Compelling on screen, charming off it, Damian Lewis chats about his marriage-and-kids fantasy, why he turned down a Bond role and life as a ginger sex symbol.

Interview by Zoe Seymour, She Magazine, April (?) 2003

Damian Lewis and I are on our way to lunch. As soon as we step into a lift full of young female executives, you can feel the temperature rise. When somebody asks him which floor he wants, he quips, "Ladies lingerie, please."

It's a great illustration of the 32-year-old's cheeky charm, and it's easy to see why he's captured women's hearts. Whether as a war hero in Band Of Brothers, The Forsyte Saga's cruel Soames or even a spoof of Jeffrey Archer, there's just something about him. ...

How did you find filming the second series of The Forsyte Saga?

The second series is set 20 years on from the first, so Soames is in his 60s. I loved playing a doddery old git. It was a challenge. I don't know if I pulled it off, but I had a lot of make-up to help me.

Was it a shock that Soames made you a sex symbol?

Absolutely. Maybe it's the lure of the antihero. And there's the ginger thing. I read a column by a woman wo said, "I must be getting kinky in my old age because I fancy Damian Lewis -- and he's ginger." I had to laugh: there's such a prejudice towards redheads.

Do you find people make assumptions about you?

When I met Des Lynham a while ago, he said, "Oh. You're actually a nice chap. You were horrible in The Forsyte Saga."

Is it true that you're dating a TV producer?

Georgie (Hartford-Jones) is a mate and I've been seen out with her a few times. We're not an item. I'm enjoying being single (he recently denied he's back with his ex, Channel 4 reporter Katie Razzall). I'm away filming a lot, so it's not a great time for a relationship.

So you don't have plans to settle down?

I'm open to the possibility that I might find someone who's impossible to resist. I've got a fantasy about living in a huge house with my wife and lots of kids. But at the moment, my nephews and god-daughter Coco are enough.

After the success of Band Of Brothers, did you think about moving to L.A.?

I spent some time there and I have mates in Hollywood, like David Schwimmer, who I stayed with. It's somewhere I love to visit, but I don't think I could live there. My oldest friends and family are in Britain.

Tell us about your family.

I have an older sister who owns a pub, an older brother who's a stockbroker and a younger brother who's a scriptwriter. My dad worked in insurance (he's retired). We grew up in London, where I still live.

My mum died two years ago in a car crash in India. We're all only just coming out of the initial shock. I'm going to India soon, for a holiday, I think partly to help me come to terms with what happened.

What keeps you awake?

The builders next door. That and reflecting on decisions I've made. I worry they might not be the right ones. I think too much in a slightly narcissistic way. My problems aren't that interesting, but I give them a lot of attention. As I get older, I tend to mull things over more.

Do you mull over the James Bond role you were offered (the baddie in Die Another Day, played by Toby Stephens)?

I didn't want to play a James Bond baddie. If you're in a Bond film, you have to be Bond or the Bond girl, and I can't see the producers going for a ginger Bond.

What's your new film Dreamcatcher about?

It's adapted from a Stephen King novel and also stars Morgan Freeman. It's about friends who go on a spooky camping trip. I was struck by the orignality of the script and it was great fun to make.

As an old Etonian and an actor, were you worried you'd be typecast as a toff?

Definitely. I didn't tell anyone I went to Eton for ages. In my teens I hung out with lots of people who weren't public school educated and that moderated my accent. At Eton, I was surrounded by handsomely foppish Hugh Grant lookalikes. I was always the comedy redhead.

The Forsyte Saga returns to ITV1 in May. Dreamcatcher opens on April 25.