Rupert Friend teases Peter Quinn's fate, admits he may not return 'in one piece' in Homeland season 6

Homeland season 6 will feature a different Peter Quinn, whose life was last seen hanging in the balance. Actor Rupert Friend has opened up about his character's fate and revealed that Quinn will "not necessarily come back in one piece" in season 6.

The CIA agent suffered a stroke and ended the fifth season of the Showtime series on death bed, with Carrie Mathison wondering whether or not to pull the plug and end his life. Now, Friend told Entertainment Weekly that Peter has been to hell and returned, and "will not necessarily come back in one piece. He's not really even sure if his life is one that's worth living".

He noted that Homeland showrunner Alex Gansa had told him that Quinn would meet his end in season 5. "Showrunner Alex Gansa actually called me and said, 'Listen, thanks for all your hard work and that's the end of Quinn," he told the weekly. Things changed with Gansa realising that there was a "more interesting way to end" the season, he stressed.

The showrunner himself admitted that he planned to kill off Quinn's character. Gansa told the website, "There was a moment toward the end of last season where I let [Friend] know there was a fairly decent chance he wasn't going to survive. We probably thought he was going to die in the gas chamber. But as these things morph and change, as we got closer to that moment, we found a more interesting way to end it."

He continued, "We began filling in the blanks, and there was a need for a character for Quinn to interact with while he's captured by the bad guys. And as that relationship between them developed, we thought, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if this guy saved Quinn's life?' And that led to the whole idea of him not dying in that environment."

Homeland season 6 premiere is currently available on the Showtime streaming service, Showtime on Demand and Showtime Anytime, ahead of its TV debut on Sunday (15 January) at 9pm ET/PT.