Claire Danes found worldwide fame when she portrayed the role of CIA operative Carrie Mathison in the iconic series Homeland. The critically acclaimed series, however, wasn’t easy to shoot.
With a storyline that followed CIA operative Carrie Mathison on the hunt for an American prisoner who has joined Al-Qaeda, filming the series came with its own sets of challenges.
Every Gun Had To Be Registered For Clarie Danes’ Homeland
A series that takes place in Afghanistan was quite difficult to make since shooting in the actual location was completely out of the question. To create that experience, the desserts of Morocco were used for the shots.
This meant that the Claire Danes-led series had to deal with the Moroccan government which was very particular with the rules. With fake guns and set pieces, Homeland had to be filmed with some explosions and action sequences.
However, this meant that the Moroccan government had to be involved with everything that the crew of Homeland was up to. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Alex Gansa talked about the innumerable challenges that the crew faced while filming the season finale.
There was a lot of on-the-ground drama in Morocco and it proved to be far more difficult to shoot an entire season of a series there than we had anticipated. The Moroccan government is very particular about anything that you bring into the country.
He further continued,
Even if you bring a fake weapon into the country, it has to be registered. So imagine doing big military set pieces and having to register every bullet and account for it.
However, working on shows that narrate the stories of the Middle East came with a different set of challenges that people hadn’t anticipated before. The actors who spoke in a foreign language were not always safe.
From the fear of foreign people to the extras speaking Pashto and Dari, registering a fake gun wasn’t the only challenge that the cast and crew of Homeland faced during the final season, as they were almost not safe.
The Cast of Homeland Was Given Security
As the interview continued, showrunner Alex Gansa talked about shooting in Morocco. Since they had to capture the essence of Afghanistan, the dialogues had to be shot in Morocco too.
Since the series was set in Afghanistan, the languages of the country had to be included in the show. Speaking Pashto and Dari in regions of Morocco wasn’t the safest choice, but it had to be done.
Alex Gansa revealed that the security forces of the country kept them completely safe and “everybody got home” just fine.
Also, if you’re telling a story in Afghanistan, we want actors who could speak Pashto or Dari. But the Moroccan security services kept us completely safe and everybody got home fine.
Claire Danes’ Homeland went out with a bang as the series finale aired after 8 iconic seasons of high-tense drama. The show received critical acclaim and the risks that they had taken seemed to pay off in the end.
The Claire Danes-led series received a rating of 8.3/10 on IMDB and a whopping 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. With 8 seasons to its name, Homeland is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
