Damian Lewis has left 'Billions'.
Damian Lewis
The 50-year-old actor said goodbye to Bobby 'Axe' Axelrod when the season five finale ended on Sunday (03.10.21), but he hasn't ruled out making guest appearances in the future.
He teased: "There’s an opportunity maybe for me to return. But for now, broadly speaking, Axe has been vanquished.”
Damian's wife, Helen McCrory, died of cancer in April and so the actor is keen to remain in London with their teenage children, Manon, 15, and 14-year-old Gulliver, for the foreseeable future for "obvious reasons".
He added to the New York Times newspaper: “It is self-evident.”
But he insisted his wife's passing wasn't the reason why he decided to leave, as he was just honouring his original five-season contract and “always just assumed that would be enough."
However, executive producer Brian Koppelman confirmed the tragedy was the reason why Axe spent much of the last few episodes appearing remotely.
He said: “We wouldn’t ask him to come to America in that situation — right after the love of his life passed away, who was a remarkable, incredible artist and human being.
“It’s Damian’s private life, so it’s not really ours to comment on. We just feel truly, unbelievably lucky to have had five years with Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti together.”
And Damian felt his character's journey had drawn to a close.
He said: “It’s difficult to keep mining, creatively. We know who he is.”
The former 'Homeland' star admitted he's not sure when, if ever, he'll make another American TV series.
He said: "I don’t like closing chapters. But it does feel like it’s the end of that for now.”
Following the airing of Damian's final episode, Brian took to Twitter to praise the "great" star.
He wrote: "What an incredible joy to spend five years working so closely with the great @lewis_damian! @DavidLevien and I are beyond grateful to you, Damian, for the work, of course, and the fellowship, and for all you sacrificed to come do this with us."
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