Explore Quotes by Damian Lewis

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.'