Novels

Homeland Revealed Hardcover — Matt Hurwitz (Author), Alex Gansa (Foreword)[]

I remember watching these two actors together and realizing, ‘Wow this is the show, right here.’ So it became clear that we would try to put them in each other’s company as often as possible. There was a long story to tell in this relationship.” (From Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 55)

An American soldier presumed killed in Iraq returns home eight years after disappearing. This is the premise of the award-winning and highly addictive Homeland. Known for its heart-pumping plot and phenomenal acting, Homeland has garnered fabulous reviews and legions of devoted fans. This richly visual book unpacks the complex show, delving into favorite characters, plot lines, and behind-the-scenes detail, while also examining how real-world technology and techniques inspire and inform Homeland. Hundreds of photos capturing the intense onscreen action complement veteran writer Matt Hurwitz’s narrative as he weaves in and out of the past three seasons using interviews with the creators, cast, and crew. An engrossing read in a deluxe hardcover package, Homeland Revealed is the ultimate gift for any fans of the series.

High recommendation. Great colorful book with lots of backstage photos from 1, 2 and 3 seasons. Plus, lots of insider information that will be new to even the most hardcore Homeland fans. Dive deeply into the characters and locations that the series is filmed. I believe this is the only book that covers Homeland’s backstage. This book delivers data from one of the best television dramas of all time. The characters are deepened and the stories are designed to show their strengths and weaknesses.

Recommended reading for all fans of the TV show. Great plot, very interesting and you will enjoy learning some of the background stories! Beautiful live photos of the actors.

An unmissable treasure for lovers of this show.

Trivia[]

This richly visual book unpacks the complex show, delving into favorite characters, plot lines, and behind-the-scenes detail, while also examining how real-world technology and techniques inspire and inform Homeland. Hundreds of photos capturing the intense onscreen action complement veteran writer Matt Hurwitz’s narrative as he weaves in and out of the past three seasons using interviews with the creators, cast, and crew. An engrossing read in a deluxe hardcover package, Homeland Revealed is the ultimate gift for any fans of the series.

Homeland Revealed which is like a coffee table book. Behind the scenes, interviews with cast/crew, etc. Very good.

• So far the two greatest things I’ve read in the Homeland Revealed book are that:

1. Claire, Gansa, Cuesta, and David Marciano came up with a personalized backstory for Virgil (never mentioned, of course) one day on set;
2. Max is on the autism spectrum.

• The name Dar Adal is fictitious, and generated, in part, as a poke from Alex Cary at his writing colleague, Henry Bromell. “Henry never got names of characters right,” Cary laughs. “He’d get them slightly wrong. I was writing the episode where Adal is introduced, and Henry was writing the episode that was to follow it. Rather than call the character John Wilson or something more obviously provisionary, I called him Dar Adal, just to fuck with Henry. I knew he’d never be able to get it right.”

• “‘Dar,’ in Arabic, means ‘home,’” Abraham explains. “I thought that was kind of interesting–because ‘home’ is part of the title of the show.”

• From Homeland Revealed: The concept that Adal was a CIA higher-up who was a Muslim [was intriguing]. “The head of the Counterterrorism Unit at the real CIA, for a period of years, was a Muslim,” Gansa adds. “And we just loved that idea.” … F. Murray Abraham considers that Adal hails from a large Arab contingency that can be found in Queens.

• ‘The idea was that the net would gradually tighten around Brody,’ Cary states, 'with Carrie caught in that net with him. Between them, they would come to understand that Brody was a dead man, that his course was run.’ Brody would, at some point–unable to put a bullet in his own head–essentially beg Carrie to end his life. 'There would be some scene that would appear to be romantic in its choreography, but would end up being a mercy killing/execution of Brody at Carrie’s hand,’ perhaps by around episode 8 or 9. — What  would have happened in season two, before Showtime intervened, from Homeland Revealed

• Alex Gansa comments on Damian’s American accent: “It doesn’t come from anywhere – it’s not mid-Atlantic, not southern. It’s actually unrecognizable as a real American accent – except that it’s perfect.” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 19)

• ‘We thought we were going to cast some dissolute old English actor. In fact, we looked at a lot of them,’ and even considered a younger one–Claire Danes’ husband, Hugh Dancy. — Alex Gansa on casting the role of the pedophilic Dr. Graham in “Tower of David” – from Homeland Revealed

• Patti Podesta, production Designer for the pilot episode, adds they tried to keep a 1980s feeling in the house. She says: “One of the ideas was that this had been Brody’s mom’s house, and they had moved into it, and then she died while he was away.” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 34)

• “One of the ideas was that this had been Brody’s mom’s house, and they had moved into it, and then she died while he was away.” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 34)

• “We needed Carrie to empathize with Brody, during the drama within the drama of Carrie watching what’s going on in Brody’s house.” (source: Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 55)

• “Lewis and Danes had only one scene together in the pilot, in which Carrie debriefs Brody upon his return, and the mood was fairly professional. So, the energy between two actors in the parking lot scene came as a surprise. The morning after that scene was filmed, Alex Gansa recalls, “I walked into my office, and my assistant said, ‘Alex, you may want to take a look at these dailies.’ I said, ‘Why, is there a problem?’ And she goes, ‘The opposite.’ I remember watching these two actors together and realizing, ‘Wow this is the show, right here.’ So it became clear that we would try to put them in each other’s company as often as possible. There was a long story to tell in this relationship.” (From Homeland Revealed by Matthew Hurwitz. 2014. Chronicle Books. Page 55)

• “That was the idea behind that character,” says writer Chip Johannessen. “We wanted to put somebody in Dana’s life that was the one good thing in her life, because her father betrayed her, and then have him do the same thing.” - From the Homeland Revealed book about Leo (page 133).
• “Carrie feels that he’s finally redeemed himself, and has finally proven to everybody that he is actually the man she always thought he was,” Gansa says. “And the only way to get him out of this funk is to tell him the truth, that she’s carrying his child,” a seed that Gansa says had been planted in Episode 6, “Still Positive,” for this very purpose.

• Alex Cary on how Carrie reacts to her bipolar disorder: “I had a house with one of those invisible electric fences and a collar for the dog. I would see her go through it and grit her teeth; I would see the determination and courage just to break free. I’ve always thought of Carrie that way.”
• Claire on what drives Carrie: “She is a true patriot. She makes huge personal sacrifices in order to do her work well. And we admire her for that–it kind of justifies all her less charming qualities.”
• Claire on Carrie’s relationship with Saul (I find this fascinating as it’s the perfect example of her advocating for Carrie’s perspective; in the very next paragraph Howard Gordon advocates for Saul’s): “They’re best friends, they’re peers. They’re mentor and mentee. And he’s kind of avuncular. She has enormous respect for him–his opinion carries a lot of weight for her. She does not trust easily, and she trusts him very deeply. And if that trust is ever compromised, it’s very painful for her.”
• David Hareweood on the Estes/Carrie backstory: “I remember telling Claire, ‘He strikes me as the kind of guy that would tell his wife he’s having an affair.’ Carrie must have freaked out and run away, just as Estes told his wife he was in love and had met the girl of his dreams. He put all his eggs in one basket, and that basket was Carrie. That really hurt him, and is one of the reasons he closes Carrie down so much. He’s not prepared to let that girl in.”
• Claire on Carrie as a maverick: “She’s committed to the company and to her calling, but her condition has placed her on the periphery. She feels she doesn’t have to play by other people’s rules. She’s reverent to the agency structure and knows it as well as anyone but feels she can afford to break the rules whenever she decides it’s necessary.”
• Meredith Stiehm on Carrie and Brody in “The Weekend”: “They both have ulterior motives–she wants to get in his head, he wants to find out what this woman’s up to. But they find comfort in each other in ways they didn’t expect. The feelings sneak up on them as the weekend progresses. He’s got the physical scars, she’s got the psychological scars. She doesn’t turn away form the, she recognizes them–she’s wounded, too.”
• On the end of “The Vest,” which director Clark Johnson had Claire improvise:
• “With Claire, in a scene like that, you just let her go, and just capture it.” –Michael Cuesta
• “I kept making Claire do it again and again and again, and she really did start to lose it.” –Clark Johnson
• She was screaming and crying, and I put my arms around her, I just reacted. I found myself just standing there, watching Claire, watching this brilliance.” –David Harewood
• “It was a lot to ask a human being to do, to get to that place, and then do it over and over again. It’s a remarkable performance.” –Chip Johannessen
• Gansa on the end of season two, in which Carrie originally crossed the border with Brody: “We read the draft, and thought there was no way on earth she would be going with Brody, when the guy who’s responsible for killing all those people is still out there. She’s a career intelligence officer. Being with Brody paled in comparison to her duty as a CIA officer. So we sent her back to be with Saul, to live in the ruin and the failure of their operation together.”
• Gansa on filming the end of “Game On”: That was probably one of the most difficult days of shooting that Claire has experienced. Both Mandy and Claire found it very difficult to contain their emotions. You felt the pain Carrie had suffered, and knew it was real.”
• Gansa on Carrie after Brody’s death (feels quite relevant now): “The most interesting story would not have been about the gnashing of teeth, the spilling of tears and accusations. That would have been incredibly melodramatic. What felt far more interesting to us was that Carrie gets over it. She’s a career woman, and if she is going to continue to be an intelligence officer, she has to come to terms with what happened, and then take the next step.”
• Director Michael Cuesta describes Carrie cleaning herself in S1E1 as giving herself a "whore's bath" and says, "It's something that sets up that side of her right away, that she's a 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar' kind of girl." W-T-F! First of all, how common is the term "whore's bath?" It’s a fairly common term that goes back to, at the very least, World War II. First came across the term in Audie Murphy’s memoir, To Hell and Back. Back then, it referenced a soldier’s bathing options in the field — to quote the book, “Just cold water and a helmet?” “And a little bit of soap.” Obviously it’s not the most politically correct phrase ever, and I’m not arguing that language that was acceptable in 1944 is acceptable now, but it is what it is. And there’s literally no way to describe Carrie’s actions right there succinctly without calling it a “whore’s bath.”  Carrie’s unapologetic sexuality was honestly one of the best parts of her character back in the day.

Comments[]

Known for its heart-pumping plot and phenomenal acting, Homeland has garnered fabulous reviews and legions of devoted fans. This richly visual book unpacks the complex show, delving into favorite characters, plot lines, and behind-the-scenes detail, while also examining how real-world technology and techniques inspire and inform Homeland. Hundreds of photos capturing the intense onscreen action complement veteran writer Matt Hurwitz's narrative as he weaves in and out of the past three seasons using interviews with the creators, cast, and crew. An engrossing read in a deluxe hardcover package, Homeland Revealed is the ultimate gift for any fans of the series.

CONGRESSMAN BRODY—A FRESH START?

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL END TO SEASON 1 in mid-December, the writing team met at the Writers’ Room in the Homeland office at Fox in late January 2012 to begin thinking about how to move the series forward. “Season 1 had gotten picked up late by the network, so we were always scrambling to catch up,” informs writer Chip Johannessen. “When we went back into the room, Season 2 was just this big, gaping hole.”

About the Homeland Revealed:

One of the ideas tossed around involved Iran and its nuclear program, and that ended up appearing briefly as an element of the Season 2 storyline. But the big question remained: what to do about Brody? The writers had always entertained the possibility that Brody would not survive the first season, and now they thought it was unlikely he would survive the second. They wrote two episodes to get the ball rolling, “The Smile” and “Beirut Is Back,” and around the time Alex Cary began writing the third, “State of Independence,” the team pitched their plan for Season 2 to Showtime.

“The idea was that the net would gradually tighten around Brody,” Alex Cary states, “with Carrie caught in that net with him. Between them, they would come to understand that Brody was a dead man, that his course was run.” Brody would, at some point—unable to put a bullet in his own head—essentially beg Carrie to end his life. “There would be some scene that would appear to be romantic in its choreography, but would end up being a mercy killing/execution of Brody at Carrie’s hand,” perhaps by around Episode 8 or 9.

Showtime, though, had realized (“And they were probably right,” Alex Cary notes) that audiences loved the Carrie-Brody dynamic, and that doing away with it so early in the series was not what viewers would want to see. “So we then came up with the whole concept of Abu Nazir coming and pulling off a huge attack on America, but from the grave,” the writer says.

“The big idea for us,” says showrunner Alex Gansa, “was that at the end of Season 1, everybody thought Brody was innocent, but Carrie thought he was guilty. Here, we would completely reverse that dynamic, which is that the world would think he was guilty, but Carrie would believe he was innocent.”

At the beginning of “The Smile,” three months have passed since the bunker incident, and Sgt. Brody has become Congressman Brody, replacing the unseemly Dick Johnson. Brody appears to have convinced Nazir that he could effect more change by changing policy. Says Johannessen, “but whether Nazir has bought the plan or not is questionable.”

Brody appears quite happy in his new life and seems to have left the world of explosive vests and terrorism behind. Then in walks Roya Hammad, a reporter who shares a “mutual friend” with the junior congressman—Abu Nazir. “We wanted Brody to feel settled in his new life, until this woman walks into his office and says, ‘More is required of you,’” Johannessen notes. Such as stealing an encryption key from David Estes’s office, for starters.

Editorial Reviews[]

About the Author:[]

Matt Hurwitz is an established entertainment journalist, placing readers behind-the-scenes of film and television production, music and sound. His work covers every aspect of film production, from acting and directing to cinematography, visual effects, screenwriting, score composing/recording, and film history.

With a background in engineering, he is able to explain complex technical topics in easy-to-understand, fun narrative, pulling together the stories from professionals of all backgrounds into a comprehensive package.

Likewise, he has helped share about the crafts of actors and musicians ranging from Don Rickles to Nicole Kidman, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, Alanis Morisette, Joe Walsh, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Affleck, Glenn Close and countless others.

He is also adept at comprehensive film, animation, television and music history, and is a recognized Beatles historian. Hurwitz is the co-author of studio-authorized coffee table books on "The X-Files," "Homeland" and the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, and is a panel moderator for the Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Radio and Television).

Specialties: Film, television, recording, technology, publicity materials, feature film/television production notes, EPK interviews

Product details:[]

• Item Weight: 1.85 pounds
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• ISBN-10: 1452128405
• ISBN-13: 978–1452128405
• Dimensions: 7.63 x 0.75 x 10.25 inches
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 14, 2014)
• Language: English