Claire Danes shocked Homeland fans when she revealed her pregnancy to the world. Now, she's revealed the struggles of being pregnant and keeping the news from the co-workers. Danes, who was in her first-trimester during the filming of Season 7 of Homeland, revealed that she was able to keep the secret from the show's cast and crew, but it didn't always work out so well for her. The actress shared with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show one specific instance that resulted in a halt in production all because of some drowsiness:
I was filming during the first trimester which is kind of my least favorite phase because you just feel horrible. You feel just rotten and you're not allowed to say why. . . . I was filming quite a lot but just inadvertently falling asleep all the time. And it was embarrassing. I face-planted onto this crocheted bag in-between takes. It was time for my close up...and I sit up and I have this crocheted indentation on the side of my face. It looked like I had third-degree burns. It was intense! And they were massaging my face, they had to take out the blow dryer. I halted production for a good half an hour. I just felt like an idiot. I was like, 'No, I wasn't up on a coke binge all night.' Your body's going through a lot!
Pregnancy can be rough, and sleepiness is something that often can't be avoided. Unfortunately, neither can long days on the set of a series like Homeland, when a show is in production and even an actor at the height of their fitness can get pretty sleepy after a 10-12 hour day of shooting scenes. Danes' body decided to take a cat-nap as she was waiting for takes, and she told The Tonight Show the next thing she remembered was being woken up by production staff after using a crocheted bag a crew member made her as a pillow.
Danes certainly felt bad about holding up production, but now that her pregnancy is out and public knowledge, surely most of the Homeland cast and crew who weren't already in the know are far more understanding then they may have been at the time. After all, there had to be at least one person grumbling that they had to spend an extra 30 minutes at work that day as the lead actress got her face massaged. What's really impressive about this story is that Danes was able to go from a sleeping stupor to ready to act that quickly, although one would imagine having a blow dryer blasted in her face probably served as a decent wake-up call.
As embarrassing as it may have been, Claire Danes managed to get through filming Season 7 of Homeland with her secret intact and managed to surprise the fanbase. Danes also managed to surprise fans recently with the news that Season 8 of Homeland will be the show's final season. Ironically, the end of the series will grant Danes some much-needed rest, as the show has been one of the longest projects she's ever been a part of. As sad as that may be for fans, at least Danes will finally be able to sleep on all the crocheted things she wants!
Homeland airs on Showtime Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET. With Season 7 winding down, be sure to check out our midseason and summer premiere guides to see what else is headed to television.
