-"Homeland" final season.
-Yeah. -How does it feel?
-Feels like a lot of things.
-A lot of emotions? -Yeah. It's complex.
I mean, I've been living with the show for almost a decade.
You know, when we started, I was barely married.
Now, we're ending. We have a family.
We're a family of four. -Wow.
-You know, we've traveled all over the globe.
It's been a lot.
I mean, Carrie Mathison is a lot.
But actually the experience of just making it
was a really profound undertaking.
And it was beautiful and wonderful and I'm --
You know, of course you build a family with the people
you work with in this intimate way.
-It's wild.
-So, yeah, it's a big thing, but I'm ready.
It's time, and I'm really happy with the overall shape
of the season and I think we end it well.
I mean, I hope audiences agree, but we sure worked hard on it.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. -We did.
-People are going to miss Carrie and Saul.
-I hope so. I mean, I will.
-Your last scene was with Mandy, right?
-Yeah. Well, not last scene of the season,
but my last kind of critical scene was with Mandy,
which was very emotional.
[ Laughter ] -Oh, my God.
-It was a big one and it was rough and, you know, and --
-What do you do to get out of -- -Well, I knew --
I knew it was gonna be tough.
And so I rewarded myself with a treat at the end of the day.
And I went -- I was going to see "Hustlers."
-Oh, yeah. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Which, by the way, if you're having a rough time,
"Hustlers" is the answer.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
-So I was really excited about it all day.
And I kept kind of reassuring myself.
And I was gonna eat my feelings, also.
[ Laughter ]
So I was going to buy all the things at the concession stand
and I did and I rocked out the concession stand.
I was, like, and the Raisinets, and the popcorn --
-And the Twizzlers. Let's go. -And the Twizzlers.
And I went to pay for it.
And she said, "Are you going to pay with a card?"
And I said, "Yeah, do you have a cart?
I think that would be great."
-A cart? -A cart.
-To take all the food?
-Yeah, I was like, I think we might to --
I might need some assistance.
I might need some wheels for this.
And she was like, "No, we do not have carts.
But you can pay with a card if you wish."
I was like, "Oh!"
-Yeah. -Yeah, no.
That makes a lot more sense.
-You thought she offered you a cart
to take all of your food to your show.
-I was going through something, okay, guys?
[ Laughter ]
But, yeah, I ate all the food and just that J-Lo --
-We should have carts. -She got me out of a jam.
-Yeah, thank you. Jennifer Lopez is the best.
[ Cheers and applause ]
She can get you out of a jam. -Mad, mad respect.
-You have a lot of famous fans of the show.
Did anyone ever, like, surprise you?
Like, I know you had --
President Barack Obama loved "Homeland."
-That was pretty major.
-Yeah. A-Rod.
-A-Rod likes the show.
And okay, so maybe the coolest, most amazing fan was Beyoncé.
-Oh, really? Really? -Yeah.
-How did you know that she liked it?
-Well, so I was at a fashion awards thing.
And we were both going to present.
And I was first, she was --
Anyway, so we were backstage in this little area.
And she was wearing, like,
a bedazzled jumpsuit and a giant hat.
And it was just like everything you want Beyoncé to be.
-Yes! -And I got really stupid.
Like, my brain just stopped working.
-Claire. -It's intense.
I mean, it's -- it's her, right? -Yeah.
-And so I was talking.
I was saying words, but -- and she said words back.
And she said that she was a fan. I remember that distinctly.
-What exactly went down?
-"My husband and I really love your show.
We watch it all the time."
[ Gasps ] That's amazing.
And she said she had just finished her tour.
And I said, "Oh, wow, wow.
That's -- You must be exhausted.
Are you going to take, like, a little break or something?"
She said, "Yeah, yeah. We're going to go on vacation."
I was, like, "Really? Where are you gonna go?"
And she said, "Yeah, no. We're thinking about it."
And I was, like, "Oh, my God.
You do not ask Beyoncé where she's going on vacation."
[ Laughter ]
Like, that's not appropriate. That's not something you do.
But I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. Of course, yeah."
[ Laughter ]
-You were a disaster. -They called me onstage.
And I was very happy about that
that we could end our conversation right there.
But she was lovely and charming. -Have you seen her since?
-And I was, like, a nervous freaking wreck.
No, she didn't invite me on vacation.
-Oh, my gosh. [ Laughter ]
Beyoncé, come on. Claire needs a vacation too.
You need a break. -Clearly, clearly.
-Can you set up the final season?
Where are we? -Yeah, okay.
So in the end of the last season, Carrie got caught by
the bad guys, the Ruskies, the Russians.
And so she was held in captivity for seven months.
And she was denied her meds.
It was not pretty, right? -Right.
-So in a prisoner exchange, she finally gets released.
And we see her at the end of
this horrible, horrible experience.
And she was very altered, right, and clearly in a bad way.
And so, the season begins three months later.
She's in a rehabilitation center in Germany.
And she's kind of recovering, but she's still sensitive.
And it's not clear even to her what happened during that time.
And there are concerns that maybe she was compromised
and maybe she was, in fact, turned.
So it's kind of cool.
So in the final season,
she's sort of aligned with Brody in a way.
Full-circle, very elegant storytelling there.
And of course, there's drama in Afghanistan.
-Yeah. -Saul needs her.
He takes her out prematurely, and it's risky.
-There you go. -There you go.