Actor Claire Danes says that her series Homeland not only entertains people but stimulates conversations too. By Team Viva
What would you say about taking a bit of Brody’s role this season?
Yes, that was very elegant storytelling and a perfect symmetry. It psychically fuses Carrie with Brody in a way that felt right. And she is very clear about her patriotism, she can be challenged in every way but if her patriotism is questioned, I think that is probably the most profound insult she could imagine. So that was also interesting to play and explore. It was a good entry point.
After doing Homeland, do you discuss about world news and what’s happening in the Middle East with your friends as your roles delves deep into this?
Yes, a little bit. All the knowledge that I had gained is through storytelling. Having direct interchange with actual policymakers, intelligence officers and people who are really building the world around us gave me a deep insight about the happenings in the Middle East. That is one of the things I will also miss the most.
Over these eight seasons, what were your favourite episodes?
Well, the first one that comes to mind is Q&A. This was the first time I met Mandy and it was like a play. It was very unusual in its structure and beautifully written. The fact that I’d never done that before, an hour long conversation opposite another actor, makes it more memorable. In fact, any scene with Mandy is memorable, I even remember my first scene but I don’t know what episode it was. It was in the first season when I was talking to Mandy about my frustrations with the job and loneliness. This is what first comes to my mind. There are many more.
The two people who have been there in most of the seasons are Saul and Carrie but it’s Max who is seen for the longest time. What would you say about that character?
I think he’s an incredible example of an actor who turned a part that could have been easily dismissed into something really specific and substantial. And he was playing somebody on the autistic spectrum, which was never overtly articulated but he was consistent with his choices. It is really interesting to see somebody who is an analyst and is working on the detailing of this technology. It is also interesting to see that Carrie had a bipolar condition and also a brain that worked a little differently.
You also understand that it does not take an exceptional person to devote themselves to this kind of work. This was something that just happened naturally, nobody designed it. But it was really valuable and revealing of how that world works.
Carrie was asked to go the field and she agreed even though she knew it would be hard for her emotionally. Is it similar with you?
Yes. I know it’s taxing but I am so intimate with this imagined person now. And I’ve been carrying her with me for almost a decade and have been in this incredible company that is so exquisitely talented.
It’s a rare combination to work with people whom I trust, respect and admire so much and to work with something which is challenging and make me question something urgent and worthwhile. So I feel very conflicted. I also feel that the show is such that we could go on. I think of it like origami. It just gets reconfigured every season. And I also think it is providing a service that isn’t being provided very readily. It entertains people only to a certain extent as it stimulates conversation too. This is unique. There will be an absence. I will miss it, personally.
We had one extra season beyond what we were contracted to do and we all had to dig deep in order to produce it. But I can’t say much now because I’ve never made anything for this long. I had my family over the course of filming this. It’s been so profoundly defining for me. I’m still doing ADR. I have to go back and record what we’ve mucked up in 11 and 12. And we are doing press too. So I still feel very immersed and tethered at the same time. It’s going to hit me that it’s over around April when we would shoot the next season.
(The show airs on Star World every Friday at 10 pm.)
