Damian Lewis’ children were not impressed with his performance as a sexy vampire in 'The Radleys'.
The 53-year-old actor stars in the British comedy horror film, based on the 2010 novel by Matt Haig, which tells the story of a family of vampires who abstain from drinking blood despite their cravings.
However, daughter Manon, 18, and son Gulliver, 16, Damian's children with late wife Helen McCrory, did not enjoy watching their father trying to be sexy on-screen.
Damian told EW: "They thought it was weird. They’re used to me being all kinds of stupid people. They’re over it.
"I think me being the vampire and [for them] watching dad try to be sexy on-screen … that’s, ‘Ew' Oh God, you’re trying to do that kissing thing again and it’s not good!"
However, Damian is proud of the movie and says it has "lovely elements" to it.
He said: "It’s not the most frightening vampire movie you’ll ever see. It’s maybe not the funniest you’ll ever see. It’s maybe not the most, I don’t know, profound, or whatever. It’s sort of existential. Because vampire movies can get pretty weird. We know that. But it’s got all these really lovely elements in it. I think that you come out of it really having had a good time."
Damian and Helen had been married for almost 14 years when she died in April 2021, at the age of 52 after a secret battle with cancer.
Speaking about her death, he told The Guardian: "When you’ve been married to someone and they die prematurely, you’re left careering in a different direction. And that throws up … It’s a very fertile, very creative, raw, open time, as well as being flattening and difficult and sad. It’s all those things at once. Anybody who hasn’t been through it won’t fully understand, but I think anybody who has been through it will.
"For four or five months, you’re physically drained. Helen was ill for four and a half years. They say that the first day of diagnosis of an illness that could be terminal is your first day of grief. You are in a state of semi-grief while the person is still alive because there is always the sense that something might go wrong at any point. There’s a hyper-alertness and you are incredibly present and charged at all times. You’re on a sort of war footing. You’ve got something to deal with that gives you great focus. Everything is going into getting that person better.
"Until the moment of death you’re fully engaged in living the best possible life that can be lived for the person dying, and for you as a family and for the children. And it takes an enormous amount of energy. So the collapse in death, the exhaustion, comes with that.”
