Homeland cast biographies

Damian Lewis plays Nicholas Brody

Born in London, Lewis trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After leaving Guildhall, Lewis appeared in a number of plays between 1993-98, primarily as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. During that time, he was in Ralph Fiennes' Hamlet on Broadway and played Hamlet in London. He returned to the London stage for the 2003-04 season opposite Helen McCrory in Five Gold Rings at the Almeida Theatre and starred in the 2005-06 National Theatre's production of Ibsen's Pillars of the Community.

Lewis' international break came with his Golden Globe-nominated performance as World War II hero Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He also starred as Soames Forsyte in the acclaimed British production ofThe Forsyte Saga, Series I and II.

Lewis' other television appearances include the BAFTA-winning BBC miniseries Warriors, BBC's Hearts and Bonesseries, and Jeffrey Archer-The Truth as the title character. In 2005, he starred in the World War II miniseries Colditzand portrayed Benedick in the BBC's updated Shakespeare Retold version of Much Ado About Nothing.

Lewis has starred in three films that were shown at the Cannes Film Festival --"Brides," Chromophobia, and the critical hit Keane, directed by Lodge Kerrigan. He has also starred in Philip Haas' The Situation, Lawrence Kasdan'sDreamcatcher, Rupert Wyatt's The Escapist (with Brian Cox and Joseph Fiennes), Stormbreaker and The Baker, which he also produced.

Most recently, Lewis starred as the complex and offbeat Detective Charlie Crews in NBC's drama series Life. In 2011, he starred opposite Natalie Portman and James Franco in David Gordon Green's Your Highness.