Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Preview:
Martin Scorsese will be the executive producer of a new TV series.
‘Billions’ duo Brian Koppelman and David Levien created the idea and will run the show.
It’ll be set in the high-stakes world of Las Vegas casinos.
Martin Scorsese is no stranger to the tough world of Las Vegas gambling –– one of his most famous movies is 1995’s ‘Casino’ which blended 1970s casinos and mobsters.
It’s perhaps not too shocking, then, to learn that he’s joined an untitled new series from Netflix set in a more modern, but still difficult present-day era of Vegas casino control.
(L to R) Daniel Breaker as Roger “Scooter” Dunbar, Corey Stoll as Mike Prince, Toney Goins as Philip Charyn, Damian Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, David Costabile as Mike ‘Wags’ Wagner, Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades, Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, Sakina Jaffrey as Daevisha ‘Dave’ Mahar, Dola Rashad as Kate Sacker and Jeffrey DeMunn as Chuck Rhoades, Sr. in ‘Billions’ Season 7. Photo Credit: Mark Seliger/Showtime.
While the creative team have yet to reveal a title, we do at least know the basic concept for the eight-episode (so far) series: the hour long drama is set in the high-stakes, sharp-elbowed present-day Las Vegas casino business, which is a modernized but still dangerous version of the legendary city.
At the center of which stands Robert “Bobby Red” Redman, president of the hottest hotel casino in town, who has to make some long odds moves to try and secure his position and take more ground.
There’s no word yet on who might be starring in the new series, but given the people behind it, we don’t imagine it’ll be too difficult to round up some quality players.
What else is Martin Scorsese working on?
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Scorsese has a few projects in development, including two that feature current acting muse Leonardo DiCaprio.
There’s spooky story ‘What Happens at Night,’ which has DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence attached, and also a yet-to-be-titled tale of Hawaiian gangster featuring DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in its cast. We’ll have to wait and see which of them goes first.
And that’s just the tip of the Scorsese iceberg –– as producer, he has a multitude of other movies and TV series on the go and a few passion projects bubbling away.
Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.
Damian Lewis as “Will Radley” in the comedy horror ‘The Radleys’, a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.
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.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Lewis and Kelly Macdonald.
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.
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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.
Giamatti has snagged a recurring role in the show as the first season’s main villain, who has a sinister connection to the past of one of the cadets.
This is what co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau had to say about the casting coup:
“Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge ‘Star Trek’ fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us. The sheer delight with which he dove in on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast.”
While most of the other character and story details are being kept behind a forcefield, we do know something of the show’s tone thanks to a previous comment by Landau:
“These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before. They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”
So, yes, lots of coming-of-age with high tech equipment appears likely with this one.
The sets being built for the new series apparently include featuring the largest contiguous one ever constructed for a ‘Star Trek’ series, a central academic atrium that will span two stories and include an amphitheater, classrooms, a mess hall, and an idyllic walkway lined with trees.
Holly Hunter will star as the Captain and Chancellor of the Academy set in the titular educational facility that trains crew and officers for the fleet.
Hunter’s Chancellor will be presiding over the faculty and the latest class of students to arrive at the academy.
Here’s Kurtzman and Landau on Hunter:
“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius. To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across the board brilliance leading the charge on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is a gift to all of us, and to the enduring legacy of ‘Star Trek.’”
When will ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ be on screens?
While shooting is due to kick off later this summer in ‘Star Trek’s current TV production home of Toronto, Paramount+ has yet to confirm when it might appear on the streaming service.
(L to R) Jess Bush as Chapel, Celia Rose Gooding as Shura, Ethan Peck as Spock, Anson Mount as Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una, Babs Olusanmokun as M’Benga, Christina Chong as La’an and Melissa Navia as Ortegas of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,’ streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo: Pari Dukovic/Paramount+.
Yet another big show is headed for the TV sunset. Following six seasons of dodgy dealings, criminal investigations and snark, ‘Billions’ will return for its seventh –– and final –– season and has put a new trailer online, which you can watch above.
For fans of the show, it’s a look at the big final showdown for the characters.
(L to R) Daniel Breaker as Roger “Scooter” Dunbar, Corey Stoll as Mike Prince, Toney Goins as Philip Charyn, Damian Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, David Costabile as Mike ‘Wags’ Wagner, Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades, Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, Sakina Jaffrey as Daevisha ‘Dave’ Mahar, Dola Rashad as Kate Sacker and Jeffrey DeMunn as Chuck Rhoades, Sr. in ‘Billions’ Season 7. Photo Credit: Mark Seliger/Showtime.
Damian Lewis is back as Axe
The biggest surprise for ‘Billions’ fans before the new season began was word that Damian Lewis, who played main character Bobby “Axe” Axelrod.
Lewis left the show at the end of Season 5, primarily to spend more time with his family in the UK, especially since the death of his wife Helen McCrory from breast cancer in 2021. He maintained a busy schedule shuttling between Britain and New York to film the show.
He’ll be appearing in six of the final 12 episodes.
(L to R) Damian Lewis as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, David Costabile as Mike ‘Wags’ Wagner, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason and Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades in ‘Billions.’ Photo Credit: Laurence Cendrowicz/Showtime.
What is ‘Billions’ basic concept?
Wealth, influence and corruption collide in New York. Shrewd U.S. attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) is embroiled in a high-stakes game of predator vs. prey with Axelrod, an ambitious hedge-fund king. To date, Rhoades has never lost an insider trading case –– he’s 81-0 –– but when criminal evidence turns up against Axelrod, he proceeds cautiously in building the case against Axelrod, who employs Rhoades’ wife, psychiatrist Wendy (Maggie Siff), as a performance coach for his company. Wendy, who has been in her position longer than Chuck has been in his, refuses to give up her career for her husband’s legal crusade against Axelrod. Both men use their intelligence, power and influence to outmaneuver the other in this battle over billions.
More recently, the story has switched to be between Rhoades and Axe’s ambitious rival, Michael Prince (played by Corey Stoll) who is on the campaign trail as he sets his sights on the White House, with estranged wife Andy (Piper Perabo) in tow.
(L to R) Corey Stoll as Michael “Mike” Prince and Piper Perabo as Andy Salter in ‘Billions.’ Photo Credit: Patrick Harbron/Showtime.
The future?
If you’re getting worried about withdrawal symptoms because of the end of the show, rest assured that though ‘Billions’ itself will be going away, plans are afoot for more than one spin-off.
We know of two with titles so far, ‘Millions’ and ‘Trillions’. The former is said to be a spin-off focusing on young, up-and-coming figures in the world of finance, while the latter is said to adopt more of a soap-like tone, with mega-rich central characters. Two further projects are reportedly in development, with one being set in Miami, with another set in London.
The seventh and final season of ‘Billions’ will premiere August 11th on Paramount+ with Showtime and will air on Showtime on August 13.
Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades in ‘Billions.’ Photo Credit: Patrick Harbron/Showtime.
George Clooney and Tiffany Boone on the set of Netflix’s ‘The Midnight Sky.’
Over the course of his long and successful career, George Clooney has dabbled in no small number of projects related to espionage, spycraft, and politically-inflected exfiltration or contract killing. He made his directorial debut with the colorful and inventive biographical spy drama ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind‘, and also lent his talents to movies like ‘Syriana,’ ‘The American,’ and the Oscar-winning ‘Argo,’ the latter of which he produced.
For his next project, per Variety and other sources, Clooney will be helming a new spy series for Showtime that presumably will not involve a windswept, headline-grabbing balloon. Working in tandem with MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, Clooney will both direct the series, currently proceeding under the working title ‘The Department,’ and also executive produce it alongside Grant Heslov, his longtime partner at Smokehouse Pictures.
Showtime, which recently made news when it was announced the longtime cable network and standalone streaming platform would be incorporated as a branded shingle under Paramount+, has staked a significant part of its new identity to the project, rewarding it with a full straight-to-series order.
While spy thrillers are a dime a dozen in the entertainment realm, both the pedigree and focus of ‘The Department’ seem likely to give it a boost, and considerable differentiation from other works in development in the same genre.
Producer Grant Heslov, Felicity Jones, Tiffany Boone and Director George Clooney on the set of ‘The Midnight Sky.’
Dating back to his work alongside Steven Soderbergh on the short-lived but high-profile 2003 HBO series ‘K Street,’ Clooney has long been interested more in the corridors of power — and their intersection with macro policy issues, political decisions and international consequences — rather than just action for action’s sake.
Focusing on special division responsible for training deep-cover secret agents embedding sometimes for years at a time, ‘The Department’ looks likely to continue to mine that seam of personal fascination.
Helping provide a frame and roadmap will be an award-winning source of adaptation: the French series ‘The Bureau,’ which debuted in 2015 and has run for five seasons.
Created by Eric Rochant, that show centers on the daily lives and missions of government staffers within France’s chief external security service, focusing on the agency’s so-called “Bureau of Legends,” who help identify and recruit valuable intelligence sources. It’s anticipated that ‘The Department’ will further contemporize this subject matter, as well as make it particular to the United States.
(L to R) George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Universal Pictures’ ‘Ticket to Paradise.’
While he costarred alongside Julia Roberts in the recent romantic comedy ‘Ticket to Paradise,’ Clooney has increasingly turned to directing over the last several years. His recent efforts behind the camera include two projects in which he also appeared as an actor — the Hulu miniseries ‘Catch-22’ and 2020’s ‘The Midnight Sky‘ — as well as 2021’s ‘The Tender Bar‘ plus the upcoming drama ‘The Boys in the Boat,’ starring Callum Turner and Joel Edgerton.
Meanwhile, if ‘The Department’ proves successful, it could easily provide roots for Showtime — which previously enjoyed great results with another espionage series adapted from an international property, ‘Homeland’ — to set up other projects.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime and Paramount Media, provided some new details about Showtime’s version of the same type of brand expansion plan which has proven successful for Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Yellowstone‘ and its assorted spin-offs.
In addition to a Miami-set ‘Dexter’ prequel series that will explore the title character’s origins against the backdrop of real-life serial killers of the time, Showtime has potentially up to four ‘Billions’ spin-offs in the works, including ‘Millions,’ about hungry, up-and-coming financial market movers and shakers, and ‘Trillions,’ about the rapacious competitive instincts of the ultra-wealthy.
Might this branded Showtime universe-building, if it works, even mean some type of secret spin-off for David Lynch and Mark Frost’s ‘Twin Peaks,’ which enjoyed a ballyhooed return engagement on the network with 2017’s ‘Twin Peaks: The Return?’ Stay tuned, stranger things have happened.
(L to R) Paul Giamatti, Maggie Siff, and Damian Lewis from season 3 of Showtime’s ‘Billions.’
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Opening in theaters, on digital and on demand beginning October 21st is the new vampire comedy ‘Slayers,’ which was directed by K. Asher Levin (‘Dig’).
The movie stars Malin Akerman as Beverly Rektor, a reclusive billionaire who invites a group of influencers including Flynn (Kara Hayward) and Jules (Abigail Breslin) to her mansion.
But when they discover that Rektor is really a vampire looking to feast on her unassuming guests, the influencers will have to team with reality TV star and vampire hunter Eliot Jones (Thomas Jane) in order to survive.
But she is probably best known for playing Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II in director Zack Snyder’s groundbreaking superhero movie ‘Watchmen,’ and as Bobby Axelrod’s wife, Lara, on Showtime’s ‘Billions.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with actress and producer Malin Akerman about her work on ‘Slayers,’ how she got involved in the project, balancing comedy and horror, her character, the cast, her friendship with director K. Asher Levin, and her memories of working on ‘Watchmen’ with Zack Snyder.
(L to R) Ashley Reyes as Natalie and Malin Akerman as Beverly Rektor in the comedy/horror, ‘Slayers,’ The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Akerman and Thomas Jane about ‘Slayers.’
Moviefone: To begin with, how did you get involved with this project both as an actress and producer, and what was your first reaction to the screenplay?
Malin Akerman: So, Asher, our lovely director, is a very close family friend. I’ve known him for over a decade. He came to me during COVID and just said, “I’ve got this movie, I think we’re going to do it and would love for you to help put it together and maybe produce with me. Do you think your husband (Jack Donnelly) would want to play one of the roles?”
I was like, “Yeah, sure. Let’s do it. Let’s do something together.” I read the script, and I thought it was super fun. I’ve never done a vampire film. I’ve never done anything in this genre before. So, I thought, what a fun, new, exciting, creative venture to go on with friends of mine.
Then he approached me a few weeks later and said, “Would you want to maybe play the queen Vampire in this? I mean, I think you’d be great for it.” Again, I love doing projects with friends. You just want to work with people that you really like. So, it was such a fun opportunity to get to work together. I just loved it. And I thought that it would be fun to play a vampire.
I thought it was really fun, and I am not an aficionado on vampire films or horror films, so I’m not the best judge of character. But I personally just thought it was a really fun take on it, modernizing vampires and bringing in the modern world and influencers, and mixing it with old legends. So yeah, the answer was a big resounding yes.
MF: Can you talk about the challenges as an actress of balancing the movie’s comedy and horror tones?
MA: Well, when you’re in it and you’re acting it, you always have to act it for real. Unless you’re in a sketch, of course. So, for me, it was all about being Beverly Rector. It was all about this empowered queen vampire who has lived many years, has a lot of wisdom and street smarts, and is very manipulative.
So, I was just playing that as straightforward as possible. But having said that, it was so much fun to watch all of our actors playing the influencers. They had free reign and a lot of more space to do improv because that really is what these influencers do.
MF: While you haven’t appeared in a vampire movie before, you have played rich and powerful women like Beverly Rector before in projects like ‘Rampage’ or ‘Billions.” So, could you identify with that aspect of the character and did that ground the role in a certain reality for you?
MA: Well, I like to think of myself as a powerful woman in today’s society. I’m not as cutthroat as Lara Axelrod, and I’m not in that world at all. But I think that it’s just stepping into your power as a human being.
As for myself getting older and knowing myself a bit better compared to in my twenties, where I thought I knew myself and I thought I knew what I wanted, to actually knowing what I want and who I am, it feels a bit easier to step into those types of characters.
Even though Beverly Rector has evil behind her, she still is sitting in her power and has poise. I am learning through the years to do that myself, to just sit in my own skin and be comfortable in it.
(L to R) Kara Hayward as Flynn Chambers and Thomas Jane as Elliot Jones in the comedy/horror, ‘Slayers,’ The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.
MF: What was it like working with the cast including Thomas Jane, Abigail Breslin, Kara Hayward, and Jack Donnelly?
MA: It was a great cast. I only wish that it wasn’t in the height of COVID. I mean, it was really the first film out of the gate. It was in November of 2020. So, we didn’t get a chance to hang out off of set.
Everyone was asked to kind of quarantine and be on their own so that we just made sure we could make this movie. But the time that we did have on set was lovely. I mean, there wasn’t one bad apple. Everyone was just so great and so great at improv. Not that there was a lot of improv, but I loved how everyone just knew their characters well enough to be able to do it.
Thomas Jane, he’s been at it for a minute and he’s incredible to watch. He really brought his character to another level that wasn’t on the page. He heightened it. I can say that for everyone. Everyone heightened their characters. He just brought a character that was really cool. He’s the slayer. He is the main slayer of them all. So, he really lived up to it.
MF: As an actress, do you prefer it when another actor comes to set with their character fully realized, or is it okay for an actor to arrive and find the character while shooting?
MA: I think it’s such a shifting scale. I think it doesn’t really matter. If it works, it works. Some people come prepared. I think that’s more of an actor/director relationship. Some directors want actors that they can mold and that they can work with, and some directors want actors to come to set already with choices made.
Some actors work that way as well, where they go, “I want the director to direct me.” Some actors go, “Minimal, please. I’ve made these choices because I really know this character and I want to be able to do that.” So, for me, I feel like a chameleon and I feel like this is what we do. We work with people and it all becomes a collaboration and you just got to kind of find how this dance works between us.
I enjoy the production of it. I can say that I’m more of a creative producer, putting things together and making sure everything is synergetic on set. But as an actor, I just want to collaborate and kind of be present to all the different people on set and take it in and see how we work together.
MF: Can you talk about collaborating with director K. Asher Levin, both as an actress and as a producer?
MA: Well, Asher is a close family friend. I’ve known him for over a decade. So, that was really fun. I kind of know how he works. But it was lovely. Again, because we know each other it was just an easy collaboration. There were no bumps in the road. We were on the same page all the time. We could talk to each other with no problem. It was smooth sailing.
(L to R) Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II, Malin Åkerman as Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II, and Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach in director Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen.’
MF: Finally, I think ‘Watchmen’ is a masterpiece and one of the best superhero movies ever made. What are your memories of making that film and working with Zach Snyder?
MA: I Loved it. It was the biggest experience for me. I mean, that was like going from Mickey Mouse to Superman all of a sudden. I was playing with the big kids and in the big sets. Everyone was wonderful.
I have friends. Everyone in the cast. Carla Gugino is one of my best friends. Many of the cast I’ve kept in touch with and had the pleasure of working with some of them again. But I can’t express enough how super that was, how big that was, and how awesome that was.
The set pieces, the costumes, the material itself that we got to work with. It was six months of shooting, which I’ve never done anything like that before. The fight training was incredible. It was hard work, and it was long hours, but I wanted to be there. Zack was incredible. I love that man so much. His energy and his vision are just beautiful.
Malin Akerman stars as Beverly Rektor in the comedy/horror, ‘Slayers.’
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The stakes on “Billions” just keep getting higher.
Showtime announced the premiere date for Season 4 of the drama: Sunday, March 17. The network also unveiled the first teaser, which hints at a new war brewing in the financial and political circles of New York City.
But where the fighting used to be between Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) vs. Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), now it seems the two enemies are now allies in a union brokered by Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff).
In Season 4, they will both duke it out with former proteges. For Bobby, it’s Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon), his onetime numbers genius who left Axe Capital to start their own firm. For Chuck, it’s former right-hand man Bryan Connerty (Toby Leonard Moore), whose betrayal led to Chuck losing his job as U.S. Attorney.
“We now live in a universe split down the middle. You gotta pick sides,” Bobby says in the teaser. And with Bobby and Chuck on the same side? Everybody else had better watch out.
Actor Damian Lewis, a trim British ginger, has transformed into controversial crack-smoking former Toronto mayor Rob Ford for the movie “Run This Town.”
It’s … eerie.
The first set photos have made the rounds via etalk in Canada. Lewis didn’t quite Pull a Bale because he didn’t gain the weight himself, but you can see how much work went into the makeup and body suit.
Lewis is a phenomenal actor, but this was a particularly interesting casting choice when you consider he’s going through all of this for a pretty small role. “Run This Town” writer-director Ricky Tollman told press (via etalk) that Ford is a minor character in the film:
“This isn’t the Rob Ford story, this is a story about people that I know and people I grew up with and a generation of people.”
Landing Damian Lewis (“Billions,” “Homeland,” “Band of Brothers”) is a coup, but did they need him? Couldn’t they have found an actor who was already bigger, rather than having to spend hours each day artificially create this look? Maybe, but Tollman is aiming to tap into Damian Lewis’ range for his “key scenes” and “key moments” as Rob Ford:
“I thought that this is a guy that can play the moments of darkness and depth but can also play the lighter moments. Rob was a guy that was elected because people wanted to grab a beer with the guy, you know?”
Here’s the “real” Damian Lewis and the real late Rob Ford:
“Run This Town” also stars Nina Dobrev, Mena Massoud, Ben Platt, and Scott Speedman. According to Deadline, the story follows a young journalist (Platt), desperate to prove himself, who catches wind of a scandal involving a flashy, unpredictable politician with no filter (Lewis). Political aides (Massoud and Dobrev) attempt to keep their boss in check, and the story under wraps, in order to save their jobs.
Showtime didn’t leave “Billions” fans guessing whether or not the drama series would return for Season 3. The premium network announced the show’s renewal just three weeks into its sophomore season, THR reports. Season 2 premiered online on Feb. 10 and aired on Showtime on Feb. 19.
The series, which comes from creators Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, centers on the ongoing power struggle between U.S. Attorney Charles “Chuck” Rhoades Jr. (Paul Giamatti) and hedge fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis). Since the beginning, they’ve been consistently trying to outmaneuver each other. Now that the show has been renewed again, it doesn’t look like their battles will end anytime soon.
The network promised more “drama, betrayal and gamesmanship,” and Showtime Networks President and CEO David Nevins made it sound like the show will only get better as it goes on.
“[Season 2] has only whetted our audience’s appetite for what will come,” he said in a statement.
We’re ready for it.
“Billions,” which also stars Maggie Siff and Malin Akerman, airs Sundays on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The “Billions” war is picking up right where it left off: with plenty of hate.
Showtime unveiled a new Season 2 teaser Wednesday in preparation for the drama’s February return, and the preview makes it clear that neither of the cutthroat leading men plans to surrender. The second season will continue to pit U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) against hedge fund billionaire Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis). As we can see, it’s not smooth sailing for either.
Chuck, in particular, seems to have trouble ahead. His job is at stake, and he has a “dangerous” man investigating his office. On top of that, his estranged wife, Wendy (Maggie Siff), is trying to distance herself from him. We’re not ready to place our bets on anyone, though — we’ll wait for the drama to unfold.
The series also stars Malin Akerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile, and Condola Rashad.
“Billions” Season 2 premieres Sunday, Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.
Actor 
So much for suspense.
The “Billions” war is picking up right where it left off: with plenty of hate.