Showtime's HOMELAND Welcomes Gilad Shalit to Israel Set

As reported today in Israeli press, the Golden Globe and Peabody award-winning SHOWTIME drama series HOMELAND kicked off production for its second season this week in Israel and had a surprise guest visit the set on Tuesday – Real-life POW and Israeli hero Gilad Shalit.

Shalit's release from captivity last fall made world-wide headlines as the nation of Israel celebrated the young soldier's return after being held by Hamas militants for over five years. HOMELAND is based on the Israeli series "Prisoners of War." Shalit is a fan of HOMELAND, as well as the Israeli series "Prisoners of War," on which it was based. Both shows parallel Shalit's own story and the differences between the two societies views on patriotism, heroes, and their depictions on television and film.

HOMELAND plans a two-week production schedule in Israel, then will head to Charlotte, North Carolina for the rest of principal photography. Season two will premiere on SHOWTIME on Sunday, September 30th at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

HOMELAND is a one-hour drama series that tells the story of Carrie Mathison (Golden Globe winner Claire Danes), a CIA officer dealing with bipolar disorder, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Nicholas Brody (Golden Globe nominee Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for eight years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. The series also stars Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, DIEGO KLATTENHOFF, David Marciano, Navid Negahban, Jamey Sheridan, MORGAN SAYLOR, Jackson Pace and Mandy Patinkin. HOMELAND is based on the original Israeli series "Prisoners of War," by GIDEON RAFF, developed for American television by HOWARD GORDON and ALEX GANSA. Along with Gordon, Gansa and Raff, the executive producers for season one were Avi Nir, Ran Telem and Michael Cuesta. The series is produced by FOX 21.