Claire Danes
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Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. Prolific in film and television since her teens, she is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Danes first gained recognition for starring in the 1994 teen drama series My So-Called Life, winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and receiving a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She made her film debut in the same year in Little Women (1994), and gained wider fame for starring in the romance Romeo + Juliet (1996). Danes has since appeared in The Rainmaker (1997), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Hours (2002), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Shopgirl (2005), and Stardust (2007). She appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues in 2000 and made her Broadway debut playing Eliza Doolittle in a 2007 revival of Pygmalion.
In 2010, Danes portrayed the title character in the HBO film Temple Grandin for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. From 2011 to 2020, she starred as Carrie Mathison in the Showtime drama series Homeland, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series. In 2022, she starred in the FX on Hulu series Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Early life and education
Claire Catherine Danes was born April 12, 1979<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Manhattan, New York City,<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014">Template:Cite web</ref> the daughter of sculptor and printmaking artist Carla Danes (née Hall),<ref name="CarlaDanes-Work">Template:Cite web</ref> and photographer Christopher Danes.<ref name="ChrisDanes-Photog">Template:Cite web</ref> Her older brother, Asa, is a lawyer.<ref name="CarlaDanes-CV">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="SeegerWeiss-AsaDanes">Template:Cite web</ref> During Danes's childhood, her mother ran a small toddler day care center called "Danes Tribe" out of the family's SoHo loft, and later she served as Danes's manager.<ref name="NYTimes-TempleGrandin-2010">Template:Cite news</ref> Danes's father worked as a residential general contractor in New York for 20 years in a company he ran called "Overall Construction".<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> He also worked as a photographer and computer consultant.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> Danes is named after her paternal grandmother, Claire Danes (née Tomowske).<ref name="NYTimes-GibsonDanes-1992">Template:Cite news</ref> Danes describes her ethnic origins as "WASPy as you can get".<ref>Teen Angel, Movieline, December 1995, by Dennis Hensley</ref>
The family lived in an artist's loft on Crosby Street.<ref name="InterviewMag-NewAgain-2013-1995">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYorker-VolcanicPerformances-2013">Template:Cite news</ref> Danes attended P.S. 3 and P.S. 11 for elementary school and Professional Performing Arts School for junior high school.<ref name="NYDailyNews-CityKid-1988">Template:Cite news</ref> She attended the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies in Manhattan,<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> where her future Homeland co-star Morena Baccarin and she were classmates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She attended The Dalton School for one year of high school before moving with her parents to Santa Monica, California, for the role in My So-Called Life.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> They moved two days after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" />
Danes graduated from the Lycée Français de Los Angeles in 1997.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> In 1998, she began studies at Yale University.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After studying for two years as a psychology major, she dropped out to focus on her film career.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" />
Danes started studying dance when she was six years old.<ref name="NYTimes-Choreographer-2007">Template:Cite news</ref> She took dance classes from Ellen Robbins at Dance Theater Workshop and acting classes at HB Studio<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute at the age of 10,<ref name="NYTimes-Choreographer-2007" /> and appeared in theater and video productions in New York City.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> Although she continued to dance, Danes said that her focus shifted to acting by the time she was nine years old.<ref name="NYTimes-TempleGrandin-2010" />
Her audition with Miloš Forman when she was 11 led to roles in several student films.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> She signed with agent Karen Friedman at the Writers & Artists talent agency at age 12.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" />
Acting career
Television
In 1993 at age 13, Danes got her first big job working on the Dudley Moore TV sitcom pilot called Dudley, which was shot at Silvercup Studios in Astoria, Queens.<ref name="WTF-MarcMaron-2014" /> Later that same year, Danes played a 15-year-old teenage murderer in a guest starring role on Law & Order in the season three episode "Skin Deep". She appeared in an episode of HBO's Lifestories: Families in Crisis entitled "The Coming out of Heidi Leiter".Template:Cn
She then starred as the 15-year-old Angela Chase in the television drama series My So-Called Life.<ref name="NYTimes-MSCL-2007">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="People-MSCL-1994">Template:Cite web</ref> In March 1993, a pilot episode was shot; it would be almost another year and a half before broadcast. For her role, she won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy nomination. Despite being canceled after only 19 episodes, My So-Called Life has developed a large cult following.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1995, she starred in the Soul Asylum music video for "Just Like Anyone".
In 2010, Danes returned to television starring in the HBO production of Temple Grandin, a biopic about the autistic animal scientist. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. The film was well received and Grandin herself praised Danes's performance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From 2011 to 2020, Danes starred in the Showtime series Homeland, in which she played Carrie Mathison, an agent of the CIA who has bipolar disorder.<ref name=Vogue2013>Template:Cite journal</ref> She won two consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in Homeland.<ref name="CNN-Emmys-2012">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Emmys-ClaireDanes-Bio">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, Time magazine named Danes one of the 100 most influential people in the world.<ref name="Time100-2012">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, Danes replaced Keira Knightley as Cora Seaborn in the Apple TV drama series The Essex Serpent, based on the 2016 novel by Sarah Perry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2025, she starred as author Aggie Wiggs in the Netflix psychological thriller The Beast in Me.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Film
Danes played Beth March in the 1994 film adaptation of Little Women. Although ABC canceled My So-Called Life in 1995, her higher profile led to being cast in several film roles,<ref name="NYorker-VolcanicPerformances-2013"/> including 1995's Home for the Holidays and 1996's I Love You, I Love You Not and To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday.
Her first leading role on the big screen came in 1996, when she portrayed Juliet in the film Romeo + Juliet,<ref name="NYorker-VolcanicPerformances-2013"/> inspiring director Baz Luhrmann to call her, at age 16, "the Meryl Streep of her generation".<ref name=Vogue2013/> Later that year, it was reported that she turned down the female lead role in Titanic.<ref name="TimesUK-2009">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="EW-Titanic-1997">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In 1997, Danes played abused wife Kelly Riker in The Rainmaker, directed by Francis Ford Coppola,<ref name="NYorker-VolcanicPerformances-2013"/> as well as Jenny in Oliver Stone's noir U Turn.
In 1998, she played several very different roles: Cosette in Les Misérables, and the pregnant teenage daughter of Polish immigrants in Polish Wedding.
In 1999, she made her first appearance in an animated feature with the English version of Princess Mononoke. That same year, she played the role of Julie Barnes in the big screen adaptation of the 1970s TV show The Mod Squad. She also starred in Brokedown Palace.
Danes left her career temporarily to attend Yale, having made 13 films in five years.<ref name="NYorker-VolcanicPerformances-2013"/> In 2002, she returned to film. She starred in Igby Goes Down. Later that year, she co-starred as Clarissa Vaughan's (played by Meryl Streep) daughter in the Oscar-nominated film The Hours. The following year, she was cast in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, followed by Stage Beauty in 2004. She earned critical acclaim in 2005 when she starred in Shopgirl and The Family Stone. In 2007, she appeared in the fantasy Stardust, which she described as a "classic model of romantic comedy".<ref name="Guardian-Homeland-2012">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, she appeared in the drama film, Evening, and the thriller film, The Flock. She was also featured in the 2008 film, Me and Orson Welles.
Theatre
Danes got her start in New York City theater appearing in performances of Happiness, Punk Ballet, and Kids Onstage, for which she choreographed her own dance. In April 2000, she appeared off Broadway in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. In November of that same year, she appeared as Emily Webb in a one-night-only staged reading of Thornton Wilder's Our Town at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. The production was staged by Bess Armstrong, who had played the mother of Danes's character on My So-Called Life.<ref name="MSCL-Forum-2002">Template:Cite web</ref>
In September 2005, Danes returned to New York's Performance Space 122, where she had performed as a child. She appeared in choreographer Tamar Rogoff's solo dance piece "Christina Olson: American Model", where she portrayed the subject of Andrew Wyeth's famous painting Christina's World. Olson suffered from muscular deterioration that left her weak and partially paralyzed.<ref name="PS122-ChristinaOlson-2013">Template:Cite web</ref> Danes was praised for her dance skills and acting in the project.<ref name="DanceMag-ChristinaOlsen-2005">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="VVoice-Dance-2005">Template:Cite web</ref>
In January 2007, Danes performed in Performance Space 122's Edith and Jenny.<ref name="PS122-EdithJenny-2010">Template:Cite web</ref> Later in 2007, Danes made her Broadway theatre debut as Eliza Doolittle in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, directed by David Grindley at the American Airlines Theatre.<ref name="People-Pygmalion-2007">Template:Cite news</ref>
In January 2012, Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals named Danes their 2012 Woman of the Year.<ref name="BwayWorld-HastyPudding-2012">Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2016, Danes performed in Dry Powder by Sarah Burgess at The Public Theater, starring alongside John Krasinski, Hank Azaria and Sanjit De Silva. The play was directed by Thomas Kail.<ref name="NYT-DryPowder-2016">Template:Cite news</ref>
Other work
In 1995, Danes was the main character of Soul Asylum's music video for the song "Just Like Anyone".
In 1997, Danes wrote an introduction to Neil Gaiman's Death: The Time of Your Life.<ref name="NeilGaiman-intro-2010">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2012, Danes's audiobook recording of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale was released at Audible.com. Her performance won the 2013 Audie Award for fiction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2013, she hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo.<ref name="NobelPeacePrizeConcert-2013">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2015, Danes was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.<ref name="Variety">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Personal life
Danes has been in therapy since the age of six and considers it "a helpful tool and a luxury to self-reflect and get some insight".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1998, Danes was declared persona non grata by Filipino officials. Restrictions imposed on Danes involved a ban from entering Manila or the Philippines and a prohibition on distribution of her films in the region.Template:Refn The ban came after Danes said Manila, the capital of the Philippines where she had filmed Brokedown Palace, "smelled of cockroaches, with rats all over, and that there is no sewage system, and the people do not have anything – no arms, no legs, no eyes". Danes later apologized for her remarks, but the country refused to lift the ban.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Press 2013">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Danes and her mother are supporters of the charity Afghan Hands, which helps women in Afghanistan gain independence, education, and livable wages.<ref name="AfghanHands-About">Template:Cite web</ref> Danes is also a long time supporter of DonorsChoose, a website that allows public school teachers to create project requests.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Danes is a feminist and has been critical of female underrepresentation within Hollywood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Relationships and family
Danes met singer Ben Lee at her eighteenth birthday party in 1997. They dated for six years before separating in 2003.<ref name="TheAge-2005">Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2003, Danes began dating actor Billy Crudup, with whom she starred in Stage Beauty. Their relationship attracted significant media attention, as it led to Crudup's break-up with actress Mary-Louise Parker, who was seven months pregnant with their son William at the time. Danes and Crudup's relationship lasted until 2006. Reflecting on their relationship, Danes had commented in 2015, "That was a scary thing. It was really hard. I didn't know how to not do that. I was just in love with him, and needed to explore that, and I was 24 ... I didn't quite know what those consequences would be. But it's OK. I went through it."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Danes met actor Hugh Dancy on the set of the film Evening in 2006. They announced their engagement in February 2009 and married in France later that year.<ref name="People-Engaged-2009">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="People-Wedding-2009">Template:Cite news</ref> They have three children: two sons born in 2012 and 2018,<ref name="People-Cyrus-2012">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a daughter born in 2023.<ref name="People">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Little Women | Beth March | Film debut |
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Young Glady Jo Cleary | |
| Home for the Holidays | Kitt Larson | ||
| 1996 | I Love You, I Love You Not | Daisy / Young Nana | |
| To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday | Rachel Lewis | ||
| Romeo + Juliet | Juliet Capulet | ||
| 1997 | U Turn | Jenny | |
| The Rainmaker | Kelly Riker | ||
| 1998 | Les Misérables | Cosette | |
| Polish Wedding | Hala | ||
| 1999 | The Mod Squad | Julie Barnes | |
| Brokedown Palace | Alice Marano | ||
| Princess Mononoke | San (voice) | English dub | |
| 2002 | Igby Goes Down | Sookie Sapperstein | |
| The Hours | Julia Vaughan | ||
| 2003 | It's All About Love | Elena | |
| The Rage in Placid Lake | Girl at Seminar | Cameo | |
| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | Kate Brewster | ||
| 2004 | Stage Beauty | Maria / Margaret Hughes | |
| 2005 | Shopgirl | Mirabelle Buttersfield | |
| The Family Stone | Julie Morton | ||
| 2007 | Evening | Ann Grant | |
| Stardust | Yvaine | ||
| The Flock | Allison Lowry | ||
| 2008 | Me and Orson Welles | Sonja Jones | |
| 2011 | Ben Lee: Catch My Disease | Herself | Documentary film |
| 2013 | As Cool as I Am | Lainee Diamond | |
| 2017 | Brigsby Bear | Emily | |
| 2018 | A Kid Like Jake | Alex Wheeler |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Law & Order | Tracy Brandt | Episode: "Skin Deep" |
| 1994 | Lifestories: Families in Crisis | Katie Leiter | Episode: "More than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter" |
| 1994–1995 | My So-Called Life | Angela Chase | Main role |
| 1997 | Saturday Night Live | Host | Episode: "Claire Danes/Mariah Carey" |
| 2010 | Temple Grandin | Temple Grandin | Television film |
| 2011–2020 | Homeland | Carrie Mathison | Main role |
| 2015 | Master of None | Nina Stanton | Episode: "The Other Man" |
| 2017 | Portlandia | Joan | Episode: "The Storytellers" |
| 2022 | The Essex Serpent | Cora Seaborne | Miniseries; main role |
| Fleishman Is in Trouble | Rachel Fleishman | Miniseries; main role | |
| 2023 | Full Circle | Sam Browne | Miniseries; main role |
| 2025 | The Beast in Me | Aggie Wiggs | Main role |
| The American Revolution (TV series) | Abagail Adams | Voice; docuseries | |
| TBA | The Applebaum Curse | In development<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Vagina Monologues | Performer | Westside Theatre |
| 2005 | Christina Olson: American Model | Christina Olson | Performance Space 122 |
| 2007 | Edith and Jenny | Edith | |
| Pygmalion | Eliza Doolittle | American Airlines Theatre | |
| 2016 | Dry Powder | Jenny | The Public Theater |
Awards and nominations
Emmy Awards (Primetime)
The Primetime Emmy Award is American award bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in U.S. primetime TV programming.
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign.
Screen Actors Guild Awards
The Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) to recognize outstanding performances in film and primetime television.
Critics' Choice Awards
The Critics' Choice Awards—both film and television—are accolades presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BTJA) (US).
Satellite Awards
The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs.
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing the people and the work of popular culture, voted on by the general public.
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Favorite Premium Cable TV Actress | Homeland | Template:Nom |
| 2016 | Favorite Premium TV Series Actress | Homeland | Template:Nom |
Footnotes
References
External links
- 1979 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from Manhattan
- American Shakespearean actresses
- American child actresses
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
- Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winners
- Dalton School alumni
- Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
- Living people
- Lycée Français de Los Angeles alumni
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
- People from Greenwich Village
- Yale College alumni