Bobby Axelrod has joined the chat.
damien lewis Is “really satisfied” with how “Billions” ended last year. actor left the show Season 5 followed in 2021, before returning for a final season 7 and its series finale.
“I think Brian Koppelman and David Levin, I think they ended it really beautifully. It was very emotional. It was very ‘Billions-see,’” the 53-year-old tells The Post exclusively while promoting his new film, “The Radleys.”
“There was no poisonous opaque ending. It was really like a love letter,” he added. “Old characters were brought back and things were kind of wrapped up and tied up but it was very sweet. It gave fans a chance to reconnect with all their favorite characters.”
“Billions” stars Paul Giamatti, Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Dolla Rashad, Daniel K. Isaac, Jeffrey Damon, Asia Kate Dillon, Corey Stoll and Daniel Brecker also star.
There were even rumblings of a spin-off at one point.
“There were a lot of spin-offs being discussed. This, that and the other,” he said. “But the TV landscape, as you well know, has changed a lot over the years. So I don’t think all this is going to happen.”
But Lewis will never say never when it comes to being the leading man on a television show again.
“Oh my God, yes, 100 percent,” he expressed. “Absolutely. I mean, it’s just, what I’m doing right now suits me from a family standpoint. I’m playing music and I’m really enjoying doing it, too. I just have little The work is going on and I can be with my kids. So, it suits me in a way.
He added: “You know, they will be a moment. There will be a moment if someone asks me. It can all dry up. But yes, I’m sure it will happen – I hope there will be a moment.”
These days, fans can see Lewis in his new comedy/horror film, “The Radleys,” which follows a family with a big secret: They’re vampires.
The British actor took some time to reflect on the experience of playing dual vampires: the patriarch of the family, Peter, and his twin brother, Will.
Lewis quipped, “It was a lot of fun.” “That kind of deep play, that conflict that is in the psyche of all of us. The deeper, more kind of desirous, lustful, carnal nature we are and we get angry at the more rational, sensible side of ourselves all the time. So it was really fun to play that kind of duel.
She also shared glimpses of filming with co-stars Bo Bragson, Harry Baxendale and Jay Lycurgo.
“I think it was really refreshing to work with young people,” Lewis explained. “The three main guys, Harry Baxendale, Jay Lycurgo, Bo Bragson. Those are three really exciting young actors. I loved his energy. I love his outlook on life and things.”
“I love that wild-eyed curiosity, their desire to learn, and their enthusiasm to get started,” she said. “I remember him. And, he was really great to be around.”
Reflecting on his own career, Lewis has some good advice he wishes he had received when he was starting out.
Find ways to practice,” he thought, “because it’s hard to be an actor when the phone isn’t ringing. Where do you go to become an actor? So I encourage everyone to grab a few bottles of Cheap Bread and sit on their bed with five friends and read a play.
Authenticity is also important.
“Just be active, be involved. And then the second one is be yourself. I made some mistakes in the beginning when I was younger and thought I had to appear a certain way at auditions because I was really desperate to get a role. And really, you look absolutely weird. So don’t do this. Just be yourself and it’s going to be a few fits and then once you get away you will be blown away.
As for how Lewis’s children, Gulliver, 16, and Manon, 18, feel about his role as the patriarchal vampire?
“They’ve got to get used to it,” he admitted of his decades-long career. “Yeah, you know, a little eye roll and ‘There goes Dad again.’ Now they have got used to it and like it.” (Lewis’s late wife, “Peaky Blinders” actress Helen McCrory, died of breast cancer in 2021 at age 52.)
“He likes film. They attended the premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival,” Lewis said. “They love it. This is a good age to see it.”
And over his years in the industry, the “Homeland” alumnus’ tastes in roles have changed.
“My mentality has changed a little bit,” Lewis confessed. “Maybe got some relief. When things are good, he is comfortable. So, for me, I’ve been very lucky. Things have become better. And so you can make some different types of decisions. However, I am very fussy about choosing jobs.”
“I’ve never been very good at going, ‘Oh, he’s filming in the Bahamas in January. Awesome. I’ll take it.’ I’m not very good at it. And I’m not very good at just jumping on friends’ projects. I have a lot of fun with it when I’m not working, I guess. That when I’m working, it’s really meaningful.”
Looking towards the future, Lewis has a style in mind that he would love to try.
“A Western,” said Starr. “I’m thinking about the Western countries where I grew up. There were a lot of Clint Eastwood Westerns in my generation, all of them. And ‘Unforgiven’ was the kind of masterpiece that it ended up being. ‘A Handful of Dollars’, all those types. ‘Outlaw Josie Wells,’ [was] fantastic. A western, I would love to do a western.”
