. >> we developed this and dave levine also. me, i have been thinking after two big to fail, could you do a tv drama. that really was authentic, nuanced look at this world of money and power. i never thought it was done on tv. we happen to have the same agent. i kept saying i need a collaborator. one day he said, there are two guys that wrote "rounders." you should go meet them. they are thinking about doing something. they want to do something in finance. we hung out and the journey began. charlie: you have been thinking about this before. >> for a long time. andrew brought to its, we were fascinated by finance and the powers of the united states attorney's office had. ambition and power were things that were attracted to us. his point of view, his expertise and his ability to connect us with real people would let us do this in a way we couldn't otherwise. charlie: you provided an opportunity to talk to people who will do exactly what your character does. >> yes. charlie: tommy what you learn from that that made them part of th

all means, and i hooked up with two amazing film-makers, one friend of yours, brian kaufman and dave levine and we got together and really wanted to create a drama that captures what's really happening, and to do it both with these two amazing actors and also to show their families. it's also about marriages and families. >> it's about a lot. >> i saw the premiere, i did, and i know there were people there who were thinking was this ripped from the headlines? know? though i know obviously there are famous hedge fund managers under a lot of scrutiny. >> and famous prosecutors. >> trying to do the same and we also try to play with that and right. we have sort of black and white notions of that, but i think we're trying to play and get into the gray, and you'll see bobby axelrod, may love him at certain points and hate him at certain points but chuck who is obviously the prosecutor working for the public good, he'll also do awful things in the name of doing right so how do you think about all of that. >> people see the larger than life characters, damian lewis's character in this and they thin

brian kaufman and dave levine. we wanted to create a drama that really captures what's happening. also to show their families. it's also about marriages and families. >> it's about a lot. i saw the premiere. i know there were people there thinking, was this ripped from the headlines, is this about anybody we know. >> it's not a particular person, though i know there are famous hedge fund managers under a lot of scrutiny and prosecutors doing the same. we try to play with that. also the idea of who is the hero, right? we have very sort of black and white notions of that. i think we're trying to get into the gray. chuck who's obviously the prosecutor working for the things in the name of doing right. >> do people see these large in life characters in this, and they think that the story's just about them. so much of what's great about "billions" is the nuance and reactions and how the workings really affects the family. >> it is about the family. two really powerful women in this story i think who have real marriages. it almost plays against type in some ways. we think about business