Remembering Nicholas Brody and His Muslim Faith

“You live in despair for eight years; you can turn to religion, too. And, the King James Bible was not available.” – Nicholas Brody

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

I was born and raised in a secular family in Turkey, a country that is predominantly Muslim. That is, even though I am not religious myself, I am very familiar with the Islamic traditions, rituals and norms. I am obviously coming out of the culture and have been shaped by it in ways that I am probably not aware of 🙂 Thus, I thought it would be neat to talk about Nicholas Brody, my most favorite fictional character ever on small screen, and his Muslim faith, in celebration of Ramadan!

Now, I am not an expert, not even close, about Muslim characters on TV shows; however, even if there had been a popular Muslim character on TV before Brody came along, I just don’t think there is any way she or he could beat him on any popularity scale. Continue reading “Remembering Nicholas Brody and His Muslim Faith”

Nicholas Brody has LEFT the building… *UPDATED*

source: Daily Mail
source: Daily Mail

I bet, being a BIG Elvis fan, Damian would approve my title for this piece 🙂

Well, tell me, what could be a better day than combining a shopping trip to Ikea in Charlotte with a quick visit to my Homeland Mecca?

Even though Brody family resides at 3319 West Chapman Street in Alexandria, Virginia, Homeland was shot in North Carolina before they moved to South Africa for Season 4. They filmed the first three seasons mostly in Charlotte, a two-and-a-half hour drive from our house. And, I never even tried to visit the set thinking  they would always be there and I could always visit one day… Oh, yes, I did not see it coming – shoot me!

The Brody house was at the core of Homeland in many ways in the first three seasons. It is the place where it all started and also ended in a way… Continue reading “Nicholas Brody has LEFT the building… *UPDATED*”

Lamenting Nicholas Brody

Prologue: This is a LONG, RAW, and EMOTIONAL piece that I had written on December 21, 2013, almost a week after Nicholas Brody died on Homeland. Just because it is long, raw and emotional, I thought I would not share it on Fan Fun with Damian Lewis. On the other hand, this is the first ever piece that I wrote about Nicholas Brody — so, in some way, this is the piece that started it all! So, why not share it with fans that love that amazing character as much as I do? Just so you know, I am at a much better place now 🙂 That said I still can’t let him go… Continue reading “Lamenting Nicholas Brody”

Damian Lewis on Fame and Fans *UPDATED*

I didn’t know people could get that famous. Just briefly, I felt like Justin Bieber for a second. – Damian Lewis

source: Times Talks
source: Times Talks

Damian answers Cara Buckley’s question at Times Talks about whether he misses Homeland which was “obviously a huge pivot” in his career:

“I have to say I felt pretty famous after Band of Brothers. I was like ‘well, I am doing alright, this is good, people stop me on the street, pat me on the back, say ‘I love your work Damian’ or they go ‘thank you for winning the second world war, sir!’… you know… as I peel off my tights doing Shakespeare somewhere on stage: ‘thank you, this is awkward…’ so reminding people that I am just an actor… But Homeland… You’re right… I didn’t know people could get that famous. Just briefly, I felt like Justin Bieber for a second… It was a phenomenon, you’re right, it was a phenomenon.”

This little dialogue inspires me to think of the relationship between the actor and his fans! We, as fans, are constantly talking about Damian. We post about him, tweet about him, and some of us even blog about him 🙂 We are pretty much set on what we think about Damian… but what does Damian think about fame and his fans?

Continue reading “Damian Lewis on Fame and Fans *UPDATED*”

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis’ Last Day on Homeland Set

Nicholas Brody left us forever seven years ago marking Homeland Season 3 finale as the most horrific hour in the history of television for the “Brody widows” among us – a very select group of women! –  who did not want to get used to the idea of Homeland without him! We were simply devastated the day Brody died in Season 3 and extremely ecstatic the day Brody came back for 5 minutes in Season 4. And while most of us have been able to move on to Bobby Axelrod while carrying Nicholas Brody in our hearts, a world without Brody still hurts. Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis’ Last Day on Homeland Set”