Giamatti (left) and Lewis—from adversaries to allies in “Billions.” —SHOWTIME
“Honestly, I don’t think I would want a billion dollars,” claimed Paul Giamatti, costar of the financial drama (it’s a lot more interesting than that description), “Billions.”
The hit Showtime series also stars Damian Lewis as a hedge fund billionaire, so our recent talk inevitably veered toward green bucks—lots of it.
“It freaks me out; seems like a huge, crazy burden,” added Paul, one of the finest actors around, in his answer to a question on what he would do if he had millions of dollars. We were in New York, where the series is set.
“If I had it, I would probably give a lot of it away. I have a nice amount of money, but I’m not a billionaire” said Paul, whose late father, Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, was a president of Yale University.
From theater, Paul worked his way into TV and films, making his breakthrough in Alexander Payne’s “Sideways.”
“Billions” stars (from left) Paul Giamatti, David Costabile, Asia Kate Dillon, Maggie Siff and Damian Lewis. —SHOWTIME
In “Billions,” his longest-running stint in a TV show which is loosely based on a true story, Paul started as a ruthless US district attorney, Chuck Rhoades, out to get Damian’s Bobby “Axe” Axelrod on charges of insider trading.
In the show’s recent premiere of Season 4 , the two adversaries have become allies. The series makes New York’s world of high finance, organized crime and politics exciting—with whip-wielding sex thrown in.
The topnotch cast includes Maggie Siff (Wendy Rhoades), John Malkovich (Grigor Andolov), Asia Kate Dillon (Taylor Mason), David Costabile (Mike Wagner), Clancy Brown (Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat), Daniel K. Isaac (Ben Kim), Michael Rispoli (Richie Sansome) and Malin Akerman (Lara Axelrod).