Damian Lewis as “Will Radley” in the comedy horror ‘The Radleys’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Opening in theaters, digital and on demand beginning October 4th is the new horror-comedy ‘The Radleys’, which was directed by Euros Lyn (‘Doctor Who’).
The film stars Damian Lewis (‘Billions’, ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’), Kelly Macdonald (‘Brave’), Harry Baxendale (‘Shadow and Bone’), Bo Bragason (‘Renegade Nell’), Jay Lycurgo (‘Titans’), Shaun Parkes (‘The Mummy Returns’), and Sophia Di Martino (‘Loki’).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Damian Lewis about his work on ‘The Radleys’, his first reaction to the screenplay and making a vampire comedy, its underlying message about addiction and sobriety, and the challenges of playing two characters, as well as looking back at his short-lived but groundbreaking NBC series ‘Life’ and the possibility of a revival series in the future.
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Damian Lewis as “Peter Radley” in the comedy horror ‘The Radleys’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and this different take on the vampire mythos?
Damian Lewis: Well, I’m not going to lie to you, my ego perked up enormously when Euros said, ” I want you to play two roles.” I thought, “Well, okay. I’m definitely going to read that script.” Then, I was just delighted to see what these two roles were, really, the duality of these two roles, the light and shade that all of us have, the rational, the sensible selves, and then, these darker corners that exist in all of us, the slightly naughtier sides to each of us, and our carnal, more desirous, lustful selves. They’re represented in these two twins. Then, I liked the comedic premise of it. I thought, “This might be a Mike Leigh movie.” We’ve got a suburban family in a suburban setting, sort of unhappy, slightly goofy, and you’re not quite sure who everyone is or why they’re behaving the way they’re behaving. Until you realize they’re essentially a family of vampires in the vampire program. That’s funny. The parents have decided, “We want to have a normal life for our children, and we don’t want to drink blood anymore.” That’s a good comedic style. Then, I think, every vampire movie really is a metaphor for something else. I think, in this, there’s a very strong love story in this, two strong love stories, and it’s really about love, in the end, but it’s also very clearly about addiction and I like that too.
(L to R) Bo Bragason as “Clara Radley” and Kelly Macdonald as “Helen Radley” in the comedy horror ‘The Radleys’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: The film deals with the ideas of addiction and sobriety in an interesting way, do you feel that that it is the underlining message of the movie?
DL: I do. But look, it’s a comedic vampire movie, first and foremost. I think that someone will immediately see that and identify with that. I think that’s a great thing. Another thing I really liked about the movie is nothing is wrapped up with a bow. The morality in this film is complex, because the addict in the movie, who is Will, a confirmed very entertaining rock and roll bad boy vampire seems to be the happiest guy in the film and he is living his addiction. He is living all the bad things. So, the film, at its heart as well, is about, how do we find happiness in ourselves? How do we live our best lives? How do you find your true self, because that’s where you’re going to be happiest. The family, Peter and Helen, who have abstained from their addiction, drinking blood all these years, are not happy. They live a deadened boring suburban life. So, there’s no clear moral message here. The messaging is mixed and like life, that’s what I liked about it. It’s not going to give you any simple answers, but I liked it for that reason.
(L-R) Bo Bragason, Damian Lewis, Kelly Macdonald, Damian Lewis, and Harry Baxendale in the comedy horror ‘The Radleys’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
MF: Can you talk about the challenges of playing two characters, the difference between Will and Peter, and how you technically shot those scenes?
DL: Well, I had one major fight sequence, where I was fighting with thin air twice. That was quite interesting. So, it’s literally play acting. It’s like being six, and it was really good fun. But otherwise, I had a great stand-in, who always stood in, and was always dressed as either Peter or Will, when I was either Peter or Will. He would do the scenes with me, and then, I would reverse, and we’d do them back the other way. Then, of course, he’s removed, and I’m put into the cut. So, it was really good fun. I had to stay quite concentrated. The temptation, I think, was to make them wildly different. I know twins, and I’ve got a brother who’s very close in age to me. We’re different people, but there are also very identifiable similarities. So, it was trying to find those, like making the voice a little bit different, but not crazily different, for example. So, it was just about threading the needle and just keeping it real, I guess. I enjoy that as an actor. I enjoy that discipline as an actor. I enjoy the architecture of a role. I enjoy designing it and trying to be detailed.
(L to R) Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis in ‘Life’. Photo: Universal Media Studios.
MF: Finally, I’m a huge fan of your first series ‘Life’. Do you have fond memories of playing Charlie Crews and making that show?
DL: Hugely fond memories. I play a lot of different, complex, complicated men, people who murder their wives like Henry VIII (‘Wolf Hall‘), and people like Bobby Axelrod (‘Billions’), who’s essentially a criminal punisher, sort of superhero billionaire. But playing Charlie Crews, he had a dark past but the sunny disposition of that man and the enlightened self that he had found and that just endless eating brightly colored fruit, he was wonderful to play. That was a screenplay by Rand Ravich, who is a great screenwriter, and did a fabulous job with that. I’m not going to say I wish that series had gone on for seven years, because then I would never have done ‘Homeland’, which I was very glad to have done. But that was a victim of the Writer’s Strike, the last Writer’s Strike in 2007. So, it kind of limped on for two seasons, but you know, I get stopped a lot for that. You wouldn’t think it, but yeah, people love that show. I’m really pleased you liked it. I thought it was great.
MF: Any chance there could ever be a revival series? Is that something you’d be open to?
DL: Well, there could be something in that.
Award-winning actors Kelly Macdonald (No Country For Old Men) and Damian Lewis (“Billions,” Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood) star in a dark comedy thriller about… Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘The Radleys’?
Black comedy surrounding a family of vampires who chose to abstain from drinking blood, but when the inherent bloodlust of their teenage children (Harry Baxendale and Bo Bragason) is exposed, parents Helen (Kelly Macdonald) and Peter (Damian Lewis) are forced to confront who they are, with the help or hindrance of Peter’s twin brother Will (also Lewis), who is a practicing vampire.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Radleys’?
- Damian Lewis as Peter Radley and Will Radley
- Kelly Macdonald as Helen Radley
- Harry Baxendale as Rowan Radley
- Bo Bragason as Clara Radley
- Jay Lycurgo as Evan Copeleigh
- Sophia Di Martino as Lorna felt
- Shaun Parkes as Jared Copeleigh
(L to R) Adam Arkin, Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Donal Logue and Brent Sexton on ‘Life.’ Photo: NBC Universal Television Studio.
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