Damian Lewis Quotes

If you pick up an eighteenth-century play, at the top it says 'The Argument,' and then you have a list of characters, and then you have the play. I was just always struck by that - that, of course, good drama is about conflict.

- Damian Lewis

Play, Always, About, Argument

My kids think America is swimming pools on the roof, screening rooms, and hot dogs. They love it here.

- Damian Lewis

Love, Think, Here, Hot Dogs

You can't do something that is morally vacuous or dysfunctional and then write it off saying, 'It wasn't my film, I was just doing a job in it.'

- Damian Lewis

Doing, Dysfunctional, Then, Morally

I will always find a defense for characters, and that's why it's fun playing characters that are morally ambiguous, or are at least perceived superficially as being problematic.

- Damian Lewis

Will, Always, Problematic, Morally

When I was at drama school, I remember going to Amsterdam for new year and sitting with friends on the front of a P&O ferry in the wind, having some sort of 'Titanic' moment, declaring ourselves to be the new kings of theatre.

- Damian Lewis

I Remember, Year, Some, Declaring

Would I have traded 'Homeland' for anything else? No. Would I trade 'Billions' for anything else? No.

- Damian Lewis

Trade, Billions, Would, Traded

If you believe - which I do - that acting is a bit like advocacy for your character, then of course I want to find the positive points.

- Damian Lewis

Want, Like, Which, Advocacy

There is a latent anger in a lot of people that went to boarding school at an early age. I was eight. And I loved it over the five years, but I think the adjustments for eight-year-olds are a lot. And I think it informs who you are for a long, long time.

- Damian Lewis

Anger, Years, I Think, Boarding School

I went to boarding school, and what that teaches you is to cope emotionally at a young age and to suppress a lot of emotion. Being in the army is, in a way, similar.

- Damian Lewis

Young, Similar, Suppress, Boarding School

I went to boarding school from the age of eight - first to prep school, then to Eton. One thing that kind of education teaches you is community living: there's little retreat. That's why people come out of it and talk about lifelong friendships forged in the furnace.

- Damian Lewis

Education, Forged, Furnace, Boarding School

I'm not good enough to flip in and out of my Brit accent to my American accent.

- Damian Lewis

American, Not Good Enough, Accent

It's good to be busy on a film set because there is a lot of sitting around, so if you've got two roles to play at one time, then that's great to do.

- Damian Lewis

Play, Set, Roles, Film Set

I love going for a swim. Growing up in England, anywhere with a pool seems like the height of glamour to me.

- Damian Lewis

Love, England, Going, Glamour

It's certainly true that I was brought up in that British amateur tradition, the one which always held that if you were reasonably good at cricket, knew one or two Latin texts and a few zingy Oscar Wilde quotes for dinner parties, you were pretty much ready to go and run some outpost in Hindustan.

- Damian Lewis

Some, Brought, Held, Wilde

I guess I'm just good at playing repressed individuals. I'm lucky because those are often the roles that catch people's eyes.

- Damian Lewis

Lucky, Often, Roles, Repressed

It's such an overused phrase: 'to be part of the conversation.' But it's true. It is nice to be part of the conversation - just be sure they are talking about you in the right way.

- Damian Lewis

Sure, Part, About, Overused

I am Damian Lewis, not Daniel Day-Lewis.

- Damian Lewis

I Am, Daniel, Am, Lewis

This high-end, novelistic form of TV, you know, is just peppered with despicable people who do marvelous things and marvelous people who do despicable things.

- Damian Lewis

TV, High-End, Despicable, Marvelous

I've done classical theaters. I played Hamlet myself and Romeo.

- Damian Lewis

Myself, Romeo, Hamlet, Theaters

Why do you think so many actors are only half-developed people? It's very easy when you're a young actor to have these intense, explosive friendships for short periods of time, because you can control what's shown of you. Then you go on to your next job and reinvent yourself again. I think it's important to find something constant.

- Damian Lewis

Next, Reinvent, Very, Young Actor

I'm not an American, but I have this weird connection to America in different ways through my dad living here for five years, my godfather being an American who I'm very close to.

- Damian Lewis

Through, Here, Very, Godfather

I found the hedge-fund guys I met all to be very, very concentrated listeners - watchful and articulate and quick to defend, if needed. They all seemed to have this contained sitting posture. The legs, if they weren't crossed at right angles, tended to be close over the knee, their hands put together.

- Damian Lewis

Hands, Quick, Very, Articulate

L.A. still ranks as one of my guilty pleasures, along with butter-pecan ice cream and Coldplay albums.

- Damian Lewis

Ice, Still, Albums, Ice Cream

In England we burnt redheads at the stake, because we thought they were witches. There are still young redheads in Britain getting ripped for having red hair. 'Oy, Ginger!'

- Damian Lewis

England, Still, Britain, Witches

An interesting insight into the ruthlessness of studio executives: I was having a conversation with Alex Gansa, a creator of 'Homeland,' and I said, 'So you guys must have seen 'Life' and liked me in it, right? That's the most recent thing I've done over here.' And he went, 'No, Damian. You actually nearly didn't get the job because of 'Life.'

- Damian Lewis

Here, Studio, Homeland, Alex

Fallible characters are more interesting than superheroes in the end.

- Damian Lewis

More, Characters, Superheroes

Dramatically it's always more interesting to conceal rather than reveal things.

- Damian Lewis

Always, Conceal, Reveal, Dramatically

I came of age as a male lead actor just as the TV landscape dramatically shifted.

- Damian Lewis

Actor, TV, Came, Dramatically

I suppose where I am sort of reflects the work I have chosen to do. Are there occasional frustrations because I can't work with a certain director because it's a big studio movie, and I don't have enough of a studio profile? The answer is yes. But generall... generally, I have the career I have chosen myself.

- Damian Lewis

Career, Big, Studio, Frustrations

You can't be sent away to prison for life and feel OK about it.

- Damian Lewis

Feel, Away, About, OK

I'm very sad 'Life' wasn't a big hit, But it was undone by politics at NBC. It was intense. I moved my wife, and we had two children back to back. So working those hours and living abroad in L.A. was a handful. But it was a great experience.

- Damian Lewis

Politics, Big, Very, Big Hit

Quiet people, people who aren't given to emotional outbursts, people who are economic with words - they're also fun to play, but you find yourself needing a laser precision in those roles. Otherwise you just sort of stand around, looking slightly brain-dead. You worry about being uninteresting.

- Damian Lewis

Play, Precision, Slightly, Uninteresting

Having been on a private jet only two or three times, it's one of life's great luxuries.

- Damian Lewis

Been, Private, Having, Jet

A lot of these American actors have this - in my view - misplaced view that they have to look like Action Man. The trouble is, they all run the risk of being interchangeable.

- Damian Lewis

American, Run, Like, Interchangeable

I think people like to be scared. I think people like tension and suspense in a movie.

- Damian Lewis

Think, Tension, I Think, Scared

There's something important, as an actor, about allowing yourself to be approached by people to do roles. People see different things in you.

- Damian Lewis

About, Roles, Allowing, Different Things

It's successful, middle-class Arab men and women, professionals with seemingly happy family lives, who are prepared to go to paradise for a greater cause. That's terrifying.

- Damian Lewis

Middle-Class, Terrifying, Arab

Seeing a man praying to Allah is enough for some people to assume he is a terrorist.

- Damian Lewis

Seeing, Allah, Some, Assume

The irony is that, coming from a white-collar British background, I tend to play blue-collar Americans!

- Damian Lewis

Play, Background, Tend, White-Collar

If you have the same drive and passions that everybody else has - for example, if you're trying to do the right thing for your family and do the right thing for people you employ - then you can be forgiven quite a lot.

- Damian Lewis

Everybody, Your, Employ, Passions

You know what it's like to feel anxious - it's horrible feeling anxious. It's stressful having that feeling, having butterflies in your stomach, even for a day, and you don't sleep at night.

- Damian Lewis

Butterflies, Like, Having, Stressful

The best shows succeed because they tap into a national conversation.

- Damian Lewis

Succeed, Shows, Tap, Conversation

I think very few people still understand the distinction between CEOs on Wall Street and the hedge-fund billionaires operating separately.

- Damian Lewis

Think, Very, Still, Operating

None of us, remember, knew that 9/11 was gonna happen. We didn't live in a state of anxiety and fear about Osama Bin Laden. The CIA might have, and they failed to prevent it. But the general public didn't have any knowledge. Now we have knowledge of it, and it's a very clear and present danger in our lives.

- Damian Lewis

Very, About, Bin, CIA

In the end, there's something of the puritan work ethic about me that roles really must sustain me on an intellectual level.

- Damian Lewis

Work, Level, Roles, In The End

There's this sort of cloud that hangs where people are like: 'How long can you keep the heat of 'Homeland' going?' People have short memories is the truth, and Hollywood loves the new and shiny.

- Damian Lewis

Heat, New, Hollywood, Shiny

If you think you don't want to play another psychopath, but the script is amazing, and the director is fantastic, and the story is incredible, then you may end up playing your third psychopath in a row.

- Damian Lewis

Play, Think, May, Row

My parents came to see me in a play at Eton when I was 16. And then, when I said I wanted to try for drama school, they knew there was enough passion there for them to be brave and back me.

- Damian Lewis

Play, Back, Knew, Be Brave

I have a three-year-old and a four-year-old at home, and my mornings are about just dealing with the fact of that. I oddly enjoy it.

- Damian Lewis

Fact, Dealing, About, Oddly

I've always had a 'Work hard, play hard' attitude to life - I still do - but sometimes you get involved in something that needs a calm, methodical approach.

- Damian Lewis

Attitude, Play, Always, Methodical

I've discovered just how symbiotic the relationship is between writers, directors and actors. They ask the same questions and strip down texts in exactly the same way.

- Damian Lewis

Discovered, Directors, Symbiotic

There are ways of avoiding becoming tabloid fodder and therefore giving people license to pry into your private life. And there's a distinction between being an actor and being a celebrity. You may become a celebrity through acting, but you don't need to do so.

- Damian Lewis

Celebrity, Through, Private, Pry

I had no ambition to go to America and be in a TV show. It's not like I've rejected something or decided that I've found something better. Your life just takes you off in strange and different directions.

- Damian Lewis

TV, Rejected, TV Show, Directions

My background was fairly conservative, and I think there's a strong notion of duty in a background like that, and I don't think that's always helpful.

- Damian Lewis

Think, Conservative, Always, Helpful

Of course the lower classes have always felt downtrodden and aspired to a better life. But there is this theory that people respond to a class structure in England - there was a time when people knew who they were and knew whom they served and as long as management wasn't abusive, it was a good life for people.

- Damian Lewis

Life, Good, Classes, Structure

There are jobs that come along in your life, if you're lucky enough, that elevate you in a considerable way. And 'Homeland' was definitely one of those jobs.

- Damian Lewis

Lucky, Homeland, Jobs, Considerable

When I'm working in America, I wake up with an American accent and stay with it all day till makeup comes off. I just want everyone to be at ease, and not have the show's creators think, 'Oh my god, he's so English, why did we hire him?'

- Damian Lewis

Makeup, Ease, Till, Accent

I'm one of those idiots; when I'm working in America, I wake up with an American accent and stay with it all day till make-up comes off.

- Damian Lewis

Wake Up, Make-Up, Till, Accent

Writing and directing might be a red herring, and really I'm just re-examining what it is to act, to do it well and do it properly.

- Damian Lewis

Red, Act, Properly, Directing

You know, this idea of going around the world imposing democracy by growing a middle-class, a trading merchant class that is independent of your faith, is a good notion, but we're all partially different - it's no good imposing systems on people that it doesn't suit.

- Damian Lewis

Independent, Idea, Trading, Merchant

It's sad that children don't spend enough time looking around and being amazed by what's in the real world.

- Damian Lewis

Enough, Real, Being, Enough Time

'24' had to withstand accusations of being right-wing, but 'Homeland' is a far more liberal show.

- Damian Lewis

Homeland, Far, Withstand, Accusation

I investigated post-traumatic stress disorder. I've been to a unit where people are suffering from it, and I read a lot of literature. I looked at footage of soldiers in the combat zone. I found 'Restrepo' to be unbelievably useful.

- Damian Lewis

Suffering, Soldiers, Been, Useful

We had a good time mucking about during 'Band of Brothers' when we were young and single.

- Damian Lewis

Young, Brothers, About, Good Time

Television audiences are ruthless - look what happened to 'The Killing.'

- Damian Lewis

Look, Television, Audiences, Ruthless

I grew up in London, one of four children. We were a very loud family, not a lot of listening, plenty of talking. My mum was a hearth mother: she loved to gather us all around her - Sunday lunches were a big thing. She was very good at thinking on her feet - people used to say she should go into politics.

- Damian Lewis

Feet, Big, Very, Hearth

I'm sponsored by Audi, so I have this rather lovely rather arrangement where they just insist that I'm always in the latest model.

- Damian Lewis

Lovely, Always, Rather, Sponsored

There is a machismo about an American male who is robust, athletic, able to build things, and he takes care of stuff. And it's a point of pride.

- Damian Lewis

American, About, Robust, Athletic

I don't mean this grandly, but it was never my intention to live in L.A. and do a big network show.

- Damian Lewis

Big, Show, Grandly, Intention

Temperamentally I'm not a natural producer, because I don't have the patience.

- Damian Lewis

Patience, Natural, Because, Producer

Producing is a world of compromise and actors are utterly spoiled all the time.

- Damian Lewis

World, Utterly, Producing, Compromise

No Western government has ever played the long-term in terms of foreign policy.

- Damian Lewis

Government, Ever, Terms, Long-Term

It's an unfair comparison because when things are developed in the UK, they're developed at script stage only.

- Damian Lewis

Comparison, Stage, Developed, UK

Acting can be a narrow and isolated experience, because you only examine your particular part.

- Damian Lewis

Part, Isolated, Examine, Narrow

I was, if you like, a successful schoolboy in that I had a degree of talent in all the required things that make you a success at school.

- Damian Lewis

Degree, Like, Schoolboy, Successful

I've always been a narcissist.

- Damian Lewis

Always, Been, Narcissist

I'm no more or less antisocial than the next person.

- Damian Lewis

More, Next, More Or Less, Antisocial

I found that the quality of TV material that came to me was so great and was just often better than the film material I got. And when I find a good movie that I really like, I jump on it because it's exciting to do.

- Damian Lewis

Movie, Got, TV, Jump

A cricket ball broke my nose when I was a kid so I couldn't breath through it. Before I had it operated on I used to stand on stage with my mouth slightly open.

- Damian Lewis

Nose, Through, Slightly, Breath

I loved doing 'Homeland.' I loved playing Brody.

- Damian Lewis

Loved, Doing, Homeland, Loved Playing

I didn't know 'Homeland' was going to be 'Homeland.' I just did it because it was a terrific script, and they pitched me the story line, and I was like, 'Huh, that's interesting.'

- Damian Lewis

Like, Going, Homeland, Script

All you should try to do is behave with honour. If you can. At all times.

- Damian Lewis

Should, Honour, Times, Behave

There are lots of different reasons to choose roles.

- Damian Lewis

Lots, Reasons, Roles, Different Reasons

I remember, when I was doing 'Nicholas Nickleby', James Archer came to see me at the interval and said, 'My father would like to see you after the show.' It felt rather as if I had been summoned by the Queen, and I was cocky enough to think, 'Who the hell is he to summon me?'

- Damian Lewis

Doing, I Remember, Summon, Interval

I just don't consider myself to be, you know, an American actor. I don't want that life.

- Damian Lewis

Myself, Want, Actor, Consider

I want to make a clear distinction between people who take acting seriously and people who call themselves actors because they've been on reality TV or something.

- Damian Lewis

Been, TV, Distinction, Seriously

I'm always forming bands.

- Damian Lewis

Always, Forming, Bands

My parents were incredibly inclusive.

- Damian Lewis

Parents, Inclusive, Were, Incredibly

I'm not averse to telling people off.

- Damian Lewis

People, Off, Telling, Averse

I'm one of those pesky Brits.

- Damian Lewis

Those, Brits

It's constantly fascinating for me that something that feels absolutely right one year, 12 months later feels like the wrong thing to do.

- Damian Lewis

Year, Feels, Months, Fascinating

You just have to take control of your own performance.

- Damian Lewis

Control, Own, Take, Performance

There's a high head count on 'Homeland.'

- Damian Lewis

Head, High, Homeland, Count

I love playing sport.

- Damian Lewis

Love, Playing, I Love, Sport

I think you can't be really posh and be an interesting actor. I'm a bit of a posh rough.

- Damian Lewis

Think, Actor, I Think, Posh

I don't believe Jesus was the son of God, although I'm inclined to think he might have been a great prophet.

- Damian Lewis

Think, Been, Might, Inclined

People need revelation, and then they need resolution.

- Damian Lewis

People, Need, Then, Revelation

My heroes were all in the theatre.

- Damian Lewis

Heroes, Were, Theatre

I want to do theatre and film and direct my own things and develop.

- Damian Lewis

Want, Own, My Own, Theatre

The lesson I learned is that sometimes the task you have at hand needs all of your concentration and focus.

- Damian Lewis

Task, Needs, Learned, Concentration

I've been careful to work with good people on interesting material, mostly.

- Damian Lewis

Been, Mostly, Material, Good People

I'm a slow starter.

- Damian Lewis

Starter, Slow

If you only do issue-based drama, you can become a boring wanker.

- Damian Lewis

You, Boring, Only, Drama

What I do believe in is the moral code of Christianity.

- Damian Lewis

Believe, Christianity, Code, Moral

For me the rehearsal period is the part I most enjoy. It's the creating of the story.

- Damian Lewis

Rehearsal, Most, Period, Creating

I'd feel guilty just doing gags.

- Damian Lewis

Doing, Feel, Just, Guilty

I am extremely lucky, and I enjoy the level of work that I am able to work at.

- Damian Lewis

I Am, Lucky, Level, Extremely

My wife has a horror the children will start talking American if we spend too much time out there.

- Damian Lewis

Wife, Start, Will, Horror

You have to go where the good writing is.

- Damian Lewis

Writing, Go, Where, Good Writing

I just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing.

- Damian Lewis

My Life, Doing, Every Day, Right Thing

I've had loss in my life, and I like to think my mother's energy lives on in some faintly Buddhist way. I do find some comfort there.

- Damian Lewis

My Life, Think, Some, Comfort

That's all you can do as an actor - take the best thing available.

- Damian Lewis

Best, Actor, Take, Available

I'm very lucky.

- Damian Lewis

Very, Lucky

You know, I think I am faintly spiritual.

- Damian Lewis

I Am, Think, I Think, Spiritual

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