'I Literally Had The Chance To Walk Into One Of My Favorite Shows': Costa Ronin On Showtime's Homeland & Claire Danes

(CBS Local)-- Showtime's "Homeland" is airing its series finale on Sunday, April 26 and actor Costa Ronin has become one of the show's biggest stars of the past two seasons.

The actor plays Russian intelligence officer Yevgeny Gromov and Ronin's character is a major part of the eight and final season of the series and he's loved every minute of being on the show.

"It's really stepping into an alternative reality where everything is real and you get to touch everything and work with the material. It makes it really, really special," said Ronin in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "It's really quite cool. I've been a fan of this show since it came out. I never thought I would be a part of it and when an opportunity came up it was quite surreal. I literally had the chance to walk into one of my favorite shows. It was a really special moment. This show did get to travel around the world quite a bit. I've only been a part of it the last two years and even still, we've shot in Virginia, Hungary, Morocco, and Los Angeles. All we can do as actors is create wholesome people."

FULL INTERVIEW:

Ronin says that everything you saw with Gromov's evolution this year, also existed last year. The multiple layers of Ronin's character and the show is one the reasons why he thinks "Homeland" has been so successful over the years.

"When you work on a character, you have to think of it as an onion," said Ronin. "What I had to do this year is figure out how my onion can create another onion. Yevgeny had to figure out how to work with Carrie. There's an element of respect and understanding and there's a fascination because they really are mirror images of one another. They complete one another and understand one another. At the same time, they still work for their own people and their own flags."

While Ronin has worked with many great actors in projects like "The Americans" and Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood," Claire Danes is in a category of her own based on how she's able to jump in and out of playing Carrie Mathison.

"It's quite remarkable. I've been watching the show since the beginning and what's really cool is that she is able to get into that character instantly," said Ronin. "We could be having a conversation about Christmas and kids and then literally when they call action, it's on. In the eyes you can see that energy change. She is an absolutely remarkable artist. It was a gift to work with somebody like her and somebody like Mandy [Patankin.]

Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.