Damian Lewis on Mark Rylance – Fan Fun with Damian Lewis

I always talk about what I think about Damian Lewis and the characters he brings to life here. And I think, we have to leave it to Damian, from time to time, to see WHAT he thinks about… well, anything or anyone! And why not start with what Damian thinks about his wonderful Wolf Hall co-star Mark Rylance…

…especially because Damian was a fan of Mark Rylance way before they starred in Wolf Hall together!

When asked about his acting idols at The Hollywood Reporter Drama Actors Interview back in 2012, here is what our favorite actor says…

That’s why I can’t imagine how great it should feel for Damian to be STORMING Wolf Hall together with an actor he has so much respect for.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2015 upon Wolf Hall’s arrival on PBS/Masterpiece, Damian attests to the brilliance of Mark Rylance:

“I don’t know who the greatest actor is—it’s kind of a ridiculous notion—but if you haven’t seen Mark onstage, I’m here to tell you he’s extraordinary. He’s kind of cornered the market in redefining characters that we think we know.”

Here is Damian at the Apollo Theatre in the West End to see Mark Rylance in Jerusalem in August 2022.

Well, I need to jump in and concur with Damian about Mark Rylance being extraordinary on stage. I was extremely lucky to see him in Richard III and Farinelli and The King on Broadway, and in Dr. Bread white on the West End, the last one being my favorite of the three. You can’t take your eyes off Mark Rylance on stage. Period. He is mesmerizing.

And Damian cites Rylance as an important factor for him to take the role of Henry VIII in Wolf Hall (thank you, Sir Rylance!) and also as a board game master in a Times interview with Polly Vernon in 2015.

“Mark was a big deciding factor in me taking the job. I’ve been a fan of his for many years. He’s a trailblazer in theatre, has been for 20 years.”

…

“Mark is … extraordinary. As a man and an actor. He’s mischievous and deep-down competitive. Not as an actor. As an actor, all he wants is an ensemble. He wants collaboration. As an actor, he couldn’t be more generous. But… the man who brings the board game on is the man who’s good at the board game.”

Ha! It turns out Mark Rylance carried a backgammon set with him on Wolf Hall set and challenged the cast and crew to games during breaks from filming.

Damian continues:

“I love backgammon because I think I’m going to win, but I often don’t. Mark brought this fantastic game called Pucket – you must spell that correctly, ha ha – and it’s a brilliant, brilliant game. Go and look at it. It’ll make you giggle a lot.”

I’m convinced that Damian giggled a lot playing Pucket on the set, because he purchased one at an ET Games stand at Port Eliot Festival in summer 2014!

ET Games says:

“Pucket is a frantic dexterity game. Players race each other to clear the pucks from their side of the board by catapulting them through a small hole leading to the other side (the “gate”). Any pucks that arrive on your side must be sent back before you win. The game appeals to anyone with a competitive streak.”

You can easily check out the game rules here and decide if Pucket works for you. ET Games has a pretty ambitious claim that Pucket “has brought more entertainment to the world than television.” What?

So, you try to tell me Pucket is a better entertainment than Wolf Hall? No, I refuse to believe that ????

That said – I admit, it could be a better entertainment than TV if we saw a Thomas Cromwell vs Henry VIII Pucket match exactly like the one between the Boleyn Sisters below!

BBC, in order to promote the new series Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Lighthas recently published interviews with the cast and here is Damian talking about working with Mark Rylance again.

“…I just love working with Mark. It’s like tennis, and when you hit something with a bit of slice and it comes back with topspin. It’s really fun. He’s not ‘Sir Mark Rylance’ for no reason.”

Truth.

In an interview with Essex Life MagazineDamian’s asked again about what it is like acting with Mark Rylance:

“He’s an amazing man – a pure, pure actor. He’s a serious actor but he’s got a cheekiness about him.”

Oh, and I should point out that, in a recent BBC interview, when asked about Cromwell’s relationship with Henry VIII, Mark Rylance says that “it’s very nice to be playing with Damian Lewis again, and his very subtle and mysterious Henry VIII.”

Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance, along with the rest of the brilliant cast give a Masterclass in acting in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light. I love the tennis analogy Damian uses to describe acting with Mark Rylance. Damian and Mark are the Roger and Rafa of acting and watching them storm Wolf Hall together is genuinely like watching a Grand Slam final match. The anticipation. The excitement. The awe. The entire experience. And can you imagine if we see them together on a stage production one day? Well, a girl can dream, can’t she?