Profile: Rupert Friend

BY: Matt Elisofon

Some stars soar into the stratosphere, others fly under the radar, and still others sprint along the ground, their brilliance easily visible to anyone who deigns to look closer to Earth. Homeland star Rupert Friend is one of those terrestrial talents and he’s criminally overlooked.

“My secret is always to get a talented and beautiful actress to carry the film and then play second fiddle,” the humble English hunk told The Daily Mail. “Behind every slightly ineffectual man is a fantastic woman.”

Despite the veracity of this statement, Friend, like most folks, sells his abilities short. After all, the guy was a natural, picking up acting at a late age and getting into a prestigious acting school with no experience. “I was about to set off sailing around the world when I heard I’d got in to drama school,” he said. “Everyone else there had grown up singing and dancing, whereas I was the opposite.

Soon after graduating, Friend scored a supporting role in Pride and Prejudice (2005). Although a small part, Kiera Knightley took notice and the two began a five-year relationship. Then, after notable performances behind “talented and beautiful” actresses who “carried” films such as Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri (2009) and Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria (2009), Friend bounced around until he booked the role of troubled government assassin Peter Quinn in season two of Homeland.

Thanks to his rare combination of leading-man looks and supporting-man humility, Friend was able to both stun and go silent like any CIA spook worth his salt. In addition, Friend’s ability to pull off PTSD and a softer side for Carrie (Claire Danes) makes the part of Quinn quietly difficult, so quiet in fact, that praise and accolades have passed him by. But if last season’s finale and this season’s premiere are any indication, Peter’s character is about to go Doug Stamper on all of us and send Friend’s star to predator drone-level heights. So here’s to hoping Quinn removes his silencer this season and starts making some noise!