Showtime Picks Up HOMELAND Starring Patinkin, Danes, et al.

According to published reports, Showtime has ordered 12 episodes of 'Homeland,' which features the talents of Broadway veterans Mandy Patinkin and Claire Danes.

Acclaimed actor Mandy Patinkin, whose career has spanned musical theater, film, TV, recordings and the concert stage will return to television for the first time since starring in Criminal Minds. He will portray a pivotal role in the series as "Saul," a veteran CIA Division Chief who is Carrie's (Danes) boss and mentor. A production of FOX 21, the series is loosely based on Gideon Raff's Israeli television series "Prisoners of War." The pilot will be executive produced by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (24, X-Files). Other casting, including the role of Sergeant Scott Brody, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Mandy Patinkin is an acclaimed and award-winning actor of TV, film and theater. On television, he won an Emmy Award (as well as a Golden Globe(R) nomination) for his performance in Chicago Hope, and also starred in Criminal Minds and in the Showtime original series Dead Like Me. His most noted film roles were in The Princess Bride, Alien Nation, Yentl, Men With Guns, Dick Tracy, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. On stage, he originated iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park with George, Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden Burrs in The Wild Party and his Tony Award winning performance as Che Guevara in Evita. Patinkin continues to tour his one-man show Mandy Patinkin in Concert as well as concerts he has created with artists such as Patti LuPone, Nathan Gunn and Taylor Mac. He also continues as a recording artist on the Nonesuch label.

In April 2000, Danes appeared off Broadway in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. In November of that same year, she appeared as Emily Webb in a one night only staged reading of Thorton Wilder's Our Town at All Saint's Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. The production was staged by Bess Armstrong who'd played the mother of Danes' character on My So-Called Life. Also featured in the cast were several other My So-Called Life actors including Tom Irwin, Devon Gummersall and Paul Dooley. In 2007, Danes made her Broadway theatre debut as Eliza Doolittle in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, directed by David Grindley at the American Airlines Theatre.