How a chance visit to Los Angeles got Nimrat her return ticket to 'Homeland'

Nimrat Kaur is returning to the final season of "Homeland" and the actor says she never thought she would reprise her role in the hit American TV series.

Nimrat, who played Tasneem Qureshi, an ISI officer in the fourth season of the award-winning show, will return for the eighth installment.

"When I did season four, I had no idea I will be brought back. It was just one season deal. This offer came as a surprise to me. Who would have thought? I had never thought I would go back on the show as that character again," Nimrat told PTI.

The actor recounted how a chance visit to Los Angeles played an integral role in bagging the last season.

"They (the team) wanted to meet me as they were in the process of scripting the final season. Luckily, I was in Los Angeles at the same time. They wanted my character to return because it did well for them," she said.

The actor said she is looking forward to playing Tasneem again.

"The opportunity to play it again and to jump into that universe is exciting. It is for the first time that I am repeating what I played onscreen," she said.

She recalled it was tough adjusting to a different type of role and a different working environment in Hollywood.

"It was a little challenging when I got there as it was first time I was working abroad so the system was new to me. It is out and out grey character and I had to train myself to be comfortable playing the part."
"There is proper clarity on the sets, everything works as per the clock. There is no room for error. I learnt to be spontaneous and not be worried about how it will pan out. I went with the flow and had trust."