– Playing Twins: Different Sides of Psyches –
by Brittany Frederick | CBR | October 20, 2024
The Radleys is Damian Lewis as audiences have never seen him before. The award-winning actor is known for intense, often intimidating roles like the ill-fated Nicholas Brody in Showtime’s frenetic drama Homeland, or ruthless businessman Bobby Axelrod in Billions. But the horror flick sees him playing an over the top vampire… and the vampire’s twin brother.
CBR spoke to Lewis about what attracted him to the British horror comedy, based on Matt Haig’s novel of the same name. He discussed the challenges of playing both Will Radley and Will’s straight-laced brother Peter, who just wants to raise his family in peace (and of course gets a lot more than he bargained for). Plus, hear why Lewis considers The Radleys much more than a vampire movie.
CBR: Your best-known roles are very serious characters in projects like Homeland, Billions and Wolf Hall. How fun was it to break away from that and play something both lighter and crazier in The Radleys?
Damian Lewis: Really good fun is the short answer to that. I was playing Bobby Axelrod for a while there on [the Showtime series] Billions , and he’s basically a criminal. So it was really good fun to go play a vampire and then play these twins — two different sides of our psyches, that sort of lie in each of us. I really identified with the script when I got sent it… that it was this very comedic premise of this family had moved to the suburbs to essentially put themselves in a vampire program, which you’re not aware of initially, and then you discover it. I thought it was a good conceit. It’s funny.
What are the logistics that come with one actor playing both twins, and essentially doubling your workload?
Damian Lewis: You’re right. But I really enjoyed it. I didn’t enjoy the quick makeup wig turnarounds, but otherwise it was very fun. You’ve got to stay concentrated — just remember that you’re Will and not Pete, [or] Pete and not Will. They were very different, obviously, and they look very different, but their voices aren’t massively different. I just made a slight tweak on their voices to give Will a little sort of rock star drawl. But otherwise, brothers are often very similar and they often sound quite similar, so I wanted to keep them quite close.
It was pretty wild fighting myself when the other self wasn’t there. That was pretty wild.
The director of The Radleys is Euros Lyn, who’s well-known for his sci-fi and horror credits, including the acclaimed “15 Million Merits” episode of Black Mirror, as well as installments of Doctor Who and Torchwood. How much did having someone so familiar with the genre help you as an actor?
Damian Lewis: I’d worked with Euros before, and I just think he’s fantastic under pressure. There’s never enough money and never enough time and he just unbelievably concentrated.
And he’s got a beautiful lightness of touch. He allows the comedy to be the comedy. He allowed the vampire, the slightly more scary. frightening aspects of the film, to live. He allowed the romantic parts of the film just to live and breathe. I just think he’s very skilled at a light touch. He knows the story that he’s telling and he knows when the story’s important. He just lets it happen. So I always feel very confident with him.
On the flip side, this is the first time you’ve ever been on screen with Kelly Macdonald, despite the two of you being two of the most well-known British actors. How would you describe collaborating with Kelly?
Damian Lewis: I know! We’ve both been around a bit and you would think maybe we’d have just bumped into each other along the way, but the truth is I’d never even met Kelly. I was just a fan of hers from way back. And she’s utterly delightful. She’s got funny bones. She understood where the comedy is. She’s a great dramatic actress as well. Just playing opposite her was so fun. She made it easy.
The Radleys has so many different aspects that are unique. Is there anything you want audiences to know about the movie as they get a chance to see it?
Damian Lewis: I haven’t heard anyone say that they haven’t really enjoyed it when they come out of it — and I think that’s great. I think that’s what this movie is supposed to be. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s supposed to be touching. There are two really lovely love stories in it. It’s supposed to be sexy and vampiric in the right moments. And there are actually a couple of scary moments in it, but it’s really enjoyable. It’s a really fun ride.
The Radleys is in select US theaters, Video on Demand, and various streaming services like Amazon Video and AppleTV, and in the UK cinemas and streaming on SkyTV/NOW.
Read the rest of the original article at CBR