Claire Danes

Claire Danes
Danes in Toronto for a MuchOnDemand promotion of Stardust, 2007
Born	Claire Catherine Danes April 12, 1979 (1979-04-12) (age 32) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Hugh Dancy (2009–present)

Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in the HBO TV film Temple Grandin. She currently has a lead role as Carrie Mathison in the Showtime series Homeland.

Early life

Danes was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York.^[1] Her mother, Carla, is a day-care provider, painter, and textile designer who later served as her daughter's manager, and her father, Christopher Danes (b. May 6, 1944 in Austin, Texas),^[2][3] is a computer consultant and former architectural photographer. Danes has described her background as being "as WASPy as you can get";^[4] her paternal grandfather, Gibson Andrew Danes (1910–1992 in Litchfield, Connecticut), was the dean of the art and architecture school at Yale University.^[5][6] She has an older brother, Asa (b. 1973).

Danes attended the Dalton School in New York City, the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, the Professional Performing Arts School,^[7] and the Lycée Français de Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. In 1998, Danes went to Yale University, her father's alma mater. Director Oliver Stone wrote her letter of recommendation to Yale.^[7] After studying for two years as a psychology major, she dropped out of Yale to focus on her film career.

Television

Claire Danes got her start as a guest star on Law & Order in an episode called "Skin Deep". She also appeared in an episode of HBO's Lifestories: Families in Crisis entitled "The Coming out of Heidi Leiter". In 1994, 15-year-old Danes starred as the 15-year-old Angela Chase in the television drama series My So-Called Life,^[8] for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received an Emmy nomination. The show was canceled after only 19 episodes. However, the show has developed a large cult following in the years since it was canceled.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Danes starred in the HBO production of Temple Grandin, a biopic about the eponymous autistic woman. She won the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries award. The film was well received and Grandin herself praised Danes' performance.^[9]

Later in 2010 it was announced that Danes would be starring in a pilot for a new Showtime series called Homeland in which she plays a CIA agent who suspects a war hero of planning a terrorist attack. The pilot costars Mandy Patinkin and Damian Lewis.^[10]

Film

Following the cancellation of My So Called Life, Danes made the transition into film. She played Elizabeth "Beth" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Little Women alongside Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Samantha Mathis, Trini Alvarado, Christian Bale, Susan Sarandon, and Gabriel Byrne. She also appeared as Holly Hunter's daughter in Home for the Holidays, which was directed by Jodie Foster. Danes appeared opposite French actress Jeanne Moreau, and Jude Law in 1995's I Love You, I Love You Not. She then played the role of Rachel in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday.

Danes first leading role on the big screen came in 1996. She portrayed Juliet Capulet in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo Montague. Later that year, it was reported that she turned down the female lead role in Titanic.^[11][12] Danes, however, said that while she may have been considered for the part, she was never offered the role.

In 1997, Claire Danes also worked alongside two acclaimed directors. She played abused wife Kelly Riker in John Grisham's The Rainmaker directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as well as the trashy, dim-witted Jenny in Oliver Stone's noir U Turn. In 1998, she played several very different roles: Cosette in Bille August's film adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, and the pregnant teenage daughter of Polish immigrants (played by Gabriel Byrne and Lena Olin) 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, and took the lead role in Brokedown Palace, alongside Kate Beckinsale and Bill Pullman. Then Danes left her career temporarily to pursue her education at Yale.

In 2002, Danes returned to the big screen. She starred alongside Susan Sarandon, Kieran Culkin, and Bill Pullman again, in Igby Goes Down. Later that year she co-starred as Meryl Streep's daughter in the Oscar-nominated, The Hours, with Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Ed Harris. 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 Steve Martin's Shopgirl alongside Martin and Jason Schwartzman, and in The Family Stone opposite Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton. In 2007, Danes appeared in the fantasy Stardust, which she described as a "classic model of romantic comedy",^[13] with Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, and Sienna Miller, the drama Evening, and appeared in The Flock, opposite Richard Gere.

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 Saint's Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. The production was staged by Bess Armstrong who'd played the mother of Danes' character on My So-Called Life. Also featured in the cast were several other My So-Called Life actors including Tom Irwin, Devon Gummersall and Paul Dooley.^[14]

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. "Tamar Rogoff uses her unique body-centric methodology to explore the ideas, spirit and physicality of a woman both rejected and revered."^[15] Danes was praised for her dance skills and the acting talent that she brought to the project.^[16][17]

In January 2007, Danes reunited with Rogoff and Rogoff's daughter and Danes' childhood friend Ariel Flavin to perform in Performance Space 122's "Edith and Jenny". In the two person dance performance, Danes and Flavin revisited their film and dance roots: "Danes and Flavin encounter their eleven year-old selves on screen, captured in their respective film debuts, Claire as Edith in Dreams of Love, and Ariel as Jenny in Coyote Mountain. Rites of passage unfold in fragments revealing the complexities of two fictional families. The lines between screen and stage, life and art, are blurred as Edith and Jenny, Danes and Flavin, form an alliance, stepping through and beyond their films and the fates of their families."^[18]

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.

Other work

In 1997, Danes wrote an introduction to Neil Gaiman's Death: The Time of Your Life.^[19]

Personal life

Danes had her first onscreen kiss in an episode of My So-Called Life before she had one in real life.^[20]

She dated her Stage Beauty and Princess Mononoke co-star Billy Crudup, which generated negative publicity due to rumors that their relationship caused the end of Crudup's relationship to then-pregnant Mary-Louise Parker.^[21] Both denied that they were involved prior to the end of Crudup's relationship with Parker. Danes' relationship with Crudup ended in December 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Danes married her Evening co-star Hugh Dancy in a quiet ceremony in France in 2009.^[22]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Little Women	Beth March	Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress Co-Starring in a Motion Picture
1995	How to Make an American Quilt	Glady Jo Cleary
	Home for the Holidays	Kitt Larson	Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Young Leading Actress - Feature Film
1996	I Love You, I Love You Not	Daisy/Young Nana
	Romeo + Juliet	Juliet Capulet	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress - Romance London Critics Circle Film Award for Actress of the Year MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (Shared with Leonardo DiCaprio) Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (Shared with Leonardo DiCaprio)
	To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday	Rachel Lewis	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress
1997	Princess Mononoke	San (voice)
	U Turn	Jenny
	The Rainmaker	Kelly Riker	Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Drama
1998	Les Misérables	Cosette
	Polish Wedding	Hala
1999	The Mod Squad	Julie Barnes
	Brokedown Palace	Alice Marano
2002	Igby Goes Down	Sookie Sapperstein
	The Hours	Julia Vaughn	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2003	It's All About Love	Elena
	The Rage In Placid Lake	Girl at Seminar
	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	Kate Brewster
2004	Stage Beauty	Maria
2005	Shopgirl	Mirabelle Buttersfield	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for Best Actress
	The Family Stone	Julie Morton
2007	Evening	Young Ann
	Stardust	Yvaine
	The Flock	Allison
2009	Me and Orson Welles	Sonja Jones
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"
	My So-Called Life	Angela Chase	1994–1995 (19 episodes) Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Youth Ensemble in a Television Series Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
2010	Temple Grandin	Temple Grandin	Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2011	Homeland	Carrie Mathison
Theatre
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	The Vagina Monologues		Westside Theatre
2005	Christina Olson: American Model	Christina Olson	Performance Space 122
2007	Edith and Jenny	Edith	Performance Space 122
2007	Pygmalion	Eliza Doolittle	American Airlines Theatre October 18, 2007 – December 16, 2007

References

1. ^ "Claire Danes". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1996-10-15. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ST&s_site=dfw&p_multi=ST&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF90B7870D073B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-12-12. ; "Born and reared in Manhattan, Danes knew since..."
2. ^ "Craig Ferguson 2/5/10D Late Late Show Claire Danes PT2". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P15kcMOisy4. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
3. ^ "Texas Births, 1926–1995". Familytreelegends.com. 1944-05-06. http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/20902?c=search&first=Christopher&last=Danes. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
4. ^ "Movieline – December 1995". Clairedanes.com. http://www.clairedanes.com/print/movieline1295.html. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
5. ^ "School Ties". American Way Magazine. 2005-10-15. http://americanwaymag.com/aw/travel/celebrated.asp?archive_date=10/15/2005. 
6. ^ Pace, Eric (1992-12-07). "Gibson Danes, Dean, 81, and Ilse Getz, Artist, 75". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E0CE2D81430F934A35751C1A964958260. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Superiorpics.com retrieved 2007-07-26
8. ^ Gliatto, Tom (3 October 1994). "Acting Her Age". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20104053,00.html. Retrieved 9 January 2011. 
9. ^ "Claire Danes bring range to autistic animal expert in 'Temple Grandin' - LA Daily News". Dailynews.com. 2010-02-06. http://www.dailynews.com/travel/ci_14332908. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
10. ^ Cinemablend.com
11. ^ Warrington, Ruby (2009-11-29). "Claire Danes: the secretive starlet". London: The Times. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article6929555.ece. Retrieved 2010-01-22. 
12. ^ "Titanic. Man Overboard! After a production as lavish and pricey as the doomed ship itself, James Cameron finally unveils his epic film. But will it be unsinkable?". Entertainment Weekly. pp. 1–7. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290182,00.html. Retrieved 2010-01-24. 
13. ^ Gould, Mignon A. (2007-08-09). "Q&A: Claire Danes". The Arizona Republic. http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0810danes0809.html. Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
14. ^ "Forum :: View topic - Claire Danes and Tom Irwin reunited :: MSCL.com - "My So-Called Life" TV show tribute". MSCL.com. http://www.mscl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3267. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
15. ^ "Performance Space 122 > Performance Page". Ps122.org. http://www.ps122.org/performances/christina_olson_american_model.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
16. ^ "Dance Magazine". Dance Magazine. 2005-10-02. http://www.dancemagazine.com/reviews/November-2005/Christina-Olsen-American-Model. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
17. ^ Deborah Jowitt (2005-09-20). "A Star Dances - Page 1 - Dance - New York". Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-09-20/dance/a-star-dances/. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
18. ^ "Performance Space 122 > Performance Page". Ps122.org. http://www.ps122.org/performances/edith_and_jenny.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
19. ^ "Death: The Time Of Your Life Collection". Neilgaimanbibliography.com. http://www.neilgaimanbibliography.com/comics/timeofyourlife/deathttoyl-collection.html. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
20. ^ "DVD Report – Being 15 isn't all it's cracked up to be". Boston Globe. 2007-10-28. http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/10/28/dvd_report/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Movie+stories. Retrieved 2007-10-28. 
21. ^ Susman, Gary (2004-01-14). "Boy on the Side". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,576458,00.html. Retrieved 2008-01-02. 
22. ^ Gina DiNunno (29 September 2009). "Source: Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy Marry in France". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Source-Claire-Danes-1010291.aspx. Retrieved 2009-09-29. 

External links

• Claire Danes at the Internet Movie Database
• Claire Danes at People.com
• Fresh Air interview, October 26, 2005

Persondata
Name	Danes, Claire
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1979-04-12
Place of birth	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death