“Til death do us part” is an important part of wedding vows that can often be disregarded.
For Damian Lewis and Helen McCrory, they had to live through it.
The couple shared an incredible 14 years together — full of love, laughter, support and an
infinite amount of joy.
Sadly, in April 2021, the actress passed away.
The Billions actor is now in a new relationship, just a little over a year after losing his
wife.
Could it be because of her that he chose to take this step so soon?
Damian Lewis and Helen McCroy met in 2003 when they were performing in Five Gold Rings
at London’s Almeida Theatre.
Sparks flew the minute they laid eyes on each other, but what truly attracted the actress
to her future husband was how he made her laugh.
“Of course, everyone in life wants someone to love and be loved by, but I think I was
always just engrossed and involved in work.
He just made me laugh a lot.
And still does.
And no, the timing was pure fluke, pure chance, it always is, isn't it?”
she said.
The lovebirds went on to date for 3 years and then they welcomed their daughter, Manon.
The following year, the couple tied the knot in front of their friends and family at a
registry office.
It was a simple wedding, followed by a simple honeymoon, but it was as romantic as it gets.
"We got married in the registry office, then walked down the road and had lunch in a nice
restaurant with 11 people.
A very romantic day.
I did have a honeymoon.
It lasted an evening.
It was lovely," she said.
That same year, they welcomed their son, Gulliver.
The family of four couldn’t be more perfect.
Two successful parents who were head over heels in love and two children who were ready
to take on the world.
The couple has a live-in nanny, but tries to schedule their work, so that one parent
is always at home.
McCrory, particularly, organized her career around the children’s needs from the beginning.
“It’s got to be a damn good offer to coax me away from them.
It’s why the projects I’ve worked on since they were born have been such interesting
ones,” she said.
When Lewis was working on Homeland, it would take him away from their home in London to
Charlotte, North Carolina.
The actor would be gone for five months of every year and felt that he was missing out
on his kids’ lives, which caused him a lot of pain.
In an interview with McCrory, he recalled a conversation with their son a few days earlier.
“I haven’t even told you this Helen.
I was talking to Gully and suddenly he said, ‘D’you know, Dad?
When you’re away I look out of my bedroom window and I call your name, and I cry.’
I wrestle with this.
I wrestle with it.
Children like you being around, you see.
No one’s perfect, God knows, but being there is a good start,” he said.
How heart-breaking is that?
It was always one of Damian’s fantasies to have a family.
He wanted a happy, slightly chaotic, and noisy family life.
He always wanted Sunday roasts, friends coming over, and walking the dog to be an integral
part of their routines.
“I always pursued my fantasies.
I was never interested in fantasies remaining fantasies.
That fantasy was as formed in my mind about falling in love with a beautiful, talented
actress and whisking her off to Paris to propose.
I feel happy with the way my plan has panned out,” he said.
Many who witnessed the couple together said that they seemed to be in a world of their
own when they were together.
Damian and Helen talked quietly and constantly to each other, even in front of the flashing
cameras and screaming fans.
They stayed oblivious to it all and just fixated on each other.
One can imagine what attracted Lewis and McCrory to one another.
They were equally charismatic.
He is more flamboyant and has an impeccably mannered charm.
She was more quiet and graceful with a silver tongue.
Separately, they were engaging.
Together, they were a bit intoxicating.
“Oh, there was something in the air that was just extraordinary.
I witnessed two people falling for each other hook, line, and sinker, which, of course,
worked brilliantly in the play.
The key to the success of Damian and Helen’s partnership is laughter.
And that, above all else, endures,” remembered Five Gold Rings director Michael Attenborough.
How did this couple manage to stay completely in love for so long?
Well, their secret to success was being extremely supportive of each other and pushing each
other to take the right jobs.
Lewis pushed McCroy into doing Fearless which was one of her most well-known TV series.
"He is supportive.
Much more so than I am.
He told me, 'You have to do Fearless.'
I pointed out that he was going to be in America filming Billions and in ten years I've always
had the children when he goes away filming.
But he replied, 'Well, I'll do it.
Of course, I can,’" she said.
Helen also pushed Damian into doing Billions.
The actor didn’t want to do the job because he would be away from home again.
He also wasn’t sure if it was the right job for him.
Damian later admitted how eaten-up he would have been if he had turned down the show and
watched another actor enjoying that level of success.
While he was speaking about his thoughts on this, Helen chimed in and said, “But darling,
the point is that it wouldn’t have been so brilliant if you hadn’t done it.”
How sweet is that?
This couple remained so in love that McCroy struggled with some of her characters.
She had to play a married woman who embarked on an illicit affair in the TV series, Leaving.
Helen had to get passed her happy marriage with Lewis in order to do the character justice.
“When we started rehearsals, I tried to talk to Helen about what it is to have an
extra-marital affair, and she would say: ‘But Gaby, it’s hard for me to know what we are
talking about.
My marriage still feels like the first flush of a love affair,’” the director of the
series said.
Imagine that kind of love in Hollywood!
Sadly, this beautiful romance was going to be cut short, when Helen got diagnosed with
breast cancer.
It is unknown when she was diagnosed because she swore her friends and family to secrecy.
She didn’t want any of her acting or charity work to be overshadowed by the disease.
The actress was very private about her illness because she wanted to protect what was just
for her and her family.
Despite her inevitable death, the Peaky Blinders actress managed to maintain a brave face and
brought plenty of humor into the situation.
She repeatedly said to her children, “Don’t be sad, because even though I’m about to
snuff it, I’ve lived the life I wanted to.”
In April 2021, Damian made the heart-breaking post that he had dreaded.
"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
love from friends and family.
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.
Thank you,” he wrote.
The Homeland actor went on to say that she had been utterly heroic in her illness.
As well as, funny, generous, brave, and uncomplaining.
She also reminded everyone how lucky and blessed they are.
A few months after Helen’s death, Damian and the couple’s children attended a poetry
performance at the National Theatre, and he paid a beautiful tribute to his wife.
The entire evening was dedicated to her because she was passionate about poetry.
He read a poem titled Everything Is Going To Be All Right by Derek Mahon and then he
went on to say, “One person whose thunder would absolutely not be stolen was Helen McCrory.
She’s left our beautiful children, Manon and Gully, too early, but they have been prepared
for life.
They have in them the fearlessness, wit, curiosity, talent, and beauty of their mother.
She has exhorted us to be courageous and not afraid."
This was the first time the actor publicly spoke about Helen since her passing, and it
couldn’t have been more heart-breaking and heart-warming.
Just a little over a year since McCroy’s death, Lewis is in a new relationship with
The Kills frontwoman, Alison Mosshart.
He is moving forward in what is a difficult time because he knows he would have his former
wife’s approval.
In fact, him moving on was exactly what she wanted.
Only a couple of weeks before her death, Helen was lying in bed surrounded by her husband
and children and she said, “I want Daddy to have girlfriends, lots of them, you must
all love again, love isn’t possessive.
But you know, Damian, try at least to get through the funeral without snogging someone."
How incredible is that?
Although it was a devastating loss, Helen made sure her family would be able to move
on after she was gone.
She handled her diagnosis with the grace and humor that only Helen McCroy could.
However, more people would benefit from it, might we say.
The actress and her husband shared a love full of laughter and adventure.
We hope that Damian, Manon, and Gulliver have found healing and we hope fans around the
world remember her as an incredible person she was.
Let us know in the comments below what your favorite memory of Helen McCroy was.