Damian Lewis

He portrayed Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions in six out of seven seasons, and appeared in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as actor Steve McQueen.

Damian Lewis studied at Eton College, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Ashdown House School. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are Shakespearean comedy. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Golden Globe Awards and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

• Name — Damian Lewis • Birth Name — Damian Watcyn Lewis • Born — 11 February 1971 • Birthplace — London, England • Education — Guildhall School of Music and Drama (BA) • Occupation — * Actor • musician • presenter • producer • Years Active — 1993–present • Partner — Alison Mosshart (2022–present) • Children — 2 • Relatives — * Ian Bowater (grandfather) • Bertrand Dawson (great-grandfather) • Frank Bowater (great-grandfather) • Alfred Yarrow (great-great-grandfather) • William Vansittart Bowater (great-great-grandfather) • Awards — Full list

Damian Watcyn Lewis was born on 11 February 1971 in St John's Wood, London, the eldest son of Charlotte Mary (née Bowater) and John "J." Watcyn Lewis, a City insurance broker with Lloyd's. His paternal grandparents were Welsh, and he says he considers himself "London Welsh". His maternal grandfather was Lt-Col. Sir Ian Bowater, Lord Mayor of London, and his great-great-grandfather was the eminent naval shipbuilder and philanthropist Sir Alfred Yarrow, 1st Baronet (see Yarrow Shipbuilders), who was of partial Sephardic Jewish descent. His brother is writer, producer, and director, Gareth Lewis. Lewis has said that he "went to English boarding schools and grew up around people very much like [his character] Soames and in a milieu very much like the Forsytes. As a child, Lewis made several visits to the US to visit relatives during summer breaks. He decided to become an actor at the age of 16. He was educated at the independent Ashdown House School in Forest Row, East Sussex, then Eton College, and graduated B.A. from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1993.

Lewis once worked as a telemarketer selling car alarms. His first television appearance was as a medical student in "Hickory Dickory Dock", a feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot, an ITV Studios TV production, broadcast in 1995. He also appeared as a rakish student in an early episode of the drama series A Touch of Frost (1996). He appeared in Robinson Crusoe (1997) as Patrick Conner. At this time he was also working as an actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing among other roles Borgheim in Adrian Noble's production of Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf and Posthumus Leonatus in William Shakespeare's Cymbeline. He would later go on to star in another of Ibsen's plays, as Karsten Bernick in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre in November 2005. He also appeared in Jonathan Kent's production of Hamlet, playing Laertes. This production was seen by Steven Spielberg, who later cast Lewis as lead role Richard Winters, respected leader of Easy Company in Band of Brothers (2001), the first role of several that required him to have a credible American accent. He was in the 2000 series called Hearts and Bones as the love interest of Dervla Kirwan. Subsequently, Lewis portrayed Soames Forsyte in the ITV series The Forsyte Saga, which earned him positive reviews. He returned to the US to star in Dreamcatcher, a Lawrence Kasdan film 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 in Keane as a Manhattanite with a fragile mental state who is searching for his missing daughter. Despite the film's poor box-office, Lewis's performance in the role was very well reviewed. He played Jeffrey Archer in the TV special Jeffrey Archer: The Truth. Since 2004, he has appeared in a number of films, as well as the 2005 BBC TV adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing, as part of the ShakespeaRe-Told season. Lewis played the role of Yassen Gregorovich in the film Stormbreaker. In 2006, he appeared in Stephen Poliakoff's BBC drama Friends and Crocodiles. He has appeared on BBC's Have I Got News for You as guest host several times; on 10 November 2006, 1 May 2009, 18 November 2010, 27 April 9 November 2012, 31 October 2014 and 2 October 2020. In 2008, Lewis starred as the main character Charlie Crews in the American television series Life on NBC. The show premiered in the US on 26 September 2007 and was affected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Only half of the first season's shows were produced. Regardless, the show won a 2008 AFI Award for 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 Jay Leno Show. Lewis appeared the following year in the lead role in The Baker, a film directed by his brother, Gareth. Damian took a supporting role of Rizza in The Escapist, which he also helped produce. He led the cast in Martin Crimp's version of Molière's comedy, The Misanthrope, which opened in December 2009 at the Comedy Theatre, London. Other cast members included Tara Fitzgerald, Keira Knightley and Dominic Rowan. Lewis played Tory Prime Minister Simon Laity in two seasons of Number 10 on BBC Radio 4. He played Gareth, the father of an eleven-year-old Liverpool fan, in the 2011 film Will. From 2011 to 2013, Lewis had a starring role as Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an "interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri". In 2016, he began starring as billionaire financial manager Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime series Billions. He left the show in 2021 after five seasons, but returned for half of season 7. In 2016, he appeared in the British spy film Our Kind of Traitor. In 2024, he played a dual role as Peter Radley and his brother Will Radley, alongside Kelly Macdonald in the vampire comedy film The Radleys. In 2026, Lewis starred as the Caller in Kevin Macdonald's psychological thriller The Runner, alongside Gal Gadot, Rory Wilmot and Alfred Enoch. Gadot portrayed Maia, a London-based lawyer whose son is abducted and who is forced to follow a series of cryptic demands from the mysterious Caller, played by Lewis. The film was shot in London in 2025, during which production attracted media attention after pro-Palestinian activists disrupted filming due to Gadot's involvement in the project.

In an interview with The Guardian in October 2022, Lewis said that he had long-standing ambitions to be a musician, and had been collaborating with jazz artist Giacomo Smith, firstly on cover songs and then writing new material for an album that would be released in 2023: "I started writing and found out there was lots that I actually did want to write, and before we knew it we had a record's worth of songs. We’ve ended up with a rootsy, jazzy, rock’n’rolly, singer-songwritery-type album". Lewis released his debut single, "Down On the Bowery", on 13 April 2023. His debut album, Mission Creep, was released in June that year on Decca Records. On 9 July 2023, he sang the national anthem at the British Grand Prix, accompanied by a saxophonist.

• Illustration — Damian Lewis Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2024 In 2009, Lewis featured in Inspired By Music, a book commissioned by the Prince's Trust, written and photographed by celebrity photographer Cambridge Jones, and sponsored by Starbucks. It features personal reflections by 36 celebrities as well as four ordinary people helped by The Prince's Trust, about musical lyrics that inspired them. Lewis's photo portrait also featured in Jones's exhibition Talking Pictures, featuring famous people of Welsh descent, that toured the world from 2010. In 2010, Lewis became a Trade Justice ambassador for the charity Christian Aid. In May 2006, June 2016, June 2018 and June 2022, he played for England in Soccer Aid, and played golf for Europe in the All*Star Cup in August 2006, both shown on ITV. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis and his wife Helen McCrory supported Feed NHS, a fundraiser to give food from high street restaurants to NHS staff. By April 2020, they had raised £1 million for the charity. The initiative started in London, but following its success, plans were announced to roll it out to other cities throughout the UK.

• Illustration — Helen McCrory and Lewis at the 2013 British Academy Film Awards Lewis suffered a period of depression following a motorcycle accident in north London in 1998. He is a supporter of Premier League club Liverpool. Having previously dated Katie Razzall, Kristin Davis and Sophia Myles, Lewis married actress Helen McCrory on 4 July 2007. They have a daughter and a son. McCrory died of cancer on 16 April 2021, aged 52. Since 2022, he has been in a relationship with singer Alison Mosshart.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. • 1993 — Micky Love — Clive — Television film • 1995 — Agatha Christie's Poirot — Leonard Bateson — Episode: "Hickory Dickory Dock" • 1996 — data-sort-value="Touch of Frost, A" | A Touch of Frost — Adam Weston — Episode: "Deep Waters" • 1999 — Warriors — Lt. Neil Loughrey — Television film • 2000 — Life Force — Kurt Glemser — 5 episodes • Hearts and Bones — Mark Rose — Main role (season 1) • 2001 — Band of Brothers — Maj. Richard D. Winters — Miniseries (Main role, 10 episodes) • 2002 — Jeffrey Archer: The Truth — Jeffrey Archer — Television film • 2002–2003 — data-sort-value="Forsyte Saga, The" | The Forsyte Saga — Soames Forsyte — Main role • 2003 — data-sort-value="Forsyte Saga: To Let, The" | The Forsyte Saga: To Let — Soames Forsyte — Television film • 2005 — Colditz — Cpl / Lt. Nicholas McGrade — 2 episodes • Friends and Crocodiles — Paul — Television film • Much Ado About Nothing — Benedick — Television film • 2006–2020 — Have I Got News for You — Presenter — 7 episodes • 2007–2009 — Life — Charlie Crews — Main role • 2011 — Stolen — D.I. Anthony Carter — Television film • 2011–2014 — Homeland — Nicholas Brody — Main role • 2015 — Wolf Hall — Henry VIII — Miniseries • 2016–2023 — Billions — Bobby Axelrod — Main role (seasons 1-5, 7) • 2019 — Spy Wars — Host — 8 episodes • 2022 — data-sort-value="Spy Among Friends, A" | A Spy Among Friends — Nicholas Elliott — Main role; also producer • 2024 — Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light — Henry VIII — Miniseries • 2025 — The American Revolution — King George III — TV documentary

• Year — Title — Role — Theatre — Ref. • 1994 — data-sort-value="School for Wives, The" | The School for Wives — Horace — Almeida Theatre • 1995 — Hamlet — Laertes — Belasco Theatre • 1996 — Little Eyolf — Borgheim — Swan Theatre • 1997 — Cymbeline — Posthumus Leonatus — Royal Shakespeare Theatre • 1998 — Much Ado About Nothing — Don John — Barbican Theatre • Into the Woods — The Wolf Cinderella's Prince — Donmar Warehouse • 2003–2004 — Five Gold Rings — Daniel — Almeida Theatre • 2005 — Pillars of the Community — Karsten Bernick — National Theatre • 2009 — data-sort-value="Misanthrope, The" | The Misanthrope — Alceste — Comedy Theatre • 2015 — American Buffalo — Teach — Wyndham's Theatre • 2017 — data-sort-value="Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, The" | The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? — Martin Gray — Theatre Royal Haymarket

• Title — Album details • Mission Creep — *Released: 16 June 2023 *Label: Decca *Format: Digital download, streaming

• Title — Year — Album • "Down On the Bowery" — 2023 — Mission Creep • "Zaragoza" • "Makin' Plans" • "She Comes"

• Title — Year — Credited artist(s) — Album • "William I – Introduction by Damien Lewis" — 2021 — Damian Lewis — Music of Kings and Queens • "Henry VIII – Introduction by Damien Lewis" • "Charles II – Introduction by Damien Lewis" • "George II – Introduction by Damien Lewis" • "George VI – Introduction by Damien Lewis"

Lewis was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014 for "services to drama" and promoted Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2022 for "services to drama and charity".

Lewis' portrayal of U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Lewis' performance as U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland won him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 2012. His performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall earned him his third Primetime Emmy nomination and fourth Golden Globe nomination.