The “Brody widows” among us — me included in that select group of women — have still not been able to get used to the idea of Homeland without Brody! We were simply devastated when he was gone at the end of Season 3 and we were extremely ecstatic about his 5 minute return in Season 4. And now that we know Damian Lewis will make a wonderful comeback to our TV screens as Bobby Axelrod in Billions in early 2016, we also know that we will always carry Brody in our hearts and move on… to Bobby 🙂
Still… We have been talking about Brody and his death for more than a year… We all remember the time and place we watched that season finale, how we felt, how many buckets we filled with tears, and all… But do we know how Damian Lewis went through that shoot, and how his last day on Homeland set was like? Well, it’s never too late to find out 🙂
It turns out that horrific scene was the last scene they shot in Season 3.
Damian Lewis tells Entertainment Weekly about that scene, in particular how it felt:
“ It was pretty unsettling – when I got in the car and the extras started banging on the car and shouting my name. Walking toward the crane and having the noose around my neck and looking out. I was looking at this mob there to see a public hanging. It was pretty distressing.
When you’re seeming to just hang there, with at least some stress on your neck, how was that to film? I still had a role to play. I was within Brody’s story. He told Carrie he didn’t want her to be there. But in those last moments he tries to find her and does. In the moment he’s being executed in a foreign land in front of strangers, it’s very clear that he would love a familiar face to look at, and even better that it’s Carrie’s – a woman that he loves. That’s really what I was concentrating on, trying to do that in a credible way while having the life choked out of me. I was concentrating on the minutia of acting.”
It turns out Damian even stopped some critical information from leaking to social media, too. He’s Brody — once a Marine, always a Marine 🙂
“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.”
It seems shooting that scene affected everyone on the set. Director Lesli Linka Glatter says: “We wrapped at dawn, so the sun was coming up. And, you know, to see someone you care about hanging by the neck, even though it’s fake, and he’s fine, it was still incredibly emotional. Everyone was crying.” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 157)
Thank you, Ms. Glatter — now I feel OK that I cried my eyes out and have, in fact, still not been able to watch that scene.
His Homeland family gave Damian a very nice farewell with the following video clip… But Damian did a lovely gesture, too!
Damian went home once they were done with the shoot, took a shower, and got on a plane at noon that day and went back to London. (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 157) But, before he left, he had a surprise gift for the crew!
Hint: Remember the first words Brody ever said on Homeland? Watch this if you need a refresher 🙂
Prop master Gillian Albinski tells: “He gave each of us, as a wrap gift, a T-shirt that said, ‘I am an American.'” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 157)
What a lovely gesture from our lovely guy!
Reading this post broke my heart once again. I remember very vividly the last moments of Brody on the Homeland scene. Then I remember calling and texting friends whom I know watched before me and asked all of them:”Please just tell me he wasn’t killed just like this; please tell me he will be back on Season 4 , please?!…” When they said this was it, there will be no Broody anymore, I was so heartbroken. I have even refused to watch S4 for a while and it didn’t feel the same without him…. Oh Brody-Brody; like Carrie says:-))
Everyone was crying. I imagine if he coming in sweet dreams Carrie.
I, at least, know how much I cried! My husband says I cried much more than Carrie, so Brody should come visit me in dreams as well 😀 We love him so much, don’t we, Iza? Much love to Brazil!!!! <3