Damian Lewis reveals the one mistake he made together with his youngsters
- Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected]
Damian Lewis has revealed the one mistake he thinks he made with his children as he reveals what life is really like with his ‘noisy family’.
The actor, 53, opened up about his very private family life to Nick Grimshaw and Angela Harnett on an episode of their podcast Dish.
The Homeland star shares two children Manon, 18, and Gulliver, 16, with his late wife, actress Helen McCrory.
And Damian revealed what the trio’s dynamic is like at home.
He told the podcast hosts that while they all get on very well, he is no longer allowed to cook for his daughter.
Damian Lewis, 53, has revealed the one mistake he thinks he made with his children as he reveals what life is really like with his ‘noisy family’ on an episode of Dish podcast
The actor opened up about his very private family life to Nick Grimshaw and Angela Harnett three years after the death of his wife Helen McCrory(pictured together in 2020)
The Homeland star shares two children Manon, 18, and Gulliver, 16, with his late wife, actress Helen McCroy and described the family as noisy (pictured 2018)
He also revealed the one mistake he made that lead him to tackle a whole octopus in the kitchen.
The Wolf Hall star said: ‘Yeah, I do cook. I like it. My daughter won’t let me cook for her anymore.
‘She’s vegetarian and she’s become very particular about how she cooks. I bought her an air fryer’.
And although his eldest child Manon is a vegetarian, the thespian explained he is not such a fan of vegetarian cooking.
He revealed: ‘My vegetarian cooking is poor. If Manon lets me make something for her, it’s probably, it’s probably half a big pepper filled with something.
We might do a vegetarian chilli to go in it. So it’s quite basic’.
Damian also elaborated on a mistake he made when his children were little.
He said: ‘We made the mistake early on with our kids, or not the mistake, because it’s really nice, of just not always feeding them baked beans when they were hungry.
Damian revealed one mistake he made when his children were little which was to get them hooked on octopus from Italian restaurant Carluccio’s
The actor joked that his children’s love for the dish became so extreme that it led him to try and cook octopus himself which he described as ‘terrible’
The Homeland star recently opened up about how music has helped his grieving process and the actor is currently touring his album (pictured in March 2023)
‘Yeah, so they’re always trying to eat adult food. But then my two, very young, North London, privileged children developed a taste for Carluccio’s. And only Carluccio’s.
‘So, we couldn’t go past the Carluccio’s with, you know, some snotty five year old going, “Po po. Daddy, let’s go in and eat octopus.”
So then I decided, sod that I’m going to cook an octopus myself. And it was terrible.
‘I just sort of just dehydrated this, and it was a whole octopus. I said, “give me the whole octopus. I want to cut it. I want to get it into the rings. I want to do the whole thing myself”‘
‘I boiled it with salt and shallots, and a bit of white wine or white wine vinegar, and sort of part boiled, part steamed it…
‘That’s what it was. It was a drowning octopus. There were a lot of legs.’ .
The star also told the DJ and the Michelin star chef that his family dynamic is noisy and loud with lots of people talking over each other.
‘Yeah, there’d be just a lot of people not listening to anyone else, yeah. We were always really encouraged to make our point.
The Billions star and Helen shared daughter Manon, 16, and son Gulliver, 15, who Damian revealed had been supportive of his decision to pause acting and pursue music
Damian is now dating musician Alison Mosshart and the two have been pictured at several events together (pictured in July 2022)
‘So, we just got a family of people who are always making their point, with no one to listen to the point because everyone’s busy making their point!’ the Band of Brother actor said.
He then joked: ‘But I mean, so a lot of our friends are good listeners and we bring them in for dinner parties – Don’t talk too much. Just come, come and listen.’
Peaky Blinders actress Helen died from breast cancer in April 2021 aged just 52, and had kept her diagnosis a secret as she continued to work.
At the time Damian admitted he felt ‘physically drained’ after Helen’s death.
The actor spoke candidly about how he felt ‘exhausted’ for months after his wife Helen died in April 2021 after being diagnosed with cancer.
He explained that after putting all his focus into ‘living the best possible life’ while Helen was alive that he felt ‘wiped out’ after his wife tragically died.
He told The Guardian: ‘For four or five months, you’re physically drained. Helen was ill for four and a half years.
‘They say that the first day of diagnosis of an illness that could be terminal is the first day of your grief.’
The actor is currently touring with the album and reflected on the writing process during an appearance on This Morning.
Asked about the writing process by host Cat Deeley, he explained: ‘If I had written a song it went on a record. I wrote 10 songs and that felt hard enough.
‘I Iooked at some of my old songs and they were so terrible!’
Damian continued: ‘But I felt comfortable with Mission Creep. There are some personal songs on there, people will know about my late wife Helen.
The Billions star and Helen shared daughter Manon, 16, and son Gulliver, 15, who Damian revealed had been supportive of his decision to pause acting and pursue music.
He explained: ‘They’re being really sweet about it and they are actually really talented musicians themselves.
‘I think it can be a bit annoying that your dad is doing music when that’s what you want to do, but they are a more talented than me so I have told them to keep going at it.
‘There isn’t a chance in hell they will ever [perform] with me.’
Dish from Waitrose is available on all podcast providers.
