A Spy Among Friends' first episode ends with a heartbreaking scene, but the makers of the show have explained the personal connection that makes it sadder than you think.
In the scene, Damian Lewis' character watches Guy Pearce's character on stage. As he watches, he starts to cry. However, Pearce's character isn't actually there and it's all in the mind of Lewis' character.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Damian Lewis and writer Alex Clary broke down the scene and explained where the idea for the touching moment came from.
Related: Homeland's Damian Lewis struggled to balance two roles on A Spy Among Friends
"It’s a scene of vulnerability from people who perhaps aren’t fully familiar with showing it or even expressing it honestly. And it comes from a personal experience of mine, which was when I was in the Army, I was sent to go to the Middle East," Clary explained.
"My father was furious about the fact that we were even involved in it and all the rest of it. Anyway, he had to be supportive about it."
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Clary explained that the night before he flew out to the Middle East, his father took him to the theatre to see Ken Dodd. But while the night was a comedy show, Clary said he and his father became emotional.
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"At some point, we were both crying. It was in that moment that I understood that we weren’t crying because we were crying— it was funny, but we were crying about something else. And it was in the theatre," Clary said.
"It doesn’t match and line up neatly, but that’s emotionally where that came from. I’ve never forgotten that. And it was about my love for my father, and my father’s love for me, expressed in a moment of turmoil. That’s what I was going for here."
Lewis, meanwhile, explained that the moment has so much weight because we've just seen the two characters' friendship across 30 years.
Related: Damian Lewis opens up on career change following Helen McCrory's death
"We’ve seen the longevity of this friendship, and he’s there, now, in the present day, with his wife, remembering his friend, and the betrayal – the sheer heartbreak of being betrayed by a friend," Lewis said.
"I think that moment is all those things. It’s the heartbreak of a friendship that is broken, and just how on Earth could I have been duped for 30 years by my best friend?"
A Spy Among Friends is now streaming on ITVX.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Jacob is a freelance writer who specialises in narrative TV and film.
He graduated from the University of Roehampton with an MA in Journalism and has written for several publications since, including Gold Derby, Insider, and Screen Daily.
Jacob has covered major events in the world of film and TV, including numerous BAFTA ceremonies and the Cannes Film Festival, while he's also been an awards expert for several publications, including Korea's Arirang. His particular areas of interest include Star Wars, the MCU, the Oscars, and Hugh Grant.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
