Damian Lewis thinks being name checked by Jay Z is “one of the coolest things that’s ever happened”.
The 42-year-old actor stars opposite Claire Danes in TV drama Homeland and his character gets mentioned in a new track by the rapper.
During F.U.T.W, from his album Magna Carta Holy Grail, the line plays out: “Feel like a stranger in my own land/Got me feeling like Brody in Homeland”.
“It’s one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me,” Damian says in the new issue of Britain’s Esquire magazine.
“My natural habitat is quite a long way from, you know, a gangster rapper. So the fact I’ve somehow straddled popular culture to find myself name checked... From the RSC... To the Jay Z,” he mused.
On the other end of the spectrum, Damian recently appeared on children’s television series CBeebies.
The actor read the Bedtime Story segment but he admits his son and daughter, Manon and Gulliver, couldn’t have cared less about the gig.
“I did that for my children and they couldn’t give a t**s,” he admitted. “I keep being called up by friends saying, ‘Little Fifi saw you on that thing.’
“I say, ‘If I can get any kind of reaction out of my kids that would be brilliant.’ My son’s more into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Damian’s kids are, however, obsessed with his somewhat inadequate looks.
The actor joked they giggle when he accentuates his reptilian features.
“I actually have a really small mouth,” he confessed. “My kids tease me about it. They say, ‘Dad, go on, open your mouth as wide as you can. No, go on. Open it further... ’ It makes me feel like a lizard,” he laughed.
