Homeland Season 4 has made its two-hour debut, sadly without Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), one of the most loved main characters in the first three seasons. Brody was in almost every episode of the show. In this role, Lewis received a lot of awards and nominations. Still, despite the critical acclaim, writers think Brody has to go. After three seasons of grueling emotional, physical and psychological torture, he needs to die. Some people are still not over Brody’s death in the third season. So is, Damian Lewis. He’s not over it yet but not in a way that he’s bitter about it. In fact, he also thinks that that finale has to happen. That he has to leave his pregnant girlfriend, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes).
In an interview with the Entertainment Weekly, Lewis was asked if he was happy with the fate of his character.
“I think they did a really good job with it. I knew he had become a popular character so I wanted him served well. I wanted him to go out with a bang. I wanted him to have a grand finale. I didn’t expect a hero’s finale because Brody is not a hero, he’s become too much of a tragic figure over the course of three seasons; he’s a damaged man. I just wanted it to resonate, I wanted it to be moving, and be very affecting in the way he goes to his death with so much unsaid, so much undone. I wanted it to really register with the audience — the pain between himself and Carrie and she sees him go to his death. I just hoped we would honor all those things.”
Lewis said that he learned that he won’t be in Homeland Season 4 right from the first episode of the third season. And he was not surprised about it.
“I knew they had decided to kill Brody unequivocally at the [season 3] premiere in D.C. We were in a basement bar at the Hay-Adams hotel. And I said [to showrunner Alex Gansa], “Alex I got a lot of stuff in storage in North Carolina, I just need to know if I should take it out or leave it there.” He looked at me and said: “You should take it out.” It was at that point I finally knew I was not going to survive.”
Lewis also bared that production thought that he was chocking for real on the rope during the set for the final because of because of one woman from the audience.
“One person had to be removed because she tried to take photos on her iPhone. She was wearing a full black burka with a bright shiny white iPhone. I spotted her when I was at 20-30 feet hanging off the ground. I started waving my arms toward her, at which point everybody starting rushing out from the monitors shouting, “Get him down! Get him down!” I had forgotten that waving my arms [was the signal] that I was choking! So everybody came out, “Oh my god! Damian are you okay!?” And I was pointing at this young woman who foolishly was trying to take a photo of the whole thing.”
To see the full Damian Lewis interview, click here.
