Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor and musician. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Lewis won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody in the Showtime series Homeland, and received nominations for his performance as Henry VIII of England in Wolf Hall. 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.
Early life and education 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.Collins, Lauren (2016). "Blue Blood, Blue Collar: Damian Lewis's transformations," The New Yorker, 18 January 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2017.Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage, 1990, ed. Charles Kidd, pg 759Interview with The Sunday Express, 25 May 2003; accessed 22 December 2008. His paternal grandparents were Welsh,Mottram, James. Damian Lewis interview with Marie Claire , 25 February 2008. accessed 14 January 2009. 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.Iannotti, Lauren. "Esquire Style". Esquire, April 2003, 139 (4):120."Fighting Talk" . New Woman, November 1999. republished at Damian-Lewis.com. accessed 22 December 2008. 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.
Career 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.Kelleher, Terry (14 October 2002), "The Forsyte Saga". People. 58 (16):36 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.Rozen, Leah (19 September 2005), "Keane". People. 64 (12):40Kauffmann, Stanley (19 September 2005), "Heights and Depths". New Republic. 233 (12):28–29Travers, Peter (6 October 2005) "Keane". Rolling Stone. (984):164
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.
Music 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.
Other ventures
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.
Personal life
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.
Acting credits
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1997 Robinson Crusoe Patrick 2003 Dreamcatcher Gary "Jonesy" Jones 2004 Keane William Keane Brides Norman Harris Original Greek Title: Νύφες2005 Chromophobia Marcus Aylesbury An Unfinished Life Gary Winston 2006 The Situation Dan Murphy Stormbreaker Yasha "Yassen" Gregorovich Released in the United States as Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker2007 The Baker Milo "The Baker" Shakespeare Also producer; also known as Assassin in Love The Escapist Rizza 2011 Your Highness Boremont Will Gareth 2012 The Sweeney Detective Chief Inspector Frank Haskins 2013 Romeo & Juliet Lord Capulet 2014 The Silent Storm Balor McNeil 2015 Queen of the Desert Lt-Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie, VC Bill Sir Richard Hawkins 2016 Our Kind of Traitor Hector 2019 Run This Town Rob Ford Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Steve McQueen 2020 Dream Horse Howard Davies 2024 The Radleys Peter Radley / Will Radley 2025 Orwell: 2+2=5 George Orwell Fackham Hall Lord Davenport 2026 Pressure Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery The Runner The Caller 2027 TBA Post-production TBA Barnaby Post-production
Television Year Title Role NotesRef. 1993 Micky Love Clive Television film 1995 Agatha Christie's Poirot Leonard Bateson Episode: "Hickory Dickory Dock" 1996 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 The Forsyte Saga Soames Forsyte Main role 2003 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 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
Theatre