Despite the fact many people believed that Homeland would be one of the same psycholocial – political thrillerd, it turned out very different yet successful!
Let’s find out more about Homeland!
- Homeland ( is an American political thriller television series.
- It was developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
- Homeland was based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War which was created by Gideon Raff,
- He also serves as an executive producer on Homeland.
- The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Brody was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, and Mathison becomes convinced that he was “turned” by the enemy and poses a threat to the United States.
- The series storyline grows from this premise, together with Mathison’s ongoing covert work.
- The series was broadcast in the U.S. on cable channel Showtime.
- It was produced by Fox 21 Television Studios (formerly Fox 21).
- It premiered on October 2, 2011.
- The first episode was made available online more than two weeks before the television broadcast, with viewers having to complete game tasks to gain access.
- The series’ eighth and final season premiered on February 9, 2020.
- The finale aired on April 26, 2020.
- The series has received generally positive reviews, with its first two seasons gaining near universal praise.
- It has won several awards, including the 2011 and 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama for its first two seasons, and the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its first season.
- Danes has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series twice (from five nominations).
- Lewis has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series once (from two nominations).
- Supporting cast members Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin, Rupert Friend, and F. Murray Abraham have also received Emmy acting nominations
- Carrie wasn’t bipolar in that draft.
- It was revealed that Gansa wrote Carrie’s character with Claire Danes in mind.
- The Show Was Warned About Hiring Mandy Patinkin Because He Went AWOL On Criminal Minds
- To prepare for her role in the series, Claire Danes met with CIA officers.
- She also watched videos made by people with bipolar disorder and consulted with author Julie Fast who suffers from the same disorder.
- Ben Affleck nearly directed the pilot.
- Brody was never supposed to be in more than one season.
- Season 5 made history after being filmed in Germany.
- Halle Berry was originally cast as Carrie.
- Claire Danes was in a Soul Asylum music video
- Season 4 was shot entirely on location in South Africa. According to director/producer Lesli Linka Glatter, the hardest part was find neighborhoods that would resemble American suburbia for the few scenes that took place around Carrie’s sister house.
- For some of his more physical scenes, Rupert Friend (Quinn) underwent training in Krav Maga, a highly effective Israeli military system of self-defense.
- Some of the pictures in the opening credits are actual pictures of Claire Danes as a kid.
- Morena Baccarin said in an interview that she and Claire Danes attended the same Junior High school, and were even in the same homeroom for much of that time.
- Mandy Patinkin has said in the past that his favorite role was playing Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride.
- Intelligence Agencies have policies to strongly discourage applications from people with a Mental Illness diagnosis.
- One of the major differences between the Israeli and American series is that Brody was apparently rescued in Homeland, while in Hatufim the POWs were traded.
- Kyle Chandler, Ryan Phillippe and Alessandro Nivola were also sought for the role of Brody but passed on the offer as they weren’t interested in playing a villain.
- Brett O’Keefe (Jake Weber) is apparently inspired by talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars TV and radio based in Austin, Texas.
- Graffiti artists employed to create slogans for a refugee camp in season five actually wrote anti-Homeland slogans such as “Homeland is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh” on the set in protest at the show’s portrayal of Muslims.
- The show’s creator Alex Ganza commented that Homeland always strives to be subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation and that he couldn’t help but admire this act of artistic sabotage.
- Of all the world location shoots throughout the series, Claire Danes has said that her favorite was Berlin (Season 5) because it most reminded her of her hometown New York in the 1980s.
- Co-creator Alex Gansa and Chip Johannessen were the only writers to write in every season of the show.
