Building identity – Claire Danes on taking time to discover and become herself

Looking back at her earlier career and the fame of her 1994 show My So-Called Life, Claire Danes admitted in an interview that she always took herself very seriously. “I think because I am as earnest as I am, people were accepting of my evolving into a certified, legitimate…grown up.

“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.

“So I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t acting out of habit, but because of a genuine interest and passion and I have lots of competing interests in, I wanted to respect that about myself and give myself a chance to genuinely explore other possibilities.

“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.”

From The Virgin, The Whore, and Claire Danes – Terminator 3 Interview, by Paul Fischer filmmonthly.com

Photo at top from “Stardust” (2007]; bottom from “Shopgirl”
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Claire Danes, celebrity and personal growth, acting passion