Life’s Too Short To Not Do What You Love
by This Morning | YouTube | March 19, 2024
Damian was a guest on This Morning, Tuesday, March 19, 2024 with hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley. He discussed music, his debut album Mission Creep, his UK Tour Part 2 and playing upcoming sold-out shows. He may have also smooched a pooch while on set, and answered some corridor questions. Renowned for hit series like Homeland and Billions, once embarked on a journey across Europe with nothing but a tent, a guitar and a dream of becoming the next Elvis. Now, after decades of silver screen success and a tough couple of years that reminded him ‘life’s too short’, he’s revisiting his childhood rockstar dreams. He joins us in-studio to tell us about putting down the scripts and picking up the microphone stand as he continues his UK tour.
It’s not too late to see one of his shows. Tour schedule and ticket information here.
Damian said he was always keen on music. “I used to busk, busked in the Tube here in London, took a motorbike and a tent and I went down through Europe and I busked all through the summers… and then acting just sort of took over,” he said.
“I wanted to concentrate on being a serious actor and I took it seriously. You know, you take a fork in the road and then your initial ideas sort of get further and further away from it.”
Asked about the writing process by host Cat Deeley, he explained: ‘If I had written a song it went on a record. I wrote 10 songs and that felt hard enough.”
“I looked at some of my old songs and they were so terrible!”
Damian continued: “But I felt comfortable with Mission Creep. It came at a very particular time in my life,” he explained. “Some quite personal songs on there. People will know about Helen, my gorgeous late wife, so one or two personal songs on there, I suppose it’s quite an intimate album for that reason.”
The Billions star and Helen shared daughter Manon, 16, and son Gulliver, 15, who Damian revealed had been supportive of his decision to pause acting and pursue music.
He explained: “They’re being really sweet about it and they are actually really talented musicians themselves.”
“I think it can be a bit annoying that your dad is doing music when that’s what you want to do, but they are a more talented than me so I have told them to keep going at it.”
“There isn’t a chance in hell they will ever [perform] with me.”
“But I think everyone is quite enjoying it,” he added, joking that he likes the idea of a family band.
“The Osmonds did it!” he said. “The Corrs did it, have you heard of the Jackson 5? I see a Lewis 3, but there is not a chance in hell they will ever do it with me!”
Secondary Source: Daily Mail