Dan Epstein interviews actress Clare Danes.
DAN EPSTEIN: How long did you actually work on The Hours?
CLARE DANES: Not very long. Longer than any of us anticipated. I happened to be in the part of the movie that was reworked. They changed the ending. A year later they called us all back to London. I have essentially a cameo that grew into a substantial part. That's fine by me because everyone's company is so much fun to keep.
DE: What were the changes?
CD: They tweaked the ending and they added a scene. Julianne Moore's character is an old woman and they originally had an actor playing her as an old woman. They didn't like the way she looked so they put Julianne in old age makeup. Julianne was pregnant at the time and she looked funny as an 80 year old woman that's pregnant.
DE: Were you at all intimidated when you found out you would be doing most of your scenes with Meryl Streep?
CD: Totally. She's been my idol since I knew what acting was. Obviously Im not in the minority, every actor my age idolizes her. She's really terrific and couldnt have me feel more comfortable. She's very authentic, warm and sassy. It was pretty surreal. She's very focused, very creative, and one thing I really admired about her was her bravery and her experience. She would do many different takes and they would all have different flavors. Some were more successful than others of course but she followed every single one through and I sometimes [flinch] interrupt the tale. She never did that because she has faith in the work and is open to any surprises that might unfold. But she wasn't afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes you stumble and sometimes you don't. She picked her battles. She had some issues and would argue about some and not others.
DE: You only have a few scenes to define your character. How do you feel you did it?
CD: My character is like the stable one. Alison Janney and I were playing characters that were not traumatized. That was the thing that I had to stress, my normalcy. I understood that to be my responsibility. I guess as an actor you want the chance to have your hysterical moment but that wasn't the case. There is that thing with actors that the fewer lines you have the more you invest in them and the more bloated they become. I really just have to listen to Meryl, which is easy to do.
DE: A lot of people have pegged you as your generations Meryl Streep.
CD: They peg everyone my age as that.
DE: Well how much pressure is that?
CD: I'm thankful for that kind of accolades, it's flattering. But it confused me. I can't really listen to it in the same way that I can't really listen to people's criticisms of my work. It doesn't help me grow as an artist.
DE: Had you seen Billy Elliot before starting The Hours?
CD: Yes I have.
DE: Did you realize how much theater work [director] Stephen Daldry had done?
CD: No I didn't. I loved Billy Elliot. The Hours was a risky project because it's a difficult story to translate to film because it's so anachronistic. It was hard to integrate all the themes and characters. But the film did it very successfully.
DE: Has Virginia Woolf been a big part of your life?
CD: I have read quite a bit of her work. I read Mrs. Dalloway and a few others.
DE: For such a heavy movie like The Hours, were there any light moments on set?
CD: Yeah totally. I guess I assumed Meryl would be really intellectual and serious. She's a hoot and a holler. She's so fun and she values that. She sees it as an integral part of the process. We would sneak glasses of wine at the end of the day. She just has a really hearty laugh. Towards the end of shooting I got really sick with a fever of 102. I was collapsing between takes.
DE: How was shooting Terminator 3?
CD: Different from The Hours [laughs]. It was good. I had a blast. I never did a genre of that kind and on that scale. I was pretty overwhelmed. I play Kate Miller. She's a veterinarian and she's engaged to kind of a conservative kind of guy and the terminator abducts her. John Connor comes to save her andadventures unfold.
DE: Did you emulate Sigourney Weaver in Aliens?
CD: I do have awesome lines. But I'm sworn to secrecy. I'm pretty impressive in it.
DE: Who was more threatening to work with the exoskeleton or Meryl?
CD: The skeleton. In terminator I played most of my scenes to a piece of yellow tape in front of a green screen. When audiences first see the movie that will be the first time I've seen in it. The director Jonathan Mostow is a really good action director. He understands suspense and tension. It's going to be a really cool fast chase.
DE: Would you do another Terminator movie?
CD: Well I'm contracted to. I don't know if I'm going to make it a habit to pursue all the franchises but I really loved doing as many different kinds of movies as possible. I haven't been too stereotyped and I'm grateful for that.
DE: They just released My So Called Life on DVD. Have they sent you one?
CD: No they haven't. I'm going to have to go buy one.
DE: What do you think when you look back on that time?
CD: I think very fondly of that time. Very positive. It was groundbreaking for television but it was also groundbreaking for me as a person. It was my first steady gig and legitimate job. I had done different guest spots on Law and Order in New York. It was such a blessing because everyone working on that show was so smart and so supportive. They were really interested in making my transition into the business as gentle, focused and healthy as possible.
I really was a miserable teenager. I did not perform well socially in junior high. I was a strange girl and I was in a lot of pain because of that like most teenagers. But I had the privilege of venting and complaining about it in a way people took seriously. To have a forum to release my frustration and anger was an incredible gift. It was very cathartic.
DAN EPSTEIN: How long did you actually work on The Hours?
CLARE DANES: Not very long. Longer than any of us anticipated. I happened to be in the part of the movie that was reworked. They changed the ending. A year later they called us all back to London. I have essentially a cameo that grew into a substantial part. That's fine by me because everyone's company is so much fun to keep.
DE: What were the changes?
CD: They tweaked the ending and they added a scene. Julianne Moore's character is an old woman and they originally had an actor playing her as an old woman. They didn't like the way she looked so they put Julianne in old age makeup. Julianne was pregnant at the time and she looked funny as an 80 year old woman that's pregnant.
DE: Were you at all intimidated when you found out you would be doing most of your scenes with Meryl Streep?
CD: Totally. She's been my idol since I knew what acting was. Obviously Im not in the minority, every actor my age idolizes her. She's really terrific and couldnt have me feel more comfortable. She's very authentic, warm and sassy. It was pretty surreal. She's very focused, very creative, and one thing I really admired about her was her bravery and her experience. She would do many different takes and they would all have different flavors. Some were more successful than others of course but she followed every single one through and I sometimes [flinch] interrupt the tale. She never did that because she has faith in the work and is open to any surprises that might unfold. But she wasn't afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes you stumble and sometimes you don't. She picked her battles. She had some issues and would argue about some and not others.
DE: You only have a few scenes to define your character. How do you feel you did it?
CD: My character is like the stable one. Alison Janney and I were playing characters that were not traumatized. That was the thing that I had to stress, my normalcy. I understood that to be my responsibility. I guess as an actor you want the chance to have your hysterical moment but that wasn't the case. There is that thing with actors that the fewer lines you have the more you invest in them and the more bloated they become. I really just have to listen to Meryl, which is easy to do.
DE: A lot of people have pegged you as your generations Meryl Streep.
CD: They peg everyone my age as that.
DE: Well how much pressure is that?
CD: I'm thankful for that kind of accolades, it's flattering. But it confused me. I can't really listen to it in the same way that I can't really listen to people's criticisms of my work. It doesn't help me grow as an artist.
DE: Had you seen Billy Elliot before starting The Hours?
CD: Yes I have.
DE: Did you realize how much theater work [director] Stephen Daldry had done?
CD: No I didn't. I loved Billy Elliot. The Hours was a risky project because it's a difficult story to translate to film because it's so anachronistic. It was hard to integrate all the themes and characters. But the film did it very successfully.
DE: Has Virginia Woolf been a big part of your life?
CD: I have read quite a bit of her work. I read Mrs. Dalloway and a few others.
DE: For such a heavy movie like The Hours, were there any light moments on set?
CD: Yeah totally. I guess I assumed Meryl would be really intellectual and serious. She's a hoot and a holler. She's so fun and she values that. She sees it as an integral part of the process. We would sneak glasses of wine at the end of the day. She just has a really hearty laugh. Towards the end of shooting I got really sick with a fever of 102. I was collapsing between takes.
DE: How was shooting Terminator 3?
CD: Different from The Hours [laughs]. It was good. I had a blast. I never did a genre of that kind and on that scale. I was pretty overwhelmed. I play Kate Miller. She's a veterinarian and she's engaged to kind of a conservative kind of guy and the terminator abducts her. John Connor comes to save her andadventures unfold.
DE: Did you emulate Sigourney Weaver in Aliens?
CD: I do have awesome lines. But I'm sworn to secrecy. I'm pretty impressive in it.
DE: Who was more threatening to work with the exoskeleton or Meryl?
CD: The skeleton. In terminator I played most of my scenes to a piece of yellow tape in front of a green screen. When audiences first see the movie that will be the first time I've seen in it. The director Jonathan Mostow is a really good action director. He understands suspense and tension. It's going to be a really cool fast chase.
DE: Would you do another Terminator movie?
CD: Well I'm contracted to. I don't know if I'm going to make it a habit to pursue all the franchises but I really loved doing as many different kinds of movies as possible. I haven't been too stereotyped and I'm grateful for that.
DE: They just released My So Called Life on DVD. Have they sent you one?
CD: No they haven't. I'm going to have to go buy one.
DE: What do you think when you look back on that time?
CD: I think very fondly of that time. Very positive. It was groundbreaking for television but it was also groundbreaking for me as a person. It was my first steady gig and legitimate job. I had done different guest spots on Law and Order in New York. It was such a blessing because everyone working on that show was so smart and so supportive. They were really interested in making my transition into the business as gentle, focused and healthy as possible.
I really was a miserable teenager. I did not perform well socially in junior high. I was a strange girl and I was in a lot of pain because of that like most teenagers. But I had the privilege of venting and complaining about it in a way people took seriously. To have a forum to release my frustration and anger was an incredible gift. It was very cathartic.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
stiles:
http://www.womenrepublic.co.uk/beauty/surgery/claire_danes.htm
eroticgeek:
Claire Danes is a wonderful actress and very beautiful as well. I think I enjoyed her the most in Brokedown Palace. Anyone with me?