by Thinus Ferreira
Damian Lewis has exited the Showtime series Billions at the end of the 5th season with the Bobby Axelrod character's gap that will be replaced by Corey Stoll's Mike Prince character from the 6th season.
Billions is seen in South Africa on M-Net (DStv 101) and MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service but is behind is showing the latest 5th season.
Corey Stoll will now replace the void left by Damian Lewis' character that was part of the central premise and concept of the show, alongside Paul Giamatti portraying Chuck Rhoades and Maggie Siff playing Wendy Rhoades.
Mike Prince is another so-called "self-made billionaire" who functioned as a fierce rival for Bobby Axelrod in the series.
In Sunday night's season 5 finale of Billions in America, Bobby Axelrod escaped to Switzerland to evade prosecution in New York. In real-life Damian Lewis' wife Helen McCrory (52) died in April.
"This is not the first time I have said goodbye to Damian Lewis," says Gary Levine, Showtime's president of entertainment, in a statement.
"What a testament to his talent that he inhabited two wildly different characters - Axe and Brody - on two of our most successful series - Billions and Homeland - and made them both so iconic. He is an extraordinary actor and I hope there will be a third time".
For the 6th season of Billions that will start in January 2022 in America on Showtime, the official publicity description reads: "As we find Stoll's Prince large and in charge in season 6, Paul Giamatti's Rhoades must develop a new strategy that is keener and more sophisticated than before".
"All the players, from Wags (David Costabile) to Wendy, from Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) to Sacker (Condola Rashad), and of course Senior (Jeffrey DeMunn), must sharpen their weapons and look for new alliances in order to survive. The ground is ever shifting and the stakes absolute. New king, new war, new rules."
