5. Clare Danes/Carrie Matheson
Who knew Leonardo DiCaprio's co-star from Romeo and Juliet could deliver such a compelling, dark and utterly brilliant performance as this? Clare Danes as Carrie Matheson was a revelation. Every mannerism, every look, every tone, had a meaning. Her utter desperation to prove that the man she had fallen in love with was guilty led to a bitterly conflicted mind, one already suffering from bi-polar. Her relationship with her mentor Saul, her dangerous dedication to her job in the CIA, her past with Eastes, her desperation to finish the job; these are all facets of what make Carrie Matheson tick, but it is the performance of Danes that so brings her to life. Danes ability to play Carrie as someone permanently on the brink of losing it is masterful. It could so easily become tiresome, but the inner conflict Danes manages to drag out is utterly engrossing. In Season 2 Carrie is recovering from her electroshock therapy, with the trailer suggesting she will be hauled back into the CIA, and sent on assignment to a so far non-descript Arabic country. Anything could happen. And that is the beauty of Homeland Season 2. Anything could happen. Enjoy.