The final instalment of my series on English actors in American TV series looks at a show that explores the existential threat of global terrorism.

Homeland.  The main character, played by London-born actor Damian Lewis: Sgt. Nicholas Brody, USMC.

Long-missing and presumed dead, incredibly, Sgt. Brody is found by a Navy SEAL rescue team in a hovel in Iraq, filthy, with long, matted hair and beard.  The country is overjoyed with the news of his rescue, and he is given a hero’s welcome upon his return to the United States, though at first he feels anything but heroic.  The reunion with his wife and children is awkward, to say the least, as they too had given him up for dead and had begun to move on emotionally.

The one person who finds his rescue too good to be true is CIA agent Carrie Mathison, powerfully portrayed by Claire Danes.  She suspects that he has been turned by his captors and is a potential serious threat to national security.  The problem is that Carrie, who has a reputation for aggressive, even reckless actions, is not trusted by her superiors.  She is humored reluctantly by her boss and mentor, Saul Berenson, played by veteran actor Mandy Patinkin.  Things are further complicated by the fact that she is hiding a serious mental illness, bipolar disorder inherited from her father, which at times causes her to seriously doubt her grasp on reality.

Homeland is a show where the male lead does not clearly dominate.  One might say that Brody isn’t really the main character at all, but instead that place is reserved for the frenetic and intense Carrie.

Damian Lewis, English-born of Welsh ancestry, is a veteran actor who has appeared on stage, screen, and television in a variety of roles in Britain and the United States, including an adaptation of Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher, and the acclaimed miniseries Band of Brothers.