During a recent interview to promote the original series, London-born actor Damian Lewis talked about being attracted to this story because he enjoys the contradiction that someone could return a hero but possibly be the villain, and how cable shows his ass much more than his previous television projects ever did...
How do you compare this to previous roles that you’ve played?
Oddly enough, there are similarities with this show Life that I did for NBC, a couple years ago, about a man who goes away. In the case of Life, he was sent to prison and spent 12 years there, and came back a changed man, in some way, from his experience. In this show, he’s a prisoner of war for eight years, and he comes back a changed man. I’m still very sad that Life didn’t go longer. It was one of the better shows on TV, that year. If you look at what NBC had, it was definitely one of the better shows that NBC had. NBC was crazy to cancel that show.
In England, we can’t make this kind of TV. We don’t have the resources. We actually don’t have the writers to write it. We don’t have film and TV language in our DNA, in the same way you guys do here. The big concept, in telling it compellingly and entertainingly, but in a psychologically real and complex way is something we don’t come up with as often as you guys do. So, for me to be here is a thrill.
Do you feel that cable is a little bit more freeing?
Well, they show my ass a lot more. I’ve noticed that. And, I’ve seen Morena’s tits, and that’s weird. But, that’s Showtime. No. If cable wants to distinguish itself from network, just by showing tits and ass, literally, then that’s sad. At times, you do wonder, if that’s the only distinction. It’s like, “Well, we haven’t seen anybody’s bottom in three episodes, so we need to write that scene.” But, is that really so important? No. For personal reasons, because I’m a Brit, I live in London. I don’t mean this grandly, but it was never my intention to live in L.A. and do a big network show. I did Life because it was just so good and I couldn’t say know to it. I really just wanted to do it.
The relationship between your character and Morena Baccarin’s character, as husband and wife, is very complex. How will that progress, and what’s it been like working with her?
That’s all too real. I think servicemen and wives, all over the country, if they watch this, will recognize that relationship, coming back from a war zone, particularly if you’ve been a prisoner for eight years, which not many people have. It’s an extraordinary situation. He’s broken. He’s damaged. And, she has grieved for him, said goodbye and, in this particular case, taken up with a friend of his, who has become a surrogate dad to the kids. And then, he reappears in her life and it’s overwhelming for both of them. I’m glad that, so far, we seem to be addressing that in a serious way.
Morena and I joke about it. She says, “When are they going to be nice to each other? We’ve got another one of these scenes where it’s all just awkward and terrible and we can’t connect.” But, that’s real. Maybe they’ll never connect. The bleak version of the story is that they never get their family back together because the experiences have been too extreme and damaging for both of them. So, we’ll see. We really enjoy playing it ‘cause it’s fun. It’s character-driven.
Television Series: Homeland (S01E01- Pilot)
Release Date: October 2011
Actress: Morena Baccarin
Video Clip Credit: DeepAtSea
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