Damian Lewis Almost Said 'No' To HOMELAND, Reveals Brody Complexity

Damian Lewis has revealed that he almost turned down Homeland.

The actor confessed that his experiences on NBC’s Life made him hesitant about returning to US TV:

After my experience on Life, which I loved, but it was at quite a lot of personal cost, from a family point of view – that sounds a bit melodramatic, we’re all still together! – but it was long hours working with Helen sitting in the house with the kids.
I wasn’t prepared for quite the workshop hours you work on some American TV shows. So I said to my agent ‘Only if it’s extraordinary, and if it’s on Cable TV, so it’s a five-month commitment rather than a ten-month commitment. [Cable series tend to be 12 episodes as opposed to 24 on networks.]
Unbelievably fortunately, this thing came my way, and I very nearly said no to it, for all the reasons I’ve just explained. But it was really compellingly written.

Fortunately, indeed. As for what changed his mind?:

The pilot – which was all I read – had political ambition, it was psychologically detailed and specific, dark in places, and so ambitious. It was tapping into conditions that interest me – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and men returning from war, and bipolar disorder in Claire’s character.
While tackling these rather serious issues, it also managed to be a page-turner. And it also managed to be a political show at the same time, posing the question ‘In our pursuit of terrorists, have we gone about it in the right way?’ It just seemed brilliantly representative of a slightly uncertain, paranoid world we live in now.
It’s a bold claim for one hour of TV, but I spoke to them, and they convinced me that these were all themes that they wanted to pursue. And they sustain it. They’re brilliant, and I’m unbelievably lucky to be working with them. Thank God I said yes to it.

Lewis also talks about the complexity of playing such an ambiguous character as Nick Brody:

Yeah, ambiguity is a complex thing to play. It can leave you being a little unspecific, if you’re not careful – if you’re consciously vague, and you then allow the audience to project onto you. But if you’re doing it well, the reverse is true – you commit yourself to decisions totally, and it’s just about how adroit you are with your changes, that is in the end what creates the ambiguity. You have to be lightning quick and nimble, there’s a mental and imaginative agility in the performance which is really fun.
It’s a challenge – there are so many things to play, and if you try and play everything at once, then it’s a bit of a pudding, so you have to make specific choices and then just change on a sixpence.
Another thing that really appealed to me is it’s very subversive. It’s very controversial to have a US Marine, who is as great a symbol as anyone or anything you can think of that upholds our Western freedoms and our beliefs, and goes and fights on our behalf all over the world. To have one of those people ‘changed’ is very controversial.

Source: Channel 4

UK fans of serial with be pleased to know that Homeland premieres on Channel 4 soon.

Follow @Seriable

Tagged as: damian lewis, homeland, interviews