor to theRoyal
Family ) and the philanthropistAlfred
Yarrow .He has stated that he "went to English boarding schools and grew up around people very much like Soames and in a milieu very much likethe Forsytes' ". As a child, Lewis made several visits to the
U.S. to visit relatives during his summers.He first decided to become an actor at age 16. He was educated at the independentAshdown
House SchoolinForest Row ,
East Sussex , and atEton
College . He graduated from theGuildhall
School of
Music and Dramain
1993, after which he served as a stage actor for theRoyal
Shakespeare Company . During his time with the
RSC, he played
Borgheim inAdrian
Noble 's production ofHenrik
Ibsen 'sLittle Eyolfand Posthumus inWilliam
Shakespeare 'sCymbeline . He also starred in another of Ibsen's plays, as
Karsten Bernick inPillars of the Communityat the
National Theatre in
November 2005.Lewis once worked as atelemarketerselling car alarms, a job he detested. He appeared inRobinson
Crusoe(
1997) as
Patrick Conner. He appeared inJonathan
Kent 's production ofHamlet , playingLaertes . This production was seen bySteven
Spielberg , who later cast Lewis asRichard WintersinBand of Brothers , the first role of several that required him to have a credible
American accent. Subsequently, Lewis portrayed Soames Forsyte in theITVseriesThe Forsyte Sagawhich earned him rave reviews. He returned to the US to star inDreamcatcher , aStephen Kingfilm about a man who becomes possessed by an evil alien. The character is
American but when possessed he takes on a
British accent. On the heels of this role, he starred inKeaneas aManhattanitewith a fragile mental state who is searching for his missing daughter.
Despite the film's poor box-office performance, the role won Lewis rave reviews. He playedJeffrey Archerin the TV specialJeffrey
Archer:
The Truth . Since 2004, he has appeared in a number of films, as well as the 2005BBC TVadaptation ofShakespeare'scomedyMuch Ado About
Nothing , as part of theShakespeaRe-Toldseason. Lewis played the role ofYassen Gregorovichin the filmStormbreaker . In
2006 he appeared inStephen Poliakoff 'sBBCdramaFriends and
Crocodiles . He has appeared on
BBC'sHave I Got
News for Youas guest host several times; on
10 November 2006, 1 May 2009,
18 November 2010, 27 April,
9 November 2012 and
31 October 2014.In 2008, Lewis starred as the main character Charlie Crews in the
US television seriesLifeonNBC . The show premiered in the U.S. on
26 September 2007 and was affected by the2007–2008
Writers Guild of America strike . Only half of the first season's shows were produced.
Regardless, the show won a2008
AFI Awardfor best television series. Although the show received critical acclaim, when it returned the following television season, it was shuffled from night to night, and eventually cancelled by
NBC to clear its time slot for the less expensivenightly programme,
The Jay Leno Show . Lewis appeared, the following year, in the lead role inThe
Baker , a film directed by his brother,
Gareth . Damian took a supporting role of
Rizza inThe
Escapist , which he also helped produce. He led the cast inMartin
Crimp 's version ofMolière 's comedy,
The Misanthrope , which opened in
December 2009 at theComedy
Theatre, London . Other cast members includedTara
Fitzgerald ,Keira KnightleyandDominic Rowan .Since 2010, Lewis has playedToryPrime
Minister Simon Laity in two seasons ofNumber 10onBBC
Radio 4 .He played Gareth, the father of an 11-year-oldLiverpool
F.C.fan, in the
2011 filmWill . From 2011 to
2013, Lewis had a starring role asSergeant
Nicholas B
- published: 23 Jul 2016
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