“Acting is the greatest answer to my loneliness that I have found.”
― Claire Danes
“I really have never been concerned about being beautiful on-screen. That’s just not my jam.”
― Claire Danes
“Working gives you this new perspective. You don’t take everything too seriously, and you realise that if you don’t do too well on a history test, it’s not the end of the world.”
― Claire Danes
“I think I would make a lousy stay-at-home mom. It just wouldn’t suit me.”
― Claire Danes
“The first time I realised I was patriotic was after September 11th.”
― Claire Danes
“I do know how to fire a machine gun, so be warned! I’m trained!”
― Claire Danes
“Relationships are a constant negotiation and balance.”
― Claire Danes
“I hadn’t been free from adult responsibilities since I was 12, and I needed to experience that. I really needed to just be a kid again.”
― Claire Danes
“Growing up, I wanted desperately to please, to be a good girl.”
― Claire Danes
“My go-to gifts are scarves from my friend Matin Maulawizada’s nonprofit organization, Afghan Hands, which supports disenfranchised women in Afghanistan. In exchange for their beautiful embroidery, the women are given financial aid and classes in math and literacy. The scarves are all stunning and one of a kind.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m happier in my thirties. I feel clearer about who I am and less apologetic about it, and more accepting of my limitations and also more aware of the ways in which I’m capable.”
― Claire Danes
“Once you get over that peak of puberty, you hit a nice stride.”
― Claire Danes
“It just seems like the most successful, iconic love stories are not so easy or escapist. I think the ones that stay with us and resonate are full of conflict, discord and misunderstandings ’cause that’s what makes drama happen or tension even if it’s a comedy.”
― Claire Danes
“Every three seconds in the developing world, a child dies needlessly due to lack of basic health care and other things we all take for granted.”
― Claire Danes
“What I needed was a connection to life that was real and lasting.”
― Claire Danes
“Autism does exist on a spectrum, and there are so many manifestations of it, so many kinds of expressions of it. And every case is particular.”
― Claire Danes
“So much of my job is about finding another job, and that’s really boring.”
― Claire Danes
“I have to say that my dad’s face is very malleable. He’s barely got any cartilage in his face. I think I maybe inherited that Play-Doh-like physicality from him.”
― Claire Danes
“I’ve always had a really active imagination. Lots of kids have imaginary friends. Mine just took on a rather demonic form.”
― Claire Danes
“But I don’t know if people are meant to be together. You have to have a lot in common, choose well and be really fortunate. It’s not like you’re sprinkled with fairy dust. You have to believe that love will be there when you need it.”
― Claire Danes
“Growing up in New York with artist parents – a very liberal environment, where we were always encouraged to challenge the status quo – I think for a long time I confused jingoism with patriotism. And that is a mistake.”
― Claire Danes
“Counterterrorism isn’t really about the nunchakus, the guns and gadgets. It’s about psychology.”
― Claire Danes
“I have a huge, active imagination, and I think I’m really scared of being alone; because if I’m left to my own devices, I’ll just turn into a madwoman.”
― Claire Danes
“You don’t realize how useful a therapist is until you see yourself on e and discover you have more problems than you ever dreamed of.”
― Claire Danes
“You know, let a few years go by until I hit my midlife crisis. Then that can be documented on film.”
― Claire Danes
“Yeah, there was the Flora Plum thing, where I trained for about a month and I had taken a semester off for that, and two weeks prior to filming, the financing collapsed.”
― Claire Danes
“When I was 18 I went to college for two years and didn’t work for a year which was essential for me, because my identity had been so influenced by my being an actor and I think I just needed to discover what it was to be myself, divorced from all that responsibility.”
― Claire Danes
“There’s certainly something very uncomfortable about the voyeurism involved in being in the press, being an actor, where people have a seemingly insatiable curiosity about, you.”
― Claire Danes
“My character was kidnapped by the Terminator and I was kidnapped by the Terminator production.”
― Claire Danes
“Maybe philosophy – I love talking about ideas. Or maybe art history. I was thinking about psychology, then I got really afraid because everybody says it’s terribly boring.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m only realizing now that I was a child actress because I always took myself so seriously.”
― Claire Danes
“I would sign on for projects that were meant to shoot in July, and then they would postponed and they would bleed into the following semester, and then I’d take a semester off, and then the movie would collapse.”
― Claire Danes
“I took three years off. I differentiated myself from the industry. Found my identity – sort of… I haven’t graduated yet. I’m not legitimately educated yet, but maybe one day.”
― Claire Danes
“I think because I am as earnest as I am, people were accepting of my evolving into a certified, legitimate, and grown up and I did take three years off.”
― Claire Danes
“I really liked Yale, although it was extremely intimidating. When I visited the campus, I was hiding behind trees, I felt so unworthy.”
― Claire Danes
“I know, it’s true. I’ve played these tortured teenagers. I can’t wait to shed that image.”
― Claire Danes
“I have this home in New York, I have a long-term relationship with my boyfriend, who’s from Australia, and I had this business that I had maintain. Even though I wasn’t actively shooting, there’s a lot of peripheral work.”
― Claire Danes
“I get a little jealous of these actor boys. They walk into a club, and in two seconds flat there are swarms of girls who are wanting so badly to touch them or just say hello. That’s not the case with me, or any other girl I know.”
― Claire Danes
“I finally realized that yeah I did want to be an actor and it wasn’t out of habit, but I needed to grow up for myself and then kind of re-enter the industry with a sound understanding of what my sensibilities and my values are as a relatively formed human being.”
― Claire Danes
“However, I’m at a very comfortable place in my career and celebrity, in that I don’t have to audition as extensively as I used to for roles but yet I’m not immediately recognizable.”
― Claire Danes
“Fame doesn’t end loneliness.”
― Claire Danes
“I became very successful at a young age… I had lots of opportunities and lots of power and had no idea how to focus it.”
― Claire Danes
“I think it’s important to never play ‘crazy’ – you have to know what kind of crazy you’re playing.”
― Claire Danes
“Psychology and acting are very closely linked. It’s just about studying people and how they work. It can be an incredible discipline and exercise.”
― Claire Danes
“On a film you can really get away with learning the scene the night before and that’s often just not possible with TV, so you have to be a little bit more prepared a little bit more in advance.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m so impressed by Jennifer Lawrence and Carey Mulligan. They have this exquisite taste. They are very gifted in their ability to make great choices.”
― Claire Danes
“Steve Martin is one of my favorite performers, writers, artists of all time.”
― Claire Danes
“I like reading novels because it provides insight into human behavior.”
― Claire Danes
“When you really get it right in acting, it’s an act of empathy. You feel less distant from others, and that is really exciting.”
― Claire Danes
“I used to have nightmares when I was a little kid that I woke up prematurely and opened all the Christmas presents. And then I would be so relieved when I woke up and I realized that I hadn’t done it.”
― Claire Danes
“Any story is better with a little love in it, right?”
― Claire Danes
“I think ‘Breaking Bad’ is incredible.”
― Claire Danes
“Voice over can be tricky. It can be dangerous because it’s over-used or inappropriately used.”
― Claire Danes
“I think people who make movies and have invested a lot of money in them get frightened that if they challenge an audience they are going to repel them. And I think the opposite; it’s really true.”
― Claire Danes
“I should be so lucky to be a misfit. I aspire to be a misfit.”
― Claire Danes
“Most people assume that autistic people are not capable of empathy.”
― Claire Danes
“I can get a dance party started pretty much anywhere and anytime.”
― Claire Danes
“You have to pick your battles on set.”
― Claire Danes
“You have to stay hydrated when you have crying scenes.”
― Claire Danes
“I am not a genius. But I am nerdy.”
― Claire Danes
“When I was a kid, I was one of those really obnoxious ‘oooh oooh’ girls, with my hand up in the air constantly. I’ve learned over the years that that’s not so attractive, so I’ve censored that.”
― Claire Danes
“It’s funny with jeans now, because if they don’t feel like a pair of sweatpants, I don’t have patience for them anymore! I think I’m becoming increasingly lazy.”
― Claire Danes
“We just can’t shake monogamy. It definitely demands a kind of rigor and discipline and selflessness. But it’s also fun.”
― Claire Danes
“I actually haven’t been approached a whole lot for television, believe it or not.”
― Claire Danes
“People with bipolar disorder have difficulty with boundaries.”
― Claire Danes
“People in the CIA, they marry each other. They’re like actors! We have to travel without much warning to far-flung places, and it’s very hard to communicate what our experiences are like to those in the outside world.”
― Claire Danes
“I have this book club, and we don’t read one book; we offer up a few suggestions and create a library over time.”
― Claire Danes
“I got an agent when I was 12, and I started working in more amateur productions well before that. But even as a kid, I never felt like a kid actor, you know? I always took myself kind of absurdly seriously.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m exceptionally open with my own parents, and they’re exceptionally open with me.”
― Claire Danes
“There was a solid year and a half, perhaps two years, after making ‘Temple Grandin,’ when I didn’t do anything. I just didn’t have much patience for roles that were silly, or light, or inconsequential.”
― Claire Danes
“If you do something that you’re not genuinely passionate about, it is a little soul-crushing. Just not worth it.”
― Claire Danes
“Actors want to surprise themselves. When it’s really good, you kind of transcend yourself, and that happens infrequently. Very, very rarely.”
― Claire Danes
“People confuse fame with validation or love. But fame is not the reward. The reward is getting fulfillment out of doing the thing you love.”
― Claire Danes
“I was very driven to act from a very young age, and my parents were not only tolerant of that drive but also encouraging.”
― Claire Danes
“In New York City, everybody goes into therapy.”
― Claire Danes
“I discovered Orson Welles in college; my freshman English professor screened ‘Citizen Kane’ for us, and I wound up writing a 20-page term paper on it.”
― Claire Danes
“The big question is always, ‘Eyes or lips?’ I tend to go with the eyes because I’ve got a lot more material to work with now – and it saves me from reapplying lipstick! I’m a pretty low-maintenance person and it’s too excessive to exaggerate both the eyes and lips.”
― Claire Danes
“If I took my characters home with me, half of my life would be a misery, I think. No, I tend to compartmentalize work from my life. I’m not terribly method.”
― Claire Danes
“I particularly love Israel. I’ve had fantastic experiences there.”
― Claire Danes
“Narciso Rodriguez was my first fashion big brother. He made my wedding dress, which was wonderful.”
― Claire Danes
“Every time I make a movie, I’m prepared for it to become influential and career-defining – but I have no control over these things.”
― Claire Danes
“I would rather not work than be a neurotic mess.”
― Claire Danes
“I fantasized about being a psychology major when I first started school, and I took a handful of Psych 101 classes.”
― Claire Danes
“College was just so essential for my sense of self and my development.”
― Claire Danes
“I have to expose myself and then accept the judgment that audiences and critics will have. And that’s okay. I appreciate the elliptical nature of it. Sometimes people are more in the mood to be nice to me than others, and that’s great.”
― Claire Danes
“Oliver Stone’s strategy is to unnerve the actors so as to make them alert and alive.”
― Claire Danes
“Acting is a humiliating job, from start to finish.”
― Claire Danes
“I discovered Christopher Isherwood in college. His writing style is so direct, warm, and inclusive.”
― Claire Danes
“I’ve always very earnestly tried to do my best, so I just have to trust that and forgive myself for being fallible.”
― Claire Danes
“I could truly have gone through life thinking that women were these venomous creatures. Turns out, they’re not.”
― Claire Danes
“I like marriage. I feel very secure. It helps when you are in love with the person you are married to.”
― Claire Danes
“It’s very difficult to judge yourself. Extreme self-doubt is only attractive when it’s fictionalized. Which is why people love the movies. They are so reassuring.”
― Claire Danes
“My parents never condescended to me. As a child, I always sat at the head of our dinner table. I was always given a lot of responsibility.”
― Claire Danes
“I was a very confident child. I knew I wanted to be an actress from the age of 5.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m just always learning lines. I’ve learned to flag the really crucial scenes, and I start figuring them out and committing them to memory as soon as I get them.”
― Claire Danes
“By the time I went to Yale, I’d been acting for a long time and I was really tired of it. I was restless – and a little bored – and I was really eager to investigate different parts of myself.”
― Claire Danes
“I guess I stopped acting when I was 18 and didn’t pick it up again until I was 21. That wasn’t the plan, though. When I first started at Yale, the plan was to do a movie each summer.”
― Claire Danes
“I actually think in some ways that it might be more challenging to be bipolar because it’s so mercurial – it’s so ever-changing. You can’t get any traction. You can’t build on a system. Whereas, somebody who has Asperger’s, which is certainly a much more forgiving expression of autism, can create models for coping and build on them over time.”
― Claire Danes
“As a young performer, I didn’t know that you can have a great time playing someone in terrible crisis. The more you know it’s not real, the deeper you can go into it. And the easier it is to let it go when it’s done.”
― Claire Danes
“I don’t know any celebrated people that register in a big way who aren’t unique.”
― Claire Danes
“I was a serious kid to an absurd degree. I was overwhelmed with responsibility. You know, trying to play grown up. I overdid it.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m just a big old nerd.”
― Claire Danes
“I like reading novels because it provides insight into human behavior. I am really interested in feelings and think they are what define us as a species. When you really get it right in acting, it’s an act of empathy. You feel less distant from others, and that is really exciting.”
― Claire Danes
“I would not say that secret-keeping is one of my finer skills, actually.”
― Claire Danes
“Growing up in New York City, I was always encouraged to question authority, and I think I confused patriotism with jingoism.”
― Claire Danes
“My first offer was when I was 12, and it was for a soap opera. And I turned it down because I knew that I was an unformed actor, and I didn’t want to develop bad habits.”
― Claire Danes
“Television lets audiences deeply connect with characters.”
― Claire Danes
“I was a pretty nerdy kid. I was pretty nerdy. I’m still kind of nerdy. I have all of the worst qualities of being a nerd – all of the affect and none of the smarts. I’m a useless nerd! That’s pretty bad.”
― Claire Danes
“I started working when I was very young. I got an agent when I was 12, and fortunately was employed consistently from that point on. So I didn’t really go to a conventional high school. I was tutored on sets and things.”
― Claire Danes
“If I hadn’t been an actress, I was thinking seriously about going into psychology. It’s just really what I’m interested in: the human psyche and how we process information.”
― Claire Danes
“I love sitting in the makeup trailer and getting my makeup done in 15 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half.”
― Claire Danes
“I care about being formally physically attractive in my life, and I think that I am quite vain about my performance. I’m just not vain about how I look while I give the performance.”
― Claire Danes
“I am a feminist.”
― Claire Danes
“The twenties are a deceptively challenging-slash-painful time. I’m just glad to be out of that phase.”
― Claire Danes
“I think people are made uncomfortable by uncensored expressions of emotion.”
― Claire Danes
“You have to come to work from a place of love.”
― Claire Danes
“I still have a book club with my friends from when I was 5. That’s the privilege of growing up in a place where people want to remain. It’s a huge gift.”
― Claire Danes
“I’ve never been interested or particularly good at censoring my experience.”
― Claire Danes
“I would be a terrible CIA officer in real life.”
― Claire Danes
“I love Berlin.”
― Claire Danes
“Germany’s fascinating. It’s a really rich landscape to film and dramatise.”
― Claire Danes
“I wouldn’t say that I’m a naturally political beast.”
― Claire Danes
“It’s been a great privilege to see how interwoven nations are and how incredibly complex these relationships are. It’s so elaborate.”
― Claire Danes
“My goal is always to do something that feels just beyond my reach, and ‘Homeland’ continues to do that. Every season, they find new ways to scare me. The show is like a diamond that fell from the sky. I’ll always feel slightly bludgeoned by it, but in the best way possible.”
― Claire Danes
“I was an actor who happened to be a kid.”
― Claire Danes
“People talk about ‘date night,’ and it is true: Sometimes you have to apply yourself, or at least apply lipstick to yourself. You kind of have to dress up, just because. You know, wear heels to your own dinner table.”
― Claire Danes
“When somebody asks me who I’m wearing, I always see myself with a BabyBjoern, carrying a little tiny Karl Lagerfeld, like, ‘I’m wearing Chanel.’”
― Claire Danes
“I do feel like I’ve gotten younger as I’ve aged.”
― Claire Danes
“It’s a very young mistake to assume that life is very serious. I get the joke now.”
― Claire Danes
“I think you can become dependent on fame and be as known as you want to be, you know?”
― Claire Danes
“I just want to be a sane person. I wanna be a person who has a life and who acts.”
― Claire Danes
“I don’t want to be an actress. I want to be doing good work that is well written and has good people in it.”
― Claire Danes
“I eat in moderation and try not to worry about it.”
― Claire Danes
“I try to eat sensibly. I cheat, but for the most part, I eat in a clean way.”
― Claire Danes
“I exercise more for mental relaxation than anything else.”
― Claire Danes
“Some of my happiest moments have been dancing.”
― Claire Danes
“The Brexit and Trump phenomena are informed by similar forces and social and economic movements. I think it’s been really stressful; it’s been really scary.”
― Claire Danes
“It’s OK to want to look and feel your best. It’s OK to work at being attractive, whatever that means to you. And it’s also OK to not expect to be defined by that. It’s OK to be powerful in every way: to be big, to take up space. To breathe and thrive.”
― Claire Danes
“Oh, I’m full of fear. I care about things; therefore, I have fears. I like to think that I’m brave, which is different. Brave means you’re able to admit that you care. If you care, you are vulnerable.”
― Claire Danes
“I’m very vain about my performance. I want to give as honest a performance as I can. But I’m not so worried about being regarded as beautiful when I’m playing a character.”
― Claire Danes
“I have plenty of vanity in my life. I want to look pretty in the world. But it can be this bottomless pit.”
― Claire Danes
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