Star wanted vacation for Homeland's third season (+trailer)

Damian Lewis asked for his Homeland character to be relaxing on a yacht with a "bevy of Russian beauties" in the new series.

The British actor portrays Nicholas Brody in the US CIA drama.

The character was rescued after being made a prisoner of war by al-Qaeda terrorists for eight years in the first season.

As the show wore on viewers became increasingly unsure of where his allegiance lay, with Brody forced to go on the run at the end of series two.

Lewis appeared at a press conference to promote the show in Beverly Hills this week, during which he joked about his input to the upcoming run.

"Brody is on the lam, he's disappeared into a network."

"Is he swanning around a yacht on the Cote d'Azur with a bevy of Russian beauties - which I pitched?" Lewis mused.

"Is he hidden away? Is he lost? When you do see him, I hope it will be interesting."

Claire Danes is troubled agent Carrie Mathison in the series, who has a tumultuous relationship with Brody. Although the show's bosses like to keep the program believable, they admit not all aspects of the upcoming episodes will be.

"There was still more story to tell between Carrie and Brody. I have no regrets about that. We'll always sacrifice a degree of believability in order to put two characters together in a dramatic way," producer Alex Gansa.

Carrie has bipolar disorder and is often seen struggling with what her condition means in terms of her job. This will continue in season three, with Claire admitting her character is in a dark place.

"It's pretty bleak in the beginning. She's gone off her meds for all sorts of reasons, which she believes strongly in," MailOnline quoted her as saying at the event.

"Carrie is always sitting on her own personal ticking bomb, and it's just an impossible dilemma. She's not great on the meds and she's even worse off them, but there's a really great sweet spot in the middle of those two spots that she's always trying to land on."

- AAP