Damian Lewis & Donal Logue Get A New Lease On “Life”

by Julie Zied
Nov 19th, 2008 | 2:32 PM | Comments 1

Ann Murray
Fancast.com

Guess who’s back! Everyone’s favorite red-headed comedianne, Kathy Griffin, who’s just confirmed that Bravo is shooting season 5 of her critically acclaimed My Life on the D List.
“Season 5 is going to be a little bit of a transitional season because it’s going to be more celebrity oriented,” she said. “[It's] the way that American Idol sort of started as a singing contest and then every week you expect to see the mentors. I have some really good guest stars coming on the D-List this year.”

Will her show be any different now that she has two, count them, TWO Emmys? Knowing how down-to-earth the actress is, probably not. But she does add, “Suck that Efron! The more important thing is that I have more Emmys than Zac Efron! I just want to make sure we are good on that.”

Watch Kathy Griffin on My Life on the D-List on Fancast.
By Tom Rose
Fancast.com

A few weeks back NBC restructured its mid-week lineup, now dubbed “Crime Block Wednesday” by popping the struggling LAPD crime drama “Life” in between upstart “Knight Rider” and spin-off machine “Law & Order.” To make the new deal even sweeter, the Peacock Network just announced a second season back-nine episode pickup for the show. So it looks like “Life” goes on - for now.

The series revolves around an LAPD Detective, Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis) and his wrongful murder conviction. After spending 13 years in prison learning to practice Zen, acquiring a taste for exotic fruit, and winning a giant lawsuit against his former accusers, Crews is exonerated for the crime and reinstated to his old job.

You’d think a man with a story like that would have it made for the rest of his days. But it was not to be. In addition to dealing with petty jealousy of his brilliant detecting skills, lingering suspicion over his innocence and lustful yearning for his new found fortune, Crews has to put up with a new boss.

As played by Donal Logue, Captain Kevin Tidwell is a brash New Yorker clearly unused to the Politically Correct environment he’s found himself transplanted into and bent on cutting Crews as little slack as possible.

Fancast had a chance to speak with the pair, clearly great friends off the set, in a round of interviews conducted to give the show a boost. They had a lot to say about acting techniques, Buddhism, fruit, accents and, you know, Life itself:

Q: Damian, how caught up do you get in the mystery of the show? Because it’s kind of unique that each episode can stand alone, but there’s this overarching mystery to what’s going on with Charlie’s life. Do you try to figure it out? How much do you know going into it?

Damian Lewis: Well actually as time has gone by I’ve wanted to know less and less. I’ve enjoyed the novel aspect of doing series TV. You know, each week you read a new chapter and much like reading a novel, it unfolds for you.

There are things where it’s important - there are times when it’s important when I know what might be about to happen that might relate to something in my past. But on the whole, I’m happy to discover it each week.

And, you know, and I think it’s why the show is loved by people because of this series and serial element that we’re able to run these two things concurrently so people can come and watch one hour and come away with something, and have a story with a beginning, a middle and an end as the crime is solved, but also constantly dipping into this ongoing mystery which is the biggest crime in Crews’ life.

This is the biggest investigation of his life. You know, why did he go to prison? So yes, it’s fun. I think it’s really working on those two levels.

Q: Donal, you don’t do many interviews and I’m happy to talk to you. My question for you regarding Tidwell - I notice that you’re playing your character, it seems, like this sort of mix of bemusement and really reigned in antagonism, almost like a passive aggressive vibe. And it’s a very interesting blend of conflicting things that I see in your character. I was wondering if you could talk about your character’s relationship to Charlie Crews and also with Sarah Shahi’s character, Dani Reese. There’s a tension there, too.

Donal Logue: You know, it is interesting because Tidwell is a character that I understood least of any character I’ve ever played. And so, I think that there was a broader kind of antagonism that I was supposed to show. But at the same time, I can’t help but throw myself in the character, having a lot of respect for Charlie Crews and liking him, and liking his quirkiness, and liking his sense of humor.

And so I have my foot on the brake and on the gas simultaneously in different ways. So it’s kind of interesting that you picked up on that. But, you know, it’s also a trajectory that I follow that’s just written for me.

There are times that I’m just kind of surprised in which direction I go as well - and which direction the character goes. And the stuff with Dani Reese, honestly from - I think within a couple of weeks of the season starting I realized oh okay, there was supposed to be this story happen between us. I didn’t know necessarily how it would unfold. But I think he walks a really delicate line between being too overbearing and a little bit too smarmy. Then we have these moments where I think he can redeem himself enough to make all of this stuff really plausible.

Q: You’re like this citizen of the world. You know, you’ve got Irish - you’re Canadian, you’re Irish. You’ve been living all over the United States. Where are you happiest?

Donal Logue: Where am I happiest? Up in my place in Oregon. But I’m a citizen of the world, 100% Yankee which is probably why it’s annoying to Damian for me to always pester him with questions about my brief time living in England. But it’s been a super blast to work with Damian, I’ll tell you for sure.

Damian Lewis: Donal spent a few years working in a pub that has alternately been a strip joint and a gun runner’s hangout. It was a really gnarly place.

Q: Damian, how did you come to this accent? I didn’t know you were English when I was first watching Life. And then I always thought to myself he sounds like House - he sounds like - you know, you have that sound to your accent. It’s a very clipped American accent. And I was wondering how you came to that?

Damian Lewis: Well I think - well firstly, I’ve played a lot of American roles, starting off with Band of Brothers which was six or seven years ago. And I’ve found an American persona that I’m happy with where there was self consciousness to start with and a constant watchfulness over my accent. Now I actually find myself at weekends ordering coffees in an American accent. And, you know, I just have kind of settled into a persona that I feel comfortable with.

Having said that, this - the rhythms of Charlie Crews are very particular and he’s (by terms) maverick and — you know, the word of the moment or as well the last few moments anyway — and eccentric, and a little bit cracked and damaged, and brought with a strange, sort of feminine intuitive quality. All those things will affect, you know, the rhythm that I choose. And that’s why I’ve ended up with this sometimes rapid fire, quick fire sort of form of delivery because a lot of the time, these observations are quick and intuitive, and spontaneous. And they’re instinctive. And that’s just the way it comes out.

Q: I was hoping you both could talk a little bit about how you bring humor to the roles and how much is on the page, and how much is kind of in the moment when you are rehearsing or ad-libbing? Because you’re both very funny in the show, but the show is a drama.

Damian Lewis: Well we’re both unintentionally funny. That’s a problem. Now - well I don’t know. Sort of from my part, you know, it’s an interpretive skill, acting as well as directing. And together you collaborate and give your interpretations of a script which I have to say is already very funny. And so Rand and his writers actually make our jobs easy for us, I think. But that’s really what I would say.

Q: Donal, do you have anything to add because I think you’re someone who we see more often in comedies, and this is a dramatic part for you. and you’re also very funny in it. Has it been different to play something like that?

Donal Logue: Well I think I actually enjoy really playing comedies and I enjoy playing the comedy in a dramatic setting because it’s, generally speaking, more realistic and it kind of comes from a more honest place as opposed sometimes to straight comedies where you’re always trying to motor or engine some kind of fake comic energy.

And, you know, Damian is pretty hysterical. I actually kind of wish that some more of the kind of play that we have just while we’re working found its way into the dynamic between them. But I think it’s working out really well this way and like the quirkiness.

And I like the fact that I’m amused by Damian - by Crews and by Reese, and by the world probably in general. But - so, you know, I’m sure that they brought me in - that there was some thought as to the fact that we would be doing something with some comedy in it.

But in a way it’s a real relief. You just get to play scenes and if there’s kind of funny moments that’s great, but it doesn’t have to be the focus, you know?

Q: As a representative from a soap opera magazine I kind of have to ask the obligatory romance question and we’ve seen, you know, quite a bit of those threads over the last season and a half. So coming up in the back nine, will we see more of Charlie’s love life getting complicated with Jennifer and Connie, and more of obviously Tidwell and Reese’s complicated relationship?

Damian Lewis: Well, yes is the answer. It’ll never be easy for either of them. I think they’re both, in their own way if I can just speak for Donal for a second, they’re both damaged characters.

They both bring an enormous amount of baggage. You know, Tidwell brings three ex-wives with him and I think he responds to Reese on that level because she has her own demons that she’s wrestling with. And that’s why they find an unusual connection through their initial antipathy towards each other.

And Crews is - Crews - I think the show is a lot about healing and a lot about wish fulfillment. And I think we still want to see Crews having more fun. So I think it won’t be an end to the random bubble gum blondes that fall in his lap, you know, metaphorically and literally.

But also clearly his ex-wife is the love of his life or has always been, and Connie was his salvation. So they - while he was in prison they served slightly different - sort of (slight) different purposes. But, you know, we’ll see. I think there’s still more fun for him to have before it all gets too serious.

Donal Logue: You know, it’s interesting because — and I love what you said — you know, about the antipathy question, and I’ve always said it to my friends. We’ve always joked around in my circle. It’s like beware if your girlfriend comes back from work and someone has really pissed her off. She always keeps talking about someone who really got under her skin, you know.

That person is the threat. But what’s interesting about Tidwell is that he so casually, I think, has started to plot out this broader trajectory for their relationship, almost without even discussing it with her. And I think it takes her to a really kind of unstable place. So I’m as interested as anyone to see kind of where it goes because it’s in this fledgling kind of stage.

But yeah, even though he has all these ex-wives, he kind of oddly doesn’t seem too tortured by the whole, process in relationships as much as probably I am in my own personal life. So he’s an odd bird. But it’s kind of intriguing where these two end up going.

Q: Oh great. Thank you both. And tangentially - actually completely unrelated, I have to ask about the fruit. Obviously Damian, the fruit has been like a huge, huge part of the appeal to your character.

Damian Lewis: Well that’s no way to talk about Donal. That man is all man, let me tell you.

Donal Logue: How did they know that that was your nickname for me?

Q: There’s a nickname? Do you actually enjoy eating all the fruit that Charlie eats or is there a fruit that you’ve been turned on to that you’d never tried before, that you tried in the course of the show?

Damian Lewis: I’ve eaten some pretty exotic fruit in the last year. It’s, you know, the staple. Apples, bananas and oranges have been left behind for, you know, African-Horned Melon and strange pears, and kumquats and passion fruits, and papaya and guavas, and all sort of fun things. Papaya is my least favorite fruit, there’s something about it that smells of weed and I can only put my finger on it. But I love fruit. I eat a lot of fruit and I eat fruit, you know, when I’m just between takes. I go to craft services and I eat more fruit. So it’s lucky, you know.

Q: I have a question about the Zen aspect of the Crews character. Damian. Do you yourself borrow any of the same type of - perhaps any of the same types of attitudes that Crews does or was this all very unfamiliar to you and you’ve kind of found it through the character himself?

Damian Lewis: Oh. Yes. I mean it’s very attractive when you’re running around in your life and the world we all live in to find lots of stillness and, you know, whether it’s through Yoga or meditation.

It doesn’t even have to go that far but just mostly when you sit down and you stop, and you just embrace, you know, the moment you’re in rather than projecting forward always or harking back to something you should’ve done or should’ve said.

You know, the day before which I do chronically. So it’s actually great to be able to explore it a little bit through Crews and find - with this job, as I find with many jobs, art imitates life, imitates art. That’s why acting and going from job to job like this can be very therapeutic. You find things in your character that you enjoy and help you understand a little bit more about what’s around you.

So I love that aspect of Crews because I’m constantly and unsuccessfully looking for those moments in my life - those more Zen moments. And I know that when I find them I’m actually much happier. But I’m, as a person, predisposed to just, you know, behaving like a headless chicken and just, you know, running in 15 directions at the same time. So I really enjoy it - that aspect of the character is awesome.

Q: In the last few episodes we haven’t seen as much of that side of Charlie. Is more coming back? With everything going on with the character, is there a purposeful move away from that Zen aspect of the character, with what’s going on with the girl and Jack Reese?

Damian Lewis: No you’re right. There has been less. And actually, I was having a conversation with someone about that only a few days ago. And I just think a story developed - there were so many other things to tackle and to get to. And there’s an episode we might’ve just aired that, you know, I’m using sort of interplay between myself and Reese where I’m trying to listen to some Zen tapes. I think it was in the earthquake episode, and, you know, she wants the Rock music. And so, you know, the Zen is always there.

And I think, the Zen is helpful not just because it’s fun in itself, but it’s helpful in counterpoint to his anger and the rage that must sit deep in Charlie that he so successfully suppresses. When it’s most fun to see the Zen is actually at a point when he’s on the verge of being his most violent and his most vengeful. So I think we’ll see some moments like that and we’ll see just how kind of polarized Charlie is in his life, and how really the Zen is actually at best for him. It’s really just an anger management tool, you know. I don’t think he’d like it to be a more profound experience, but it’s at its most practical when it’s just stopping him killing people, I think.

Q: Donal, not to leave you out or anything like that, I wanted to ask about Tidwell and how you’re approaching him as kind of this antithesis to Crews’ very calm, collected, Zen, grounded type of character. Did you approach it purposely like that or was that just organically how it came out?

Donal Logue: I think it was more an organic thing, although in my own life I kind of appreciate it. I think one thing about Tidwell, though, regardless if I think he comes off as antagonistic or not, he has a real respect for Charlie Crew’s abilities. And even from the very first episode, he may have said a couple of offhand things, like when he referred to him as kung fu or grasshopper or something. But he wants to hear what he has to say and he knows he’s incredibly bright.

He knows that he’s incredibly effective as in his police work. So I think maybe it comes off differently. But I think we have a really kind of interesting back and forth that’s based on a little bit of mutual admiration, even though I think it’s starting to get tested around now in things that the public hasn’t seen. So, you know, I hope it doesn’t come off as terribly antagonistic because I always think that there’s like a little glimmer in his eye when he’s kind of joking with him.

Q: Donal, I know you’ve played so many different characters on TV and in films. What character do fans just automatically recognize you from when they see you out and about?

Donal Logue: There are people who really liked the movie Blade or probably Grounded for Life. You know, Grounded for Life was interesting because it’s the first time I was on a television show that was on for a long time. It kind of had a weird afterlife in syndication and in different countries and stuff. So…

Q: Do people ever come up to you and ask you for parenting advice because of Grounded For Life or anything like that, or kids who are like, “oh you were a really cool dad on that show?”

Donal Logue: Oh well it’s interesting because in my kids’ elementary schools, yes - a lot of kids had a little bit of a weird double take because I think they watched a lot after school. But if they ask me for parenting advice, either based on Grounded for Life or my own skills as a parent, they’d be in big trouble.

Q: And as far as both of your families go, are they really into, you know, Life and everything? Do they ever ask you guys for spoilers from upcoming episodes or bribe you for them, or anything like that?

Donal Logue: Yeah, you know, it’s interesting. I mean I’m getting a lot of heat from Dani Reese fans, both male and female. So I find myself having to defend myself all the time. And I don’t know where it’s going. I actually kind of wish I did know some big spoilers or I wish that Tidwell played some huge role in the broader kind of conspiracy arch that the show, is about. But it’s interesting because I myself look forward to the scripts.

And I’ve never been involved in something like that where you couldn’t have these little being bombs dropped, especially in regards to the Crews conspiracy stuff. I really look forward to all of that.

Q: As far as learning your lines for different, TV shows and films, do you happen to have a particular ritual that you do right when you first get a script and you’re trying to remember your lines, or a little trick that you use?

Donal Logue: I’ve gotten really adept at trying to learn lines between lighting and shooting. But I’m actually jogging around town with my friend, Steve, who I run a lot of my lines with and, you know, we just rehearse and we drill them. And then they get easier. But one of our directors for Life was Paul McCrane who I had worked with on ER. And I remember we were talking about lines because Damian and Sarah have a lot of really kind of long, drawn out expositional kind of pieces of police work that are really hard to memorize.

So I know that for sure - that Sarah spends a lot of her work - on her lines. And I constantly see her going over her script. I’m like, is this for the scene we’re about to do? And she’s like, “no it’s for two days from now.” So she’s always on it. And I think it’s just through exercise that you get better at it over time.

Q: I read that someone said that the addition of Donal would lighten your workload. How has that turned out?

Damian Lewis: They lied.

Donal Logue: That’s not true at all.

Damian Lewis: Well it lightens my workload in that, you know — and he’ll never hear me say this again — but it’s such a joy working with him. And I think it’s really just improved the dynamic in the police station. Donal’s character, Tidwell, has no responsibility to the conspiracy story. He’s kind of like a floating satellite and he can come in and wreck things, and influence things, and affect things, and then leave again as much as they want him to.

And already we’ve seen him be integrated into our lives, you know, in a more personal way with his relationship with Reese, which is fantastic. And he’s got his whole fish-out-of-water story going which is, you know, this abrasive, un-PC, Manhattan cop, landed in PC LA. So there are a lot of fun dynamics there. And it just makes it more enjoyable.

I mean, do I get half days off now? No, I’d be lying if I said that. Usually if there’s a half day then I’m doing scenes from episodes we haven’t finished yet.

Q: I’m also curious, how do you see Charlie and Ted’s relationship evolving?

Damian Lewis: Oh well I think they will for the time being remain firm friends. Ted has a financial acumen that Crews does not have. And, you know, I think there’s potential for Ted to be set some kind of challenge which may affect his relationship with Charlie. He may be asked to make a choice. People might try and get to him in order to get to me. Already we’re seeing a little bit of that with his return to prison, which will be coming in upcoming episodes.

Don’t give that away to the viewers just yet, but there’s possibility there, because he holds so much of Charlie’s money and is really a trustee of Charlie’s money. So there’s potential there. But otherwise I think they’ll remain good friends. They’re kind of Oscar and Felix.

Q: Donal, what drew you to Tidwell when you first read the script?

Donal Logue: I was more drawn to, because I didn’t know who he would be exactly, I was kind of more drawn to Rand Ravich and Far Shariat, who I had met, because I had discussed with them the possibility of doing the show called N.Y-70, which they did, which was actually a really neat show, it ended up being with a mutual friend of mine and Damian’s, Donnie Wahlberg. And so I liked those guys. And I was always a fan of Damian so, you know, it was more just talking to them about what the possibilities could be, because I didn’t know exactly who he would be — how bombastic, how crude.

And, you know, he’s as much as I thought he might be in that way, but, it was just interesting. It was really very different from stuff I had been doing immediately before it, so I think the juxtaposition felt even more severe.

But I just really love the dynamic, and I haven’t really thought about it as much as Damian, he described it really well. You know, I get to be this free-floating satellite who isn’t tied to some of the broader conspiracy things.

And it’s fun because every week of television there’s kind of a chance to re-invent yourself, or there’s a chance for them to show something about your character that we haven’t revealed yet that make him who he is. And so you always have this chance to redeem yourself, and I look forward to kind of in-serialized acting the way one-hour television is.

Unlike a film, where if you’re kind of plugging through a film, 2/3 of the way through and you have no clue where you’re going, then you’re in trouble. But here it kind of actually works to your advantage.

Q: Damian, I’m wondering if you could tell us if and when we’re going to see Charlie’s father this season? And who might be playing him? What’s the relationship between Charlie and his dad?

Damian Lewis: We are going to see Charlie’s dad. I don’t want to give too much away. We filmed it actually just a couple days ago, and it’s pretty dramatic when his dad arrives. Actually it’s nearly disastrous, but it’s being played by a great actor, Geoffrey Pierson and we’ve already had a lot of fun. It’s a pretty antagonistic relationship. Charlie holds his dad responsible for not allowing his mother to come and visit him while he was in prison for 12 years.

His dad had, I think, disowned him to a large extent, and so there’s a lot of animosity there. And when they see each other, it’s unintentionally aggressive and hostile with almost catastrophic repercussions. But then everything is smoothed over. And he’s getting married of course to this, you know, hot smoking young girl, Christina Hendricks, who is from Mad Men, and Ted is busy falling in love with her while she’s about to get married to my dad. So, you know, business as usual at the Crews residence. You know, just anarchy and chaos…

Q: Donal, I’m a huge fan of your movie The Tao of Steve and I wonder if that philosophy impacted your persona on Life in any way, or if you see any of that character in Tidwell.

Donal Logue: I see none of it in Tidwell, but yes personally, the script really spoke to me when I first read it. I just kind of think a lot of it makes a lot of sense. Like the less you really try to hold on to things, the more things kind of will come to you as you float through life.

And it’s what Damian was talking about earlier about the notion of zen in your own life. And it doesn’t have to be that - it doesn’t have to end up being too intellectualized. It’s just kind of like Emerson. Just like take a moment in your day and just be a man walking or a man breathing or going to work or doing your thing. And, you know, I have a lot of fond memories of that whole experience.

But, I think when I was in high school I was with a group of kind of disaffected acne-plagued intellectual teenagers who became really obsessed with Jack’s ear wax, so we all got into our own form of tenth grade zen Buddhism and it’s been with me for a while.

Q: This question is for either one of you. First of all, congratulations on the back-nine pickup.

Donal and Damian: Thank you.

Q: The show has been picking up some more fans and the ratings are increasing. How do you feel the move to Wednesday night is going to work out for you?

Damian Lewis: Well I’ll jump in. You know, the Wednesday night move is good, but we started out on Wednesday night, if anyone’s forgotten. I think what’s important is that we’re at nine o’clock. My accountant keeps saying to me every week, “Damian, I love the first half hour of your show,” you know, because he goes to bed. And I think that’s a problem with the ten o’clock slot.

I read an article in the times about the death of the ten o’clock show. Mostly, you know, due to TiVo and DVR. People record their eight o’clock or nine o’clock shows, have dinner, and then watch it at ten o’clock. So, I’m delighted to be on earlier, because I think we’ll find a bigger audience and be sandwiched between Knight Rider and Law and Order. It should, make for a good Wednesday night.

But we need a push from the network. They need to make sure that people know about it. And as long as that happens I think we’ll do well.

Q: Damian, what’s the reaction to the show back in the UK — family, friends, what have you?

Damian Lewis: The first season just aired about two or three weeks ago for the first time, and it’s been a big hit. People seem to love it. From what I hear, it’s been a big hit. And it’s a big hit in unusual places like over in Malaysia and Singapore. It’s already played out and starting the second season in Australia. It’s a big hit in Scandinavia. It’s doing really well, and I’m really, really proud of the show.

Q: That’s great. Donal for you, earlier we were talking about Damian’s success with the American accent. Myself being a native New Yorker, I think you do a great job with the “New Yawk” accent. How did you come across that?

Donal Logue: Oh thank you. You know, I lived in New York for so long, but I lived in Boston as a kid, which you know is quite different. But, I don’t know, it just kind of feels like an easy one for me. I had done like an English accent, I had lived in England, and I kind of stupidly assumed that I could just jump into anything without any preparation and always jump into an accent. And I think I failed at it miserably. You know, as an American, it’s always easier of course jumping into regional American accents, but what Damian does is really, really, really difficult.

And in fact, when he breaks and if over the weekend we’re going to like a soccer match or something together, it’s always amusing to see him. I’m like, “Oh, look at Damian put on an English accent to talk to his wife.” But I lived in New York, a lot of my best friends are New Yorkers, and firefighters there and stuff. So, you know, I actually miss New York an awful lot. So I hope I do a good job. I’m glad that someone from New York isn’t calling to give me a hard time.

Q: Oh I can tell you it’s very authentic. Damian, you’re so well known for your role in Band of Brothers. Do you still have people come up to you about that show? Are you still having some after-effects from that?

Damian Lewis: Yes, I’m still convincing people I didn’t win the Second World War. It can be quite overwhelming, but what a privilege to have been involved in telling that story. I’ve said before I was slow to realize the enormity and the importance of the project and of the story and the task in hand to represent those guys well and responsibly.

So having committed it to it like that with 30 other guys, it may sound corny but we kind of developed our own band of brothers. And those guys are good friends and we got married together and had children together over the last, you know, seven, eight years and we all hang out together.

And I love being thanked for telling the story. There’s sort of amazing gratitude from people that that story was told and it was told as well and as unflinchingly as it was by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and HBO. It was fantastic.

Q: A quick question for Damian. In the episode “Jackpot” we saw Crews go out to work on a case with Jessy Schram’s character, Rachel. Are we going to be seeing more and more of the two of them working together in the future, and what’s it like working with Jessy?

Damian Lewis: Jessy is gorgeous. She is the sweetest girl and a really good actress. And it’s sort of fun going on with that character. She comes to live with Crews and is actually a little bit of a spoiled teenager, you know?

She feels abandoned by Crews, who’s basically trying to be a single parent with Ted’s help. So it’s a little bit like, you know, having two dads. So, although I obviously make Ted wear an apron when we’re at home, to be honest, I think there’ll come a point in the next few episodes where her character is put to bed for the time being. I think it’ll be too dangerous for her to be around, because the evil elements in Crews’ life will come for her, and she’ll have to go away for a little while. After that I don’t know what’ll happen. She certainly won’t disappear for good, but I think she’ll go away for a little while.

Q: I wonder if you can tell us a little more about what’s coming up story-wise, character development wise for the back nine for both of you?

Damian Lewis: I think Donal and I have got a similar approach. I’ve enjoyed having the story unfold for me weekly as it does for the viewers, you know. I don’t ask for too much information about what’s coming up, but for those of you that haven’t seen the episodes we’ve already shot, my father is introduced some, and the conspiracy circle closes. It becomes increasingly dangerous for Crews and for people around him — for Ted and for Rachel. But beyond that, there’s not much I can tell you.

Donal Logue: In my trajectory with Reese, it gets a little bit more involved, but there’s some consequences that are slightly difficult. But I agree with Damian. I find myself every so often asking the big bosses “Is it possible if Tidwell has something monumental to do with the conspiracy, as to why Crews was behind bars for so long?” But they just kind of laugh it off.

And I don’t know where the pieces fall into place. We’re actually shooting not that many episodes ahead of where the viewers have been able to watch, I think we’re probably only three episodes ahead, so we don’t necessarily know where we’re going in the back nine. We haven’t started shooting them yet.

Q: Well have you been told how much longer Charlie’s investigation into the conspiracy is going to continue, and will it just go on indefinitely for the whole series? Or have they given you some kind of a hint that it’ll be resolved?

Damian Lewis: It’s going to last at least 100 episodes. And…

Donal Logue: Damian, you’ll be really wealthy, but you’ll probably be close to death.

Damian Lewis: Yes. And I’ll still want to solve the crime. It’s a purgatory for Crews. There can be no resolution.

Q: So it’s definitely going to continue as long as the show does, you think?

Damian Lewis: Well, this may sound cynical, but you never know in network TV, so I think the guys work as well as they can to tie up some loose ends at potential stopping points for the TV show, when the TV show might just be no more. There will be some kind of answer given at the end of this season. But it’ll also be left open in anticipation that we’ll get a third season.

And if we get a third season, you know, you’ve seen the conspiracy board in Crews’ closet? There were six conspirators. Now, maybe I’m reading too much into this, but that sounds like six seasons to me.

One can only hope!

Make sure to catch up on the story so far by watching Full Length Episodes of Life.

Tune in to Life at its new time, Wednesdays at 9:00 on NBC and stay on top of News, Updates and Interviews with your favorite TV Stars right here on Fancast!