Homeland star Damian Lewis has gone through a “chaotic” time in the last seven to eight years, following the death of his wife Helen McCrory, and he found it “freeing” turning to music during that time.
Damian Lewis’ late wife Helen McCrory helped inspire his music career.
The 55-year-old actor is best known for his acting work, but he released his second studio album, Sweet Chaos, earlier this month.
Damian has opened up about how he has gone through a “chaotic” time in recent years following the death of his significant other, Peaky Blinders actress Helen – who died of cancer in 2021, aged 52 – and he found it “freeing” turning to music.
When asked if chaos can be “sweet”, he said on Lorraine: “I think we spend so much time trying to organise a timetable and trying to give ourselves a sense of control of our lives. I think that’s a human instinct.
“My life has been pretty chaotic in the last seven/ eight years. I lost my wife Helen.
“In the chaos of all of that, I just found … I think if you give into the moment, be present, yield to the moment day to day, it was kind of freeing not to be trying to control everything all the time.
“Sometime life gets big on you and it is a bit chaotic.
“But that’s where the title where the title of the record comes from.”
Damian has found performing his songs to be quite different to acting.
He added: “When you’re acting, you’re interpreting a role.
“You are assuming another character. You do attempt to sublimate yourself in order to allow the character to dominate the story, whatever it is.
“When you’re playing music, you’re up there as yourself. You are yourself.
“It might be a bigger version of yourself maybe, but essentially I communicate my songs that I’ve written directly to people who are standing in front of me.
“It is just you.”
The Homeland star previously told how he used to be a busker.
Speaking in July 2023, a month after dropping his debut album Mission Creep, he told Metro newspaper’s Sixty Seconds column: “My close friends and people I’ve grown up with know that I play the guitar and sing.
“I have a history of busking in London and I used to go round Europe on my motorbike with my tent and play the market squares of the south of France and Spain, but I’ve been a professional actor and very focused on that for many years and I think it will be a big leap in people’s imaginations.”
Damian Lewis’ late wife Helen McCrory inspired music career as he opens up about ‘chaotic’ 7 years
