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‘Billions’ Star Damian Lewis Talks Bobby Axelrod, Wardrobe, And Season 4

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 13:37 PST, Apr 14, 2019

The popular show Billions on Showtime is now in its fourth season, and this season, enemies are friends and friends are enemies, making for an exciting time for the show’s stars, Damian Lewis in particular.

Lewis, a British actor, plays business titan Bobby Axelrod, who is going through some changes on a personal and professional level, and learning about himself in the process. Vulture says that Lewis was willing to talk about everything from Axe’s wardrobe, to his character’s newfound alliance with Chuck Rhoades (played skillfully by Paul Giamatti).

The character of Bobby Axelrod dresses casually, even at the office. Not business casual, but Netflix-and-chill casual, and his signature item of clothing is a cashmere hoodie. In the interview, the writer asks what a $2,000 cashmere hoodie really feels like.

“Oh. They’re so soft. It’s just one cashmere heaven to the next,” Lewis said.

From the beginning on Billions, Axe and Chuck Rhoades have butted heads, with Chuck’s wife, Wendy, an employee of Axe Capital, sometimes in the middle. Axe was very close with his protege, Taylor, who has now betrayed him, and so the world is turned upside down, but Lewis says this makes things even more exciting.

“It’s very exciting. I think it’s also quite realistic, the way in which alliances are made and don’t always last too long.”

Lewis continues to explain that the show is about the “transactional nature” of the rich and powerful, and even of modern living. Some of those employees formerly loyal to Axe jumped ship with Taylor, but Lewis teases that fans haven’t seen the end of new alliances and betrayals.

“Chuck and Bobby have set this alliance because they both need it,” Lewis said.

Last season saw the demise of Axe’s marriage, and now, we finally see that he’s perhaps met his match, or at least his intellectual equal. He’s also met a woman who doesn’t need his money, but the question is, can she save him? Lewis isn’t sure.

“I’m not sure Axe is saveable anymore, but it is a redeeming quality, in the same way that he never judged Taylor when they announced that they’re gender nonbinary,” he explained.

Lewis continues to say that the character of Taylor is a great foil for Axe, who is incredibly binary, truly a man with little or no gray area.

“Axe, nevertheless, is absolutely entrenched in a binary view of the world,” he admitted.

Part of the theme this season is that Axe has regret, or perhaps even hurt about letting Taylor get so close, and it’s something he’s got to work through.

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