Damian Lewis on the Season Finale of ‘Homeland’ (Spoiler Alert!)
Dave Itzkoff, New York Times, December 16, 2013
Nicholas Brody, the Marine and prisoner of war turned sleeper agent turned congressman played by Damian Lewis on “Homeland,†was all but a ghost in the most recent season of this Showtime thriller. Having gone on the run at the end of Season 2, Brody was largely absent from Season 3 — except for one episode, in which he resurfaced in Caracas, Venezuela — and then in the year’s final arc, he proceeded to make up for lost time.
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody in “Homeland.”Credit Kent Smith/Showtime
Retrieved from Caracas by spymaster Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), Brody was sent by the C.I.A. into Iran with the mission of assassinating the leader of its revolutionary guard. Brody accomplished this mission and was sped away to a safe house by Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), the C.I.A. agent and his sometime lover, where the two of them began to contemplate their future together.
(This is your last chance to avoid significant spoilers.)
Instead, Brody was snatched away by Iranian authorities, having been given up by the C.I.A.’s new overlords. He received a speedy trial and was hanged in public while Carrie watched in horror.
Alex Gansa, one of the creators of “Homeland,†said in a telephone interview on Monday that Brody’s death had been planned from the start of this season.
“Wherever he stepped onto the stage, we wanted it to be something alive and electric,†Mr. Gansa said. “As you realize that those moments are fewer and farther between, the time just comes for that character to leave the stage.â€
In a way, Mr. Gansa said, the season finale could almost be a series finale. “We are saying goodbye to the central relationship of the first three seasons — which is not to say that there isn’t a compelling story to be told with the characters we have left.â€
Mr. Lewis, an Emmy Award-winner for his portrayal of Brody, spoke from London on Monday about his final year on “Homeland,†his character’s fate and the next phase of his career. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.
Q. How are you holding up today?
A. I’m very well, thank you. It’s raining in London, which seems appropriate. It’s a sympathetic landscape. The grief from the heavens.
Q. Were you told at the start of this season what the full trajectory for Brody was going to be?
A. Yes. I’d known for some time now. There was a big chunk in the middle where I wasn’t in very much of the season. All that was made clear back in March, April. They were very generous and they freed me to up do other things. So certainly, I’ve known for the better part of the year and it’s been a difficult secret to keep. Only my wife knew. I couldn’t afford to tell anybody.
Q. This may sound like a preposterous question, but given that this is “Homeland,†is he definitely dead?
A. [Laughs] Well, people liked to have a go at “Homeland†occasionally, on the grounds of plausibility. It’s everybody’s favorite show, but occasionally the wool isn’t pulled over everybody’s eyes successfully. If Brody was resurrected somehow, that might just be pushing it too far. But, hey, as 007 himself said, Never say never. In the world of successful TV shows, anything is possible. But I’d be surprised.
Q. When you were informed yourself, how did you take that news?
A. With a mixture of emotions. I loved doing “Homeland,†I loved playing Brody. I’m extremely proud of who we all created together. I think he’s a tragic hero for our time. He himself embodies a cautionary tale, going right back to the beginning, about sending young men to war and the damage it can do. He had brief moments of happiness and glory, but was essentially a very unhappy figure for three years. I enjoyed playing him, but I never expected him to last this long.
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Q. Typically, actors sign on to these serialized shows for a five-year hitch. That wasn’t necessarily guaranteed to you, that you would get a full five years out of this character?
A. No, it’s never guaranteed to the actor. The contracts are weighted heavily in favor of the studios, and you are rewarded financially as a result. There is a quid pro quo there. But it’s right — the control of the material must remain with the writers and the studio.
Brody, it was just unclear from the get-go, how long he would be required for. Certainly, in the conversations I had with [“Homeland†creators Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon], it was intimated to me very strongly that I would only be there for a period of time. They ended up creating such a compelling, unpredictable, sad and ambiguous character who was capable of so much damage — he was able to affect story on such a grand scale. They created a monster that they couldn’t quite control. Sometimes it feels like that to me. The thought of having to continue to write him was too hard, perhaps. It was going to create too much of a challenge. I sympathize with them. Brody’s a very unbalancing force.
Q. Did you have opportunities to say your goodbyes to co-stars like Claire Danes?
A. We all had a little tear in our eye and a lump in our throat in Morocco, on the very last night. That last scene, of Brody’s demise, was shot on our very last night of filming. We were exhausted and emotional by the time we got to 7 in the morning, as the sun was coming up over Rabat. And we said goodbye to each other there, very quickly, very simply. The way that actors cope with these things, you forge friendships and allegiances over a small period of time. But you always hope that you’ll reconnect somewhere down the road. It’s a way of softening those moments, which can be quite traumatic — suddenly saying goodbye to a whole family that you’ve created.
Q. That scene was terrifying to watch. Was it as frightening to film it?
A. It was terrifying, actually. I had tried hard not to engage too much with the idea of staging my own execution. [Laughs] That might have kept me up. But certainly as we got there and saw the crane in front of the square, they had hired about 200 local extras and they were chanting and banging the car as I came through the crowds. Looking at the crowd, cheering and baying for your blood, all around you, it was very unsettling. Claire chose not to watch it, I don’t think, until she had to. But “Homeland†has never pretended to be a comedy.
Q. You’ve gained so much stature in American television from doing “Homeland.†Now that you have a little more time on your hands, will you continue to work in American TV?
A. In some ways, the process hasn’t really changed. The same thing happened to me after “Band of Brothers.†You finish a great job, and you take the best job that’s put in front of you. The whole point is to keep working on good material, with people who are brilliantly talented. That’s what was so fun about “Homeland.†I have no idea what will come my way.
Q. Have you gotten the phone call yet from “Downton Abbey�
A. [Laughs] No, no one’s asked me to put a top hat or a tailcoat on yet. Although I do know Julian [Fellowes, the “Downton Abbey†creator] quite well. Maybe he’ll call, and I’ll play an American on “Downton Abbey.†Maybe I could be Elizabeth McGovern’s American lover or something.
