How real is the Showtime series "Homeland?" | Forensic Files

you're sitting there in the middle of nowhere in Nevada and push a button and a pickup
truck explodes half a world away I I think the Spy Masters it's a news it's the real thing
I'd like to think that what we do on homeland that's different from what people in the real CIA or in spy Masters
does is that we are trying to give the poetic version of how we see the mirror held up to
Nature people often ask me is Homeland real my answer is always the same no um but with one exception and that one
exception is the passion that the officer show he bet on his ego and our rivalry hoping that'd be enough to take
me down that passion for the job that passion for the mission is real stop it the the way the characters particularly
Carrie and Saul get their teeth into a problem and just won't let it go I figured it out what I did I figured it
out and are prepared to defy convention and to push the limits all of that Rings true I probably
too irreverently say Carrie worked for me okay minus the sex the drugs and the bipolar thing but Carrie worked for me
and and frankly that's true if we'd known in 2001 we were staying in Afghanistan down this long we made some
very different choices right people often ask me if I was Saul or like Saul and I think I would say maybe half like
Saul you can tell Saul is thinking all the time he's noodling something all the time he's continually working through a
problem the terrorists are still out there and that problem is not going away the way I work if you write me these
scenes of of of terrible difficult moments to portray that mirror things that are going on in the world he
will lose the war and when you do every aloe in the country will be slaughtered what I do is I go into my own
imagination or my history bank that I'm that I I I've lived or I know about or events in the world that I've seen and
and that are viscerally connected to me and so in the case of Homeland I put myself into hell for hours every day
while I'm learning the words you wish me to believe your concern my country until
I have all the images kind of organized in my head all the choices the possibilities to make just as they would
do all the possibilities and then I'm there on the set for 12 13 14 16 hours a day and the way I work is I can't play
checkers and then say action I got to stay in that space the whole time to stay focused and we're rolling and
it bleeds my soul it does not feed me at all if you're the director and you say great take I'm I'm like I'm I'm pleased
that you're content but I'm wasted and and if I'm wasted in the pretend World God help them

Actor Mandy Patinkin, who plays CIA European Division Chief Saul Berenson on the Showtime series "Homeland," narrates the documentary "48 Hours' Presents: The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs." He compares the real CIA to the made up one on TV.

Brief Summary

The episode discusses Homeland's portrayal of espionage and the emotional dedication of its characters.

Key points

The Reality of Homeland. The show reflects real passion and dedication to the mission.
Inside the Mind of Saul. A glimpse into the character's thought process and challenges.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I'd like to think that what we do on homeland is different.

0:18WatchMay 20, 2016

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