Celebrity Special:
I Wish Mum Could See Me Now

Actor Damian Lewis is still hurting from the tragic loss of his mother two years ago, but since then he's not only notched up notable roles in Britain, he now looks set for success in Hollywood ...

Woman, April (?) 2003

Damian Lewis wasn't raised to fall apart under pressure. He's an Old Etonian with lots of self-assurance, inner discipline, charm, impeccable manners and so on. But whether he can remain so in the whirl of publicity that's about to engulf him is anybody's guess.

So far the 32-year-old actor with startling ginger hair has made his name with a string of solid British TV dramas such as Hearts And Bones, Warriors and Jeffrey Archer: The Truth. But he's now about to hit the Hollywood big time with a major part in Dreamcatcher, a £50 million Spielberg-produced epic, released in the UK on April 25.

"It's incredibly exciting to be part of it," says Damian. "You grow up watching big films like Raiders Of The Lost Ark or Lawrence Of Arabia, and of course you always dream of being part of something so huge."

British audiences will probably know him best for ITV's The Forsyte Saga, and he'll be returning to our screens for a second series later this year. He thrives on playing the controlling, repressed, obsessive Soames.

"But it's the kind of role that leaves you needing a couple of drinks just to loosen up at the end of the day," he laughs.

However, Damian isn't set on too much partying. He's got a strong work ethic, instilled in him by his mum. "When we were little, Mum didn't much like us slouching around the place," he says. "In our house, there was always a philosophy of working hard and being useful. So now, whatever I'm doing, I feel I have to give it my all. I fully expect, and want, to work hard."

He couldn't have worked harder over the years. He trained with actors like Ewan McGregor and Joseph Fiennes, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, and then broke into television with the Rik Mayall comedy series Micky Love.

It's in America, however, that he's fast turning into a star of note. He played Major Richard Winters in Steven Spielberg's Band Of Brothers. And it was on the back of this that director Lawrence Kasdan approached him to star with Morgan Freeman and Tom Sizemore in Dreamcatcher, an adaptation of Stephen King's spooky novel. Damian plays Gary Jones, a Boston history teacher who goes away for a weekend in the woods with friends and finds himself possessed by an alien spirit. Filming took place in Canada over a four-month shoot in temperatures of -27° C. "It's difficult for me to describe just how cold that is," he smiles.

Damian grew up in St. John's Wood, the third of four children. At the age of eight, he went to a boarding prep school in Sussex before going on to Eton.

"It wasn't a question of being packed off or anything," he says. "My parents were very inclusive and gave me the choice. Like all kids, I was homesick for the first week, but after that I was fine. I had a pretty good time at school and never felt abandoned by my parents."

Sadly, the family has been hit by tragedy since then. Two years ago, while on holiday in India, his parents were involved in a car accident, and Damian's mum, Charlotte, was killed.

"Mum was a beautiful, gorgeous woman," he says fondly. "She was the best mother I could have hoped for. That she died when she did still seems so shocking and cruel.

"The temptation is to throw yourself into your work. That can be a kind of therapy and escape, but I do think you have to give yourself time to grieve. I've tried to do that because, otherwise, I suspect it will hurt you more later."

Charlotte visited him on the set for Band Of Brothers, but sadly didn't live to see the stunning reviews. "It's sad, but there's never a right time for someone to die. She could have seen my success and then died before I got married or had my first child. Whenever tragedy happens, it's devastating, and there's always a sense that someone should have been given more time."

Not that Damian seems close to marriage or fatherhood yet. He was in a long-term relationship with C4 news producer Katie Razzall, but, perhaps due to the pressure of work, it ended last year.

"It's not easy to maintain a relationship when you're constantly away," he says. "At the moment, I'm enjoying just being single."

Rather uniquely in this day and age, Damian -- who recently bought a swish property in Camden -- has never lived with a woman.

"Maybe it's just fear," he says. "Or that old-fashioned thing of not wanting to live with someone until I know I'm going to marry them. Or maybe I just don't want to share my habits with anyone else."

And which habits are those, you have to wonder?

"My ugly habits," he replies, mysteriously.

It's difficult to imagine that Damian, being the perfect English gent, could have any of those. ...