Damian Lewis doesn’t know if he is still an actor after making a departure into the music industry. We caught up with the Homeland star as he performed with a band to a crowd of around 150 friends and fans at Rough Trade in Brick Lane. He was playing tracks from Mission Creep, his debut album.
Lewis’s surprise career change certainly crept up on us. When we asked if he still considers acting to be his main job, he said “I don’t know. Watch this space. We’re not very good at changing lanes in this country. We don’t like people to change lanes. It’s just about whether you’re good or not. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
He was certainly expressive on stage. Has acting helped his stage presence? “I don’t know. Maybe the coolest way to be is just to be absolutely still, and deadpan, and rock and roll, brooding.”
Lewis, whose main experience of performing music had been teenage busking, had technical difficulties. “I think I might have just played that song without my amplifier on. Always remember to twiddle your knob,” he said. “Or get someone to do it for you,” joked his backing singer. “I hadn’t realised until the end of the song,” Lewis said, “and the worst part is that nobody else did!” Has it been cathartic? “No, not in particular. But fun. Really fun.”
National Gallery party splits opinion
This month’s National Gallery summer party, held to court donations, wasn’t enjoyed by all. “I don’t like it. It’s the second time they’ve done it now and I just don’t think it shows due reverence to the paintings,” David Jaffe, former senior curator at the National Gallery, told us. Bars serving cocktails and champagne were constructed in Room 32 of the gallery, where large Italian oils by Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi hang. Also transformed for the party was Room 34, which contains JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire, pictured with guests in front of it. One wealthy donor to the gallery, who was at the party, told us: “These artworks were meant to entertain people. What’s the issue? They were never painted as sacred items.”
Liberal Club goes liberal on ties
National Liberal Club men will be hot under the collar no longer. Ties and jackets have been dropped at the £888-a-year club after the recent high temperatures. “Male members will be able to stay cool in the heat,” says chair Karin Rehacek. “We believe in moving with the times.” At its foundation in 1882, the NLC’s main clothes rule was that members should not turn up naked.
Tindall feels the heat
Mike Tindall is hating the heatwave, and says he and his wife Zara Phillips are at different ends of the thermometer. “I love it cold and I hate it hot. Completely opposite to my wife, who loves hot and hates cold,” he told The Londoner at a Six Nations dinner. “I can deal with it so long as there’s a pool I can dive into but I’ll take skiing holidays over hot holidays all day long.” Nice to have the choice.
Sir Elton wows the Macca clan
The McCartney clan was out in force at Glastonbury last night. Sir Paul McCartney, his wife Nancy Shevell and his daughter Stella watched on as Sir Elton John played his final performance in Britain. Actor Anya Taylor-Joy was there too.
