Few child stars can successfully navigate into adult roles, but Claire Danes may be
the exception.
Success comes at a price though, and this star isn’t afraid to take the big risks
— or to leave a few broken hearts in her wake.
Keep watching for all the details.
As The Guardian notes, Claire Danes' acting career seemed predestined even if she was
born into what the outlet called a "typically artsy and liberal New York family" rather
than a showbiz family.
The youngster announced her ambitions at the age of just 4 and, by 6, she was starring
in off-Broadway productions, noting frankly,
"I was very driven to act from a very young age, and my parents were not only tolerant
of that drive but also encouraging."
However, Danes clarified that she wasn't pushed to support the family, advising firmly her
folks were not stage parents.
Although it may seem to outsiders like a wild idea for a 6-year-old to take to the stage
purely based on her own self-belief, the "Little Women" star acknowledged that growing up in
New York City exposed her to a lot of culture, and acting for a living was viable.
And, as the following years proved, indeed it was.
"My So-Called Life" was a huge moment for the teenaged Claire Danes, as well as other
up-and-coming cast-members including Jared Leto, who played her dreamy love interest.
Looking back on the formative show, Danes told NPR,
"I remember just being amazed by the quality of the writing, that somebody out there had
been able to articulate what I was going through so, so perfectly."
She added that she felt lucky the show told a story that was, quote, "confrontingly honest."
Likewise, as the actress acknowledged, it costs more money for a production to hire
younger actors, rather than grown-ups who can work longer hours and don't have school.
"I have to study."
Danes is incredibly proud of the fact that "My So-Called Life" featured a real high school-aged
kid playing a high-schooler.
The show also provided an opportunity for the actor to reckon with some of her own difficult
experiences in school, including being bullied, for which she's equally grateful.
Gen Z readers may more readily think of Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh when they hear "Little
Women," but for those of us who came of age in the '90s, our hearts belong to Winona Ryder
and Kirsten Dunst.
Young Claire Danes also appeared in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 adaptation as Beth, and for
the actor, the film was a major moment in time.
Danes gushed to The New York Times that the project felt like the beginning for her, not
least because it was her very first movie role.
The actor was cast after a producer friend of screenwriter Robin Swicord showed her an
early cut of "My So-Called Life," to showcase Danes' talents.
Casting director Carrie Frazer shared how it was immediately clear the youngster was
the perfect Beth, admitting she cried because Danes' audition was so moving.
As Entertainment Tonight notes, Claire Danes wasn't the original choice for Juliet in Baz
Lurhmann's beloved modern Shakespearean adaptation, "Romeo + Juliet."
She took over the role after fellow child actor Natalie Portman dropped out.
Thankfully, it was a perfect fit, with co-lead Leonardo DiCaprio revealing during the audition
process that everyone else held back and played it demurely, while Danes rose to the occasion
and took charge.
DiCaprio argued,
"We thought that's what Juliet needed to be.
She needed to be a different Juliet and Claire brought that to it."
DiCaprio also praised his co-star's ability to bring her emotions to the surface, which
he acknowledged helped him get where he needed to be too.
According to the actor,
"She's a ball of emotion, a powerhouse, as I like to put it."
"What's in a name?
That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet."
In a joint interview with Entertainment Weekly, conducted during the shoot in Mexico City,
Danes admitted to finding the role of Juliet exhausting because she goes through so many
extremes over the course of the film.
However, the young actor — cast at just 16 years old — relished the challenge, in
a move that would characterize the rest of her career.
As of early 2022, Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio have yet to reunite on screen, but
she did audition to play his secretary, in 2011's "J. Edgar."
Danes decided against it, however.
As the actor reasoned to Vogue,
"I was like, 'Do I want to play the secretary to the boss man or do I want to be the boss
man?'"
However, years before, Danes had the opportunity to essentially be Juliet opposite her Romeo
again, in the world-conquering disaster movie "Titanic."
During an appearance on Dax Shepherd's "Armchair Expert" podcast, Danes shared how she was
offered the role that was ultimately played by Kate Winslet.
She was only 17, and despite having a small crush on DiCaprio, who also went back and
forth on committing to the project, Danes didn't feel it was the best move for her.
When "Titanic" launched its leads into the stratosphere, the "My So-Called Life" star
knew she'd made the right choice.
Danes has no regrets about turning it down, clarifying,
"I wasn't conflicted.
I was feeling eager to have different creative experiences and that felt like a repeat and
it was going to propel me towards something that I knew I didn't have the resources to
cope with."
Back in 1997, Claire Danes was at the peak of her fame following the success of "My So-Called
Life," which wrapped in 1995.
However, as the Chicago Tribune notes, at just 18 years old the actor took inspiration
from mentor and friend Jodie Foster, a fellow child star done good, and took time from her
career to attend Yale.
"I really needed another experience."
Danes, who already had 10 movies under her belt by that stage, admitted at the time,
"Some people are skeptical of that choice for me."
However, her parents and team were extremely supportive, according to Danes.
The "Homeland" star noted she was a star student prior to dropping out to focus on acting.
It was only at the age of 18 that Danes realized how much she'd given up to pursue her dream.
As she admitted to NPR,
"I chose to stop acting for a time and I went to college to just give myself a chance to
catch up with some of that developmental work, and just hang out with kids my own age in
a safe place."
These days, Claire Danes keeps her relationship with her husband and father of her kids, Hugh
Dancy, strictly under wraps.
And, as it turns out, her reasoning for doing so relates back to another high-profile relationship,
which taught the actor a tough lesson about falling in love in the public eye.
As a profile in Blackbook details, Danes became a tabloid staple when fellow actor Billy Crudup
left his then-pregnant partner, Mary-Louise Parker, for her.
The two met on the set of the 2004 movie "Stage Beauty."
Looking back on that time in her life, Danes reasoned,
"That was a choice I made to fall in love.
It's unpleasant to be cast in such an unflattering role, but I just had to remain steadfast.
I was living with the same kind of integrity that I had always lived with."
Danes pointed out how, as a celebrity, it can be difficult to distance yourself from
the opinions of others.
Thankfully, the actor is far removed from the situation now, and rationalized that criticism
comes with the territory of being a famous actor.
Naturally, Claire Danes was never one to simply take every role that came her way, even when
it meant she didn't ascend to the heights of some of her former co-stars, including
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kirsten Dunst.
In fact, in an interview with Marie Claire, the actor revealed that there was a two-year
period when she didn't work at all, because she was holding out for something truly great.
However, even though the "Romeo + Juliet" star knew it was the right move, not doing
what she loved also rendered Danes rudderless.
She explained succinctly,
"I was in such agony.
I had been so stimulated and energized, and I felt really robust and capable and eager.
But I couldn't go back to the ingénue role or the limited secretary-type roles.
I wanted to play someone who would move the story forward."
Funnily enough, the next role Danes took would change her career forever.
"Homeland" is the role that made Claire Danes' career, at least in her adult years.
And she chose it precisely because it seemed like something completely outside of her usual
purview.
The show came following a self-imposed two-year exile from the industry.
Danes told Marie Claire,
"My goal is always to do something that feels just beyond my reach, and 'Homeland' continues
to do that.
Every season, they find new ways to scare me."
"I'm just trying to do good work."
The actor continued,
"The show is like a diamond that fell from the sky.
I'll always feel slightly bludgeoned by it, but in the best way possible."
Danes won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of tortured protagonist Carrie Mathison, and
was nominated for three more.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the actor confirmed that returning to television wasn't a decision
she made lightly, but the role simply wasn't one Danes could turn down.
She divulged,
"I have not read a character this compelling in a movie script in quite some time."
To the actor, Carrie was someone whose undeniable intelligence rendered her increasingly difficult
to read, making the complex character endlessly exciting and challenging to play.
As Blackbook notes, Claire Danes met husband and "Hannibal" star Hugh Dancy on the set
of the 2007 movie "Evening."
The happy couple tied the knot in 2009, and subsequently welcomed two sons.
Although Danes admitted to Blackbook that marriage wasn't something she envisioned for
herself, she said,
"I've always wanted to be in a partnership, I've always wanted to have that kind of intimacy
and collaborate with someone in such a deep way."
She knew they were meant for each other because being with Dancy was so much easier, and felt
more secure, than any relationship the "Homeland" star had ever been in.
Danes explained,
"I find it very freeing to know that, okay, it takes constant nurturing and attention,
but I can also stop looking for the one — that's established."
Dancy, meanwhile, told the Evening Standard he's in awe of his wife's acting abilities,
echoing comments made throughout her career.
Meanwhile, juggling their demanding jobs comes relatively easily to the two, who prioritize
their family above all else.
Playing bold, complicated anti-heroine Carrie in "Homeland" was one of the greatest challenges
of Claire Danes's career.
The actor told Net-a-Porter, as the show wrapped up in 2020,
"I'll miss playing such a brilliant, intrepid, impulsive, flawed hero."
The TV star acknowledged she started the show barely married and ended it more than a decade
into her relationship with actor Hugh Dancy, and with two kids.
She revealed,
"Both our sons learnt to crawl in Morocco, and I have some amusing breast-pumping photos
in Moroccan green rooms."
Her character Carrie's reluctance to be a mother was a fascinating counterpoint to Danes'
real-life experience, but the ambitious actor relished the challenge and even suggested
it was a great way to bring more attention to one of the biggest taboos still plaguing
women — the desire to not have kids.
In 1994, a 15-year-old Claire Danes spoke to ET about her future goals.
"I just want to be a sane person.
I wanna be a person who has a life and who acts."
Speaking to CBS News in 2020, the actor acknowledged that, while looking back on her impressive
career trajectory, she's certainly achieved that goal.
"Knock wood, I don't wanna tempt fate—this has all gone much better than….
Than I had ever imagined or hoped.
Yeah."
On what she still has left to accomplish, Danes told Net-a-Porter,
"I would like to play somebody who's a little less of a superhero: somebody in a relationship,
someone in a marriage."
Considering how far she's come, and everything the plucky New Yorker achieved since she was
treading the boards at six years old, there's no doubting Danes will pull it off and then
some.
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