Homeland

Since I can’t watch any new episodes of “The Good Wife,” I’ve recently discovered “Homeland” on Showtime.  I’m completely hooked.  Claire Danes is absolutely amazing and I’ve always been a fan of Mandy Patinkin.  I’m only on season 2 and seriously can’t get enough.  Here’s some trivia to get you intrigued.  Give it a shot, you’ll love it.

–To prepare for her role in the series, Claire Danes met with CIA officers, and also watched videos made by bi-polar disorder patients and consulted with author Julie Fast who suffers from the same disorder.

–Some of the photographs that are interspersed over the course of the opening credits sequence are actual pictures of Claire Danes as a young girl.

–Carrie’s name was originally intended to be Claire. It was changed to Carrie after Claire Danes accepted the role.

–In a December 2012 New York Times interview, Howard Gordon explained why Jessica calls her husband “Brody,” his last name, instead of his first name, “Nicholas,” or any nickname form thereof: “It’s something that’s been in their relationship from the very beginning and speaks to the love between them. We’ve heard from many military families, and it’s not that uncommon a practice.”

–Abu Nazir’s son is called Issa. Arabic-speakers, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, all refer to Jesus as Issa.

–British actor Damian Lewis landed the lead role without an audition. The series producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa were so impressed with his performance in the under-rated Keane (2004), they offered him the part over the course of a phone call.

–Morena Baccarin (Jessica) said in an interview that she and Claire Danes (Carrie) attended the same Junior High School together and were even in the same homeroom for much of that time.

–Although Carrie’s condition was not specified during the show’s first few episodes, the actor who plays her, Claire Danes (who considered majoring in psychology at Yale) told “Entertainment Weekly” that she decided that Carrie has Bipolar 1.

–Halle Berry was originally offered the role of Carrie. She turned down the role and Claire Danes was eventually cast in the role.

–During the introductory montage sequence, archival excerpts of five US Presidents’ voices are heard in chronological order: Ronald Reagan (40), George Bush (41), Bill Clinton (42), George W. Bush (43) and Barack Obama (44). Except for George W. Bush, video clips of the other four Presidents are shown during the intro. Louis Armstrong and Colin Powell are also excerpted.

–On some occasions, Morena Baccarin had to wear a dark wig for her role as Jessica while she waited for her cropped hairdo as Anna in V (2009) to grow out.

–Joan Allen was offered a role on season 4, but she turned down because the shooting was on South Africa and Allen didn’t want to miss her daughter’s first year in college.

–Claire Danes won 2 Golden Globes from this show.

–Navid Negahban, who plays Abu Nazir, was discovered by the show’s producers at a public reading of Iranian poetry.

–Homeland Security was started by George W. Bush.

All trivia courtesy of IMDB