Claire Danes: Snapshot
- Name
- Claire Danes
- Date of Birth
- April 12, 1979
- Birth Place
- New York, N.Y.
At 10, the native New Yorker studied method acting at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. At 17, she played Juliet to Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's take on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And at the height of her career, the in-demand actress put filmmaking on hold to attend Yale University. After two years, Danes left the Ivy League for supporting turns in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and The Hours before taking on starring roles in Steve Martin's Shopgirl, the critically-acclaimed drama Stage Beauty, and a Broadway revival of Pygmalion. Off-screen, Danes found happiness with Evening costar Hugh Dancy, with whom she is engaged.
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Claire Danes: Five Fun Facts
- As a kid, Claire Danes knew she wanted to be a performer when she saw Madonna on TV. "I understood that performing could be one's vocation and I thought, yeah!" Danes told the New York Times in 2006.
- Claire Danes turned down a soap opera role because "I didn't want my acting style to be tainted," she told In Style in 1999. "You know, I had some integrity when I was 12."
- At a 1995 press conference, director Steven Spielberg said Claire Danes "is one of the most exciting actresses to debut in the last 10 years. I don't understand why she's just captured my heart. She really just has an amazing honesty in her presence."
- On the urging of Yale-educated Jodie Foster, Claire Danes took a break from film in 1998 to also attend Yale University. "I told her that it was important to me to have something else to do besides being in Top Gun," Foster told the Los Angeles Times.
- Claire Danes had to sing in front of hundreds of extras for 2007's Evening. "I was absolutely ready to call Kelly Clarkson to see if she wouldn't mind doing me a favor," she told PEOPLE.
Claire Danes: Biography 
- 1994
Claire's 'So-Called' Break
A 15-year-old Danes stars in the critically acclaimed, short-lived ABC series, My So-Called Life. She portrays Angela Chase, an inquisitive everygirl dealing with the common struggles of high school and adolescence. The Washington Post's Tom Shales describes Danes as "deep and mercurial and strikingly complex." Although the series hits a chord with viewers and earns Danes a Golden Globe for Best Actress, it lasts for only 19 episodes before ABC pulls the plug.
Danes Hits the Big Screen
Danes makes her feature debut as Beth March in Little Women, costarring Kirsten Dunst, Christian Bale and Winona Ryder (left). "We got to be really close," Danes tells USA Today of Ryder. "She's sort of a mentor to me." The pair appear together again in 1995's How to Make an American Quilt.
- 1996
Becoming Juliet
Baz Luhrmann directs Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio in the title roles of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . DiCaprio (right) tells Entertainment Weekly of his leading lady, "She was the only girl when we did the audition who came straight in my face to do the lines. She said them looking at me right in the eye. And some of the other girls did, like, the affected flower thing...and it was not nearly as truthful as Claire's performance."
Photo Credits
Top Left: Nigel Perry
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Everett Collection; MIRAMAX
