Claire Danes: The teen idol who Hollywood couldn't break

She's dazzled us with stellar performances, wowed us with countless awards, and proven her versatility across film, TV, and theatre. Claire Danes has been a part of our lives since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old in the 90s, and she hasn't stopped shining since. Let's revisit her amazing journey...

Born into the hustle and bustle of New York City in 1979, Danes was destined for a life steeped in artistry. Her dad was a photographer, her mom was versed in many arts: a painter, sculptor, fashion designer, and art teacher. As if that wasn't enough, her grandpa held the esteemed title of Dean at Yale's School of Art and Architecture.

At the tender age of six, Danes dipped her toes into the world of modern dance at the Dance Theater Workshop (New York Live Arts). The allure of acting soon had her hooked. By ten, she'd enrolled in the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, later honing her craft at the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies and the Professional Performing Arts School of New York.

As her passion for performing arts bloomed, Danes found herself juggling traditional studies with acting classes. As she told The Washington Post, she'd have quick 20-minute lessons with a private tutor in a trailer between shoots.

In her early years, Danes cut her teeth in a variety of short films. One of her first roles was in 'Dreams of Love' (1990) at just 11 years old, working under the directorial prowess of Milos Forman. At the same time, she was making waves on the off-off-Broadway scene in New York.

By the age of 12, she had signed her first professional contract with the Writers & Artists talent agency. This move opened the floodgates to new opportunities, leading to roles in the likes of 'Law and Order' and 'Lifestories: Families in Crisis,' as well as the TV film 'No Room for Opal.'

After respectfully declining Steven Spielberg's offer to join the cast of 'Schindler's List' (1993) to stay on her academic track, Danes hit the big time in 1994 with 'My So-Called Life.' As Angela Chase, she became a household name, capturing the hearts of viewers nationwide.

As Angela, Danes played a 15-year-old suburbanite from the fictional town of Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, navigating the ups and downs of teenage life and family. It was a narrative that defined the struggles of 90s adolescents.

Her portrayal of the lovelorn Angela Chase, infatuated with Jared Leto's Jordan Catalano, fast-tracked Claire Danes to stardom. This unforgettable role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress and an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

With her star on the rise, Danes made the transition from television to film in 1994 with 'Little Women.' Directed by Gilliam Armstrong, she shone in the role of the delicate Beth, acting alongside heavyweights like Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Bale, Susan Sarandon, and Gabriel Byrne.

Throughout the rest of the 90s, Danes delivered memorable performances in 'Home for the Holidays' (1995) directed by Jodie Foster, 'The Rainmaker' (1997), 'U-Turn' (1997) opposite Sean Penn, and 'Les Misérables' (1998) with Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman.

Danes also dipped into voice acting in the 90s, providing the English voice-over for San, the "wild" anti-human protagonist in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film 'Princess Mononoke,' produced by the renowned Studio Ghibli.

Of all her 90s roles, her portrayal of Juliet in Baz Lurhmann's modern take on William Shakespeare's 'Romeo + Juliet' (1996) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio stands out as a signature performance.

Her immense talent led to high praise from directors. Lurhmann himself hailed her as "the Meryl Streep of her generation," and Oliver Stone penned her a letter of recommendation to study Psychology at Yale.

A year after playing Lurhmann's Juliet, James Cameron wanted to reunite Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Titanic' (1997). However, Danes declined the role of Rose (later played by Kate Winslet) to avoid the skyrocketing fame DiCaprio was experiencing.

Speaking on Dax Shepard's 'Armchair Expert' podcast in 2020, Danes said: “There was strong interest (in casting me as Rose), but I wasn't ready… I was really clear about it. I wasn’t conflicted. It was going to propel me to something I knew I didn’t have the resources to cope with. I knew I had to do a lot of foundation building."

She said that she shared agents with Dicaprio and was stunned by the level of fame the had post-Titanic. “I remember after that movie came out and he just went into another stratosphere,” she told Sherpard, adding that she found it “a little scary.”

In the same interview, Danes emphasized her preference for taking things slowly, building her acting career step-by-step and trying to enjoy her youth in the most normal way possible – a decision she's never once regretted.

After this decision, Danes spent a couple of years studying at Yale before returning to acting in 2002. She became part of two more hit films that further bolstered her career: 'The Hours' as Julia Vaughan, and 'Igby Goes Down.'

Throughout the first decade of the 2000s, we saw Danes in fascinating films such as 'Stage Beauty' (2004), 'The Family Stone' (2005), 'Shopgirl' (2005), 'Stardust' (2007), 'Me and Orson Welles' (2008), and the mini-series 'Temple Grandin' (2010).

The biopic 'Temple Grandin' not only won her a second Golden Globe for Best Actress and her first Emmy in the same category, but it also set the stage for Claire Danes' significant move into TV in the upcoming decade.

This "new life" on the small screen was solidified in 2011 with 'Homeland.' Created by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa, and Gideon Raff, the suspenseful series features Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, an impulsive and intuitive CIA agent living with bipolar disorder.

Her role in 'Homeland' stands as one of the high-water marks of her career. Across its eight-season, 96-episode run from 2011 to 2020, Danes' standout performance netted her two Golden Globes for best actress in a drama series and two Primetime Emmys in the same category for 2012 and 2013. In addition, she took home a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2013, among other laurels.

In recent years, we've had the pleasure of seeing Danes on the silver screen in films like 'As Cool As I Am' (2013), 'Brigsby Bear' (2017), and 'A Kid Like Jake' (2018). But, her primary focus has been on television, showcasing her talent in series like 'The Essex Serpent' (2022), where she shares the limelight with Tom Hiddleston.

In 2022, Danes added another miniseries to her portfolio, 'Fleishman Is in Trouble', an 8-episode brainchild of Taffy Brodesser-Akner, where she shares the screen with Jesse Eisenberg and Lizzy Caplan.

Thanks to Danes' role as Rachel Fleishman in the series, media outlets like The Cut coined the term "The Fleishman Effect." The term describes urban women of the middle-upper class experiencing an existential crisis as they navigate their 40s and 50s.

At 44, she's far from done. Danes' latest TV project was 'Full Circle', an HBO miniseries, where she was directed by Steven Soderbergh and shared the screen with Dennis Quaid. The plot revolves around an investigation into a failed kidnapping that unravels secrets buried deep, linking multiple characters and cultures in New York City. It has an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In her personal life, Claire Danes has been a passionate and active feminist, long before movements like 'Me Too' stormed the United States. She's also been vocal in criticizing the industry's undue focus on actresses' physical appearance.

“I remember a couple of Emmys ago, Lena Dunham and I were on the carpet together. We were singled out and criticized for having different body types – I was too skinny and she was too big,” she shared with People magazine in 2020. “I feel like my body is monitored and commented on infinitely more than my male counterpart.”

According to Vanity Fair, she currently resides in a two-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment in Soho, New York with her husband, the English actor Hugh Dancy. The couple, who met in 2007 on the set of 'Evening,’ tied the knot in a private ceremony in France in 2009.

Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy have welcomed two children, Cyrus Michael Christopher born in 2013, and Rowan, born in 2019. In July 2023, they welcomed their third bundle of joy into the world.

It remains to be seen whether Claire Danes will make a return to the big screen anytime soon. But one thing is certain – we can look forward to more of her riveting performances on TV. She still has a lot left in her to share...