I thought he was great in the ironically short-lived Life. You might love him from Wolf Hall, or Homeland, or The Forsyte Saga.
But whenever I see Damian Lewis’s face, I sigh, “Hiiiii, Lieutenant Winters.” (Even though I know he was promoted higher than that title.) Because he was so wonderful, so smart, so tactical, so engagingly empathetic, in Band of Brothers. I just… it’s where I first met him, and it’s how I will always, always remember him best. It’s my belief that to watch that miniseries is to love him forever. Although Band of Brothers has a lot of special powers. Rufus Humphrey was unwatchable by the end of Gossip Girl, but I will always love Matthew Settle, because of Captain Speirs. Remember when Neal McDonough was in those TRULY obnoxious car commercials? Can’t hate him, because he’s Buck freaking Compton. And Donnie Wahlberg married Jenny McCarthy — a celebrity I find… extremely, prohibitively challenging, on her best day and mine — and yet I can’t be too mad at him because he was Sgt. Lipton. Band of Brothers is magical.
Even Anna is kind of like, “Tee hee, Dick Winters!” She’s right.
I didn’t intend for this to become an elegy for Band of Brothers; just Damian Lewis. And you are so welcome to stick to that topic. But if you want to broaden the scope: Why not! Because every two seconds I remember a guy I loved. Luz! Malarkey! Joe Toye and Bill Guarnere! Perconte! Bull Randleman! It goes on and on…
[Photos: Getty]
