Damian Lewis Exits Showtime's 'Billions' After Five Seasons
One fan favorite character from the hit Showtime series Billions has said goodbye to the show.
Damian Lewis, who played multibillion dollar hedge fund CEO Bobby Axelrod, is leaving after five seaons of the cable drama. Executive Producer Brian Koppelman tweeted out following the show's season finale, "What an incredible joy to spend five years working so closely with the great @lewis_damian ! @DavidLevien and I are beyond grateful to you, Damian, for the work, of course, and the fellowship, and for all you sacrificed to come do this with us."
The episode that aired on Sunday — following the network's announcement that the next season will premiere on January 23, 2022 — depicted Lewis' character's escape to to Switzerland after duping New York Attorney General Chuck Roades by relinquishing his assets to rival billionaire Michael Prince. Axelrod's final words were: “Wow. So this is what it is to lose.”
The 50-year-old actor sat down with the New York Times and said, “There’s an opportunity maybe for me to return. But for now, broadly speaking, Axe has been vanquished.”
Although he may be taking a break from playing the iconc character for now, Lewis says that his character certainly left an impression on auidences. “When I’m walking down the street in New York, it’s: ‘Axe, you the man! He’s a really despicable human being, but no one seems to care," he told the news outlet.
This comes after the tragic death of the Homeland actor's wife Helen McCrory who lost her battle with cancer in April of this year. As OK! previously reported, Lewis announced the death of his wife of 14 years via Twitter.
"I'm heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of loss from friends and family," the actor began in his statement.
"She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you," the Emmy winner explained.
Lewis and the Harry Potter actress had been married since 2007, and shared a daughter and a son together.
