Categories Homeland Media Print Media

‘Homeland’ star Damian Lewis on Brody’s return, Uproxx October 13, 2013

‘Homeland’ star Damian Lewis on Brody’s return

Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx, October 13, 2013
Damian Lewis made his first appearance of “Homeland” season 3 in tonight’s episode, “Tower of David,” which I reviewed here. On Friday, I spoke briefly with the show’s Emmy-winning leading man about where exactly he and Brody find themselves at this stage, and how much life he thinks the character has left in him.

As you were coming to the end of season 2 and Brody was about to become the world’s most wanted fugitive, what sorts of conversations did you have with the producers about what your role on the show would be going forward?

Damian Lewis: These guys never know that far in advance what’s going on. So we had very few conversations like that, actually. I think we were all so caught up in trying to resolve season 2 in the best possible way, whilst we were getting some flack, so we were just trying to tie that up. But I think Brody going away, I think you’ve seen in the first two episodes what their answer is to that. The alternative was a more high-octane worldwide manhunt, just cracking into that in the first moments of episode 1. I think “Homeland” tries to be a more grown-up, sophisticated show than that. So I think just stopping to reflect on the damage done, and examine the consequences of it and spend time with the people who are responsible for it was a good decision. I know some people have said, “Where the hell is Brody?” And they want to see what Brody is up to. And episode 3, there’s your answer. That’s what’s happened. I think they’re vindicated in terms of spending a couple of hours before they got to Brody. And when everyone gets to Brody, I think they’ll be suitably shocked and appalled by the mess he’s got himself into – which increasingly is Brody’s theme: Here’s another fine mess I got myself into.

I got to the end of that episode and wondered, given how terrible this is for Brody, how in the world does he get out of this?

Damian Lewis: I think Brody, in my view, has always been a victim. The moment he decided to go to war, he was a victim of his country’s decision to go to war, to put a broader political slant on it. He has been a pawn ever since, from the moment he was brutalized and tortured by Nazir, to the moment he was turned by the CIA in season 2, now he’s on the run, and now he seems to be a pawn in someone else’s world, which is this gangland world in South America, and seems to be beholden to the needle when we leave him. I think he will need rescuing again. It’s a question of when that happens.

Read the rest of the article here.