CLAORE DAMES
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CLAIRE DANES
Jennifer Ambrose
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CLAORE DAMES
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CLAIRE DANES
Jennifer Ambrose
The publication o f Claire Danes has been generously supported by the Government of Canada through th e Book Publishing Industry Development Program. © EC W PRESS, 2000 All rights reserved. No part o f this publication ma y be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitte d in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical , photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission o f the copyrigh t owners and EC W PRESS. CANADIAN CATALOGUIN G IN PUBLICATIO N DATA
Ambrose, Jennifer Claire Danes ISBN 1-55022-402-6 1. Danes, Claire. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses - Unite d States - Biography. 3. Television actors and actresses - Unite d States - Biography. I. Title. PN2287.D258A53 200 0 791.43'028'09 2 COO-930434- 7 Front cover photo by Ron Davis / Shooting Star. Back cover photo by Daniela Federici / Visages. Cover design by Guylaine Regimbald. Interior design by Yolande Martel. Printed b y AGMV I'lmprirneur, Cap Saint-Ignace, Quebec. Distributed in Canada by General Distribution Services, 325 Humber College Blvd., Etobicoke, Ontario M9 W 7C3. Distributed in the United States by LPC Group, .436 Wes t Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60607. U.S.A. Published by ECW Press, 2120 Quee n Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M4 E 1E2. www.ecw.ca/press PRINTED AN D BOUN D I N CANAD A
Contents
Introduction 9 Claire's Lif e an d Time s 1
5
The Child-Adult and the Pres s 3
3
Claire in Love 3
7
Peer Standing 4
7
Ups and Down s 5
5
The Iv y Leaguer 6
7
What's Next ? 7
3
The M y So-Called Life Phenomeno n 7
7
MSCL'S Major Players : Where Are They Now? 8
9
Claire's Movies 9
5
The Claire Danes Quiz 12
5
My So-Called Life Episod e Summaries 13
3
Awards, Nominations, Significan t Nods 14
9
Sources 15
1
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Introduction
"I'm excite d about he r because everybody wants new blood i n the film business. She' s go t movie-sta r qualit y ye t she's a real actress . Usually you onl y ge t one o r th e other. " Jodie Foster, the Academy Award-winning actress , producer , an d directo r wh o wa s onc e a child acto r herself , made thi s proclamation abou t Clair e Dane s to Ann Bergman of the Los Angeles Times soon after directin g Claire in the 199 5 film Home for th e Holidays. On e year earlier, most peopl e were sayin g "Claire who? " when he r nam e cam e up. Then , i f th e television serie s My So-Called Life (MSCL ) was mentioned b y way of explanation, th e response would be, "Oh, her" Even TV fanatics and industry insider s kne w very little abou t he r a t tha t poin t — but , soon enough , her talent woul d be turning heads . My So-Called Life woul d challeng e al l previou s teen-centere d programming becaus e i t allowe d teenagers , fo r th e firs t time , t o view kids acting out scenarios that matched their own. It followed a fifteen-year-old gir l named Angela Chase — played by Claire Danes — through he r sophomore yea r in high school. Although th e show lasted only one season, it struck a resounding chord. It will never be forgotten, an d neither wil l its star. In her ability to convey any emotion, Clair e Danes is unsurpassed by he r peers . Sh e was onl y thirtee n year s ol d whe n sh e filme d My So-Called Life's, pilo t episode , bu t sh e expresse d tee n angs t s o intuitively, and so professionally, that she did not disappear into the vault o f has-been childhoo d star s afte r he r MSC L stin t ended . Th e
10
show was canceled, i t wa s transformed into a cult hit , an d Clair e Danes moved on to even bigger things. She caugh t th e ey e o f th e kin d o f majo r Hollywoo d player s whose attention i s notoriously difficult t o attract. Steven Spielberg's comment tha t Clair e was the "most excitin g actress to debut in the past ten years" is by now general knowledge, as are Claire's connec tions to Jodi e Foster an d popula r actres s Winona Ryder . In 1995 , Claire wo n a prestigiou s Golde n Glob e Awar d for he r wor k o n MSCL. Tw o years later, Foster' s instinc t fo r identifyin g talent wa s endorsed when Claire was named the 199 7 ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow. The ShoWes t gala awards ceremony is held ever y year, and it honors young actors or industry newcomers who have made a lasting impressio n i n a short time. Past honorees includ e Claire' s pal Ryder. Since MSCL , Clair e ha s costarre d o r starre d i n a n astonishin g number of films: twelve — about two per year for the last six years. Her big-scree n debut wa s i n th e fil m adaptatio n o f th e classi c Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women, a project that garnere d rave reviews for all concerned. I n 1995 , Claire appeared i n How to Make an American Quilt with Winona Ryder, her Little Women costar, and also playe d a smal l bu t ke y rol e i n Home for th e Holidays, Jodi e Foster's comedy about holiday-provoked famil y squabbles. Next, Claire portrayed a girl struggling with he r Jewish identity in th e coming-of-ag e flick I Love You, I Love You Not, which wasn' t released unti l tw o years later, o n th e heel s o f Claire' s phenomena l success as a grieving daughter in T o Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Then she played a very believable, passionate Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. I n 1997 , Clair e worked wit h tw o majo r directors : Francis Ford Coppola, who had expressed an interest i n Claire back when she was just fourteen; and Oliver Stone. Her performances in the lawyer epic The Rainmaker and the crazy U-Turn were brief bu t well executed. With all of these projects under her belt, Claire decided to give the independents a try. She traveled to Michigan to shoot Polish Wedding, in whic h sh e playe d a smoking , cussin g teenage r wh o become s
12 impregnated by a local cop — a major departure from her previous roles. Also in 1998 , Claire too k o n anothe r classi c part, thi s tim e playing the wily Cosette in the latest film version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I n 1999 , hotsho t Claire , cla d i n skimpy , trend y threads, kicked some serious butt in the remake of The Mod Squad and pushe d he r boundarie s eve n furthe r wit h Brokedown Palace, the stor y of two women who land themselve s in trouble whil e on vacation in an exotic getaway. Some of Claire's film s hav e received better review s than others , and some have received more press coverage than others. O n both scores, Romeo + Juliet ranks as her biggest success — the film was a critical and popular hit o f the first order. Still, Claire has stood ou t in every project she's participated in , due to her special style and her unique approac h t o acting . Th e reputation sh e forged a t suc h an early age led to her selection as first choice to play opposite Leonardo DiCaprio i n Titanic. Claire Danes achieved all of this b y the tim e sh e was eighteen years old. How? Simply put, by being extremely smart and talented . By combining th e commo n sens e o f a muc h mor e matur e acto r with the frivolousness an d self-consciousness of a teenager. And by not fallin g into the cycle of self-obsession/self-destruction tha t has claimed so many young celebrities; the wonderful Drew Barrymore fought an d conquere d it , but i t eventuall y killed th e magnificent River Phoenix. Claire, with the support of her family, has maintained her stability, and the strength she has shown will allow her to go on making first-rate films for a s long as she desires. Just try to imagine attainin g lega l drinking ag e and then seein g your biography displayed on a bookstore shelf. It must be a bit overwhelming. After all , a biography i s supposed t o encompas s a life , and a t twenty-one , you r adul t lif e ha s barel y begun . Bu t Clair e Danes's experience — her exciting, sometimes grueling, trek to stardom — has been far from ordinary . From actin g in My So-Called Life t o acting in Little Women, Romeo + Juliet, and Brokedown Palace, all the while transforming from an idealistic young girl into a pragmatic woman, Claire has broken movie-industry barriers . For her,
13 there hav e been n o sellou t fil m roles , no shor t rides o n th e fam e train. There are very few skeletons hanging in her closet, a fact that frustrates the gossipy media and Claire's own peers — they wonder if th e gir l i s flawless. Of cours e she' s not ; sh e just hasn't allowe d herself t o behave like a minnow swimming in a n ocean of sharks. And all of this makes her a compelling subject for a biography. Here, then, is the Claire Danes story — so far. In another twenty years, it just might be necessary to publish a second volume in order to updat e th e recor d o f accomplishment s compile d b y the mos t talented an d glamorou s — ye t s o rea l — actres s workin g today. Claire Danes.
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claire's Life and Times V - l a l l C j LilC oilU I I I I I C 3
Chris and Carla Danes met while both were studying at the Rhode Island Schoo l o f Design. It was the late sixties , a turbulent time, a time o f radica l politic s an d socia l upheaval . Th e Blac k Panthers were o n th e move , the secon d wave of feminism had begun , an d free lov e was in bloom . Th e pai r studie d togethe r an d organized against the Vietnam War together. A shared passion for art and politics soon evolved into a passion for each other. Chris and Carla were married, and, in 1973 , baby Asa, Claire's older brother, was born. The Daneses shunned mainstream society. They weren't interested in jumpin g o n th e postgraduate corporat e bandwagon , s o the y opted for an alternative existence, as did so many other intellectual s and artists of the day. Eager to raise their child within a community of like-minded people, they purchased a loft on Crosby Street when Asa was one year old and set up housekeeping in the midst of Soho, one o f Ne w York City' s mos t invigoratin g neighborhood s (artis t Jean-Michel Basquiat, a comrade of Andy Warhol's, also owned a loft on that street). Six years later, on April 12,1979, their second child, Claire, burst int o the world . Thi s bab y had tuft s o f sandy-blond e hair an d large , round, greenish-brow n eyes that dre w in everyone who glanced her way. Showering love and attention o n both of their children, Chris and Carla nourished thei r spirits . As a toddler , Clair e woul d danc e befor e a full-lengt h mirror , entranced by her own reflection. Already a performer, she'd take on different role s an d amus e hersel f b y viewing th e transformation , employing doll s an d stuffe d animal s a s her audience . Clair e als o
16 loved t o si t fo r hour s o n th e indoo r swin g that he r parent s ha d suspended fro m the loft ceiling . Sometimes, she'd even rock herself to sleep, waking at dawn, feeling cozy and protected . Chris an d Carl a encourage d thei r childre n t o experimen t wit h paint and clay — Claire liked to draw and sculpt — and they read to the m a lot. Clair e an d As a were not alway s confine d indoors , though. While the Danes clan loved the city, they would occasionally feel the need for fresh air and open spaces. Every Fourth of July, they woul d tak e the boa t Chri s ha d mad e b y hand an d g o river sailing. When Claire was five, they decided to take a family vacation in California . The sunshine and the glorious landscape were like a magical dream compared to the asphalt jungle of New York. When they visited Disneyland, Claire hopped fearlessl y aboard every ride she was allowed to enter (give n age and height restrictions) . To mak e a successfu l transitio n fro m childhoo d t o adulthood , one needs to begin with a nurturing environment. The child who is permitted to explore and to make mistakes will have what it takes to become a confiden t adult. According to Claire , Chri s an d Carla' s child-rearing strategy was "to throw us out into the world and trust that we would manage and come home safely." They signaled their faith in their children when Claire and Asa were still very young, and that made Claire's acting journey a lot easier. With all that support, even the biggest obstacles seemed surmountable. When Claire began showing an interest in becoming famous, her parents did not ridicule her. This urge to bask in the limelight surfaced when she was just five, and coincided with the increase in her curiosity — whic h ha d becom e insatiable. Clair e starte d school , colored wit h crayons , built wit h blocks , an d learned t o spel l an d read. The worl d was hers t o conquer . She was as entranced wit h observing th e enigmati c personalitie s sh e sa w in movie s an d o n television a s she was with learning to coun t t o ten . Sh e mastered counting, did a lot of observing, and then took on a new task: she set abou t figurin g ou t ho w t o gras p th e world' s attention , lik e Madonna. In 1985, when Claire was five, Madonna was just starting to make waves — little whitecaps that would eventually grow into a
II
tidal wave. Her face was in all the magazines, her voice rang over the airwaves, and MTV , still a relatively new phenomenon, wa s foreve r broadcasting he r image. It no w seem s astonishin g tha t i t wa s this dynami c ye t flash y young artist who firs t le d Clair e Dane s to articulat e he r desir e t o become famous. Claire recall s hopping u p an d dow n o n her bed , fantasizing tha t sh e was Madonna, tha t million s o f adorin g fan s were gazing at her. Although, at the time , she wasn't certain if she wanted to b e a singer, a dancer, or a n actor , she knew sh e wanted fame. The ide a simmered i n Claire' s subconsciou s fo r a few more years, gradually growing hotter. At last, when she was nine, she settled on acting as her calling, and she let her parents know about it. Carla Danes remembers her daughter's announcement : "Eve n if it means I have to be a waitress and be poor, I'm goin g to be an actress." No on e reall y know s wher e Claire' s driv e t o becom e famou s came from. The other members of the Danes family have relatively low-profile occupations : Chri s is currently a computer consultant ; Carla is an artist (a painter) an d onc e ran a day-care center; Asa, a graduate o f Oberli n College , ha s worke d fo r variou s nonprofi t organizations (includin g UNICEF , i n Africa) , an d i s thinkin g o f pursuing a law degree. Until Claire' s caree r was launched, non e of them ha d eve r had an y involvement with the film industry. Claire insists tha t th e nee d t o ac t was in he r fro m th e beginning , tha t Madonna just galvanized the ide a for her. "I'm no t a fatalist and I don't really believe in destiny," she says. "It's kind of bizarre I knew so early on." Carla seems to be even more skeptical of destiny than her daughter is. On the subject of what led Claire into the actin g profession, she remarks, "I think if [Claire] had lived in California near the ocean, and everyon e was surfing , she' d b e a surfer . It' s jus t i n th e air. " Certainly, New York i s a mecc a fo r would-b e actors , bu t Claire' s dream clearl y stemme d fro m somethin g mor e tangibl e tha n th e atmosphere. Living i n Ne w York Cit y mad e Clair e a little aggressiv e an d boosted he r confidence — you have to be a bit tough to survive in
18
that immense, densel y populated city . As Carla, a transplant fro m Vermont and Rhode Island puts it, Claire was partly "raised by the city"; but , sinc e sh e was so young when sh e launched he r show business career , her mother acte d as her manager — or what Claire has calle d he r "watchguard. " When Clair e reache d adulthood , sh e was able to understand why her mother had insisted on guiding her as she made her way in the actin g profession. "My mom want s me to b e a generous an d smar t an d nurturin g perso n who' s goo d t o people," Claire explains. "She doesn't want any of this baloney to get to my head." Carla wanted to se e her daughte r succeed, but no t a t the cost of becoming an egoist, like so many other young stars. Both Carla an d Chris , wh o hav e bee n marrie d fo r ove r thirt y years , worked hard as a united front to counteract any dangerous delusions of superiority that celebrity might have inspired in Claire, cautioning her, "You're not th e only pebble on the beach." Asa has also acted to protect Claire , doing his part to ensure that his famous sister isn't chewed up by the movie industry and spit out a completel y altere d person . Claire says , "My brother's opinion of how I'm doin g means more than anything at all." To Claire, Asa is a hero, bu t t o he r fans , he' s a mystery. He has neve r spoke n t o th e press — at least he's never been quoted by a journalist. Clearly, Asa doesn't want his life put o n display, nor doe s he want to aid in the exploitation o f his beloved little sis. The Danes family is a tightly knit unit, but their bonds have been tested by tragedy. Claire's paternal grandmother passed away when Chris Danes was only ten; Claire is her namesake. Some years later, Chris's father , Gibso n Danes , died . Gibso n graduate d fro m Yal e University in 194 8 with a doctorate degree . He spent th e 1960 s as the dean of Yale's School of Art and Architecture. Severa l members of the university faculty — some of whom are his former student s — remember hi m well . Gibson Danes, they say, was an impressiv e figure, ye t h e wa s als o easygoin g and friendly . H e marrie d thre e times, an d hi s thir d wife , artis t Ilen e Getz , developed Alzheimer' s disease. 'When Gibso n wa s eighty-one an d Ilen e wa s seventy-five , they committe d suicide . Ilen e ha d bee n il l for years , and th e tw o
19 I &$
had made a pact to end their lives together when her condition ha d deteriorated t o the point wher e she could n o longer fully embrace life. This tragic event occurred when Claire was fourteen years old and on the brink o f professional success. Her initial reaction was to close herself of f from he r grief ; later, sh e became extremel y angr y wit h her grandfather, convinced that his suicide was an act of selfishness. Eventually, however, her ange r dissolved into sadness . She consigned the traum a t o a place dee p inside , late r drawin g o n th e emotion s it had spawned in her when she needed dramatic motivation i n her work. Early on, Claire realized that learning to act well is a very difficul t task. Furthermore , makin g a living fro m tha t craf t i s enormousl y challenging. I n a n effor t t o dea l with suc h complications , sh e created a fantasy. Carla told Linda Yglesias of the New York Daily News, "She was going to be a psychiatrist an d live in California, with he r best friend , Ariel, an d the y were going to shar e a swimming poo l between them. The y would both have husbands, an d Clair e woul d be a n actress on the sid e for fun." Still amazed that Claire actuall y did becom e a famou s actress , Carl a chuckle s a t thi s memory . At such a young age, Claire was already demonstrating he r remarkable practicality. At ten, Claire persuaded her parents to enroll her in the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Eac h Saturday afternoon, while other kids wer e playing o r watchin g television , Clair e woul d stud y th e basics o f metho d acting . On e o f the institute' s progra m director s later described Claire as being "very sophisticated, no t the little-gir l type a t all. " Clair e neve r misse d a clas s an d alway s arrived earl y because sh e was so anxious t o ge t started. Peopl e wer e calling he r "sophisticated" long before she' d eve n hit puberty , and, in a sense, this is a testament t o her unwavering dedication. While a t the institute , Clair e immersed herself in her worksho p assignments, approaching everything in a very serious manner, even when sh e found th e materia l a little strange . For one assignment , she had t o imagin e tha t someon e ha d broke n a raw egg over he r
20 head and act out how she felt, indicating exactly where on her body the yolk had adhered. Clair e didn't get overwhelmed or grossed out — she professed that sh e really loved this kind o f stuff . Tirn Marti n Grous e was Claire's instructo r a t th e institute . He still teaches there, and kids flock to his class because they know he had som e involvement wit h Clair e during he r earlies t professiona l phase,. "They look at me moonfaced and ask me about her," Grouse confides. Thes e fledglin g actor s ar e longing t o kno w ho w Clair e Danes behaved, how talented sh e was, what she looked like — the whole scoop. Grouse thinks that Claire has turned into what he calls a "real hero for teens — a good role model." The term "role model" is ofte n use d t o describ e Clair e becaus e o f he r driv e an d energy . She's a living demonstratio n t o would-b e actor s that , sometimes , you ca n achieve your dream s i f you are willing t o work hard an d stay focused. Grouse was, in fact, the first person t o work with Clair e Danes , the actor , and he says that he feels "very fortunate in having had a small part in her evolution." The institute stresses "sensory work" — exercises i n whic h student s ar e encourage d t o delv e dee p insid e themselves to find a particular emotion. Grouse recalls that he once instructed Clair e to remember someone she'd been close to but who was now absent fro m he r life ; sh e was to conve y the emotion s sh e associated with that person t o her teacher and her classmates using actions, not words. Unsure about how she was doing, Claire made eye contact with her instructor i n the midst of her performance, silently asking his approval. He nodded bac k at her, and she completed th e exercise. Claire stunned Grous e because, as he put it , "She was the only member of the class who actually tapped into the emotion and was abl e to pla y genuin e loss." H e foun d he r t o b e "wonderfully moving." Most dram a student s don't enjo y exercise s like this one , and neithe r di d Claire . Bu t she eagerly rose t o th e challenge . She wanted to learn anything and everything she could that would assist her in becoming a good actress . In no sense did ten-year-old Clair e consider her Strasberg studies a hobby. As Grouse has noted, she was "mature beyond her years. She
21
had a focus that the othe r kid s lacked. Her aptitude wa s amazing. There was a hunger to learn, to know, to grow. Claire was quite fear less when it came to performing. She had a n emotional availabilit y that was astonishing. Most younger actors are afraid o f their emotions, but no t Claire . She was honest, real. There was no phoniness about her performance. " When Claire came to Grous e with questions about the business aspect o f the trade , h e gav e her honest , blun t answers , but Clair e was not discouraged . Sh e just absorbe d an y information h e coul d give her. "She was like a sponge when it came to her career," Grouse remarks. Grouse gives all his incoming students the same advice: "Be yourself." He told Claire, "You are unique and that is your gift. Don' t try to be like anyone else, just develop yourself." It proved to be an excellent career tip. Claire heeded his words and thereby resisted the pressure to conform, to commercialize herself. When she wasn't career building, Claire attended New York PS 11 . There, at elementary school, she learned history, math, science, and reading. Sh e also learned ho w to interac t sociall y with othe r girl s and boys her own age and to respect her teachers. Claire was happy at PS 11 — it was to be the onl y school she'd atten d where she fel t truly comfortable . She liked her public-schoo l classmates , finding them t o be a unique collection o f individuals. Sh e refers fondl y t o them as her "completely deranged" friends, adding that they "all got along smashingly." Claire and he r P S 11 pals embraced the rol e of being what sh e terms "freaks," an d the y enjoye d themselve s thoroughly. According to ex-classmat e Bridget Barkin, when the schoo l mounted a lip-synching contest, Claire fearlessly took the stage and did "Wild Thing. " After graduatin g fro m P S 11, Clair e wen t o n t o Ne w York's acclaimed Professiona l Performing Arts School , wher e she woul d complete grades 6,7, and 8. Her ambition a t this point was to grow, as a student an d a s an actor, among supportive staf f member s an d kids wh o share d he r aspirations . I t didn' t happen . Clair e quickl y came to detest her new school. She describes the people who ran it as overzealou s New Age types, an d charge s that th e environmen t
22 they created wa s not conduciv e to learning . Sh e found her fello w students to be unbearably obnoxious. Her hopes were dashed. Her explanation fo r thi s dysfunctio n i s tha t th e school' s structur e caused the kids who spent their days there to become mean-spirited and standoffis h — particularly when it cam e to thos e they saw as "different." Performing Arts students were urged to study in theme rooms painte d variou s color s — th e ide a wa s that thes e color s would elicit a range of moods, which could then be explored. They were also encouraged to isolate themselves by sitting in the corner or out in the hallway. Claire did not di g it at all. She felt very out of touch. Like all prepubescents, Claire yearned to be noticed, to be included in a peer group, so she did make one or two attempts to bond with the "cool " people a t Performin g Arts — i n he r ow n words , sh e "tested out the popular crowd." The results of her test were negative. She concluded that group members interacted with each other on a very superficial level — everyone had to agree with the leader of the moment or face being ostracized. At ages ten and eleven, Claire was too sensitive , and to o perceptive , t o b e cajoled into thinkin g an d acting the way everyone else did. Loathing what she saw as rampant power tripping, she made up her mind to steer clear of cliques. Her conviction ha s remaine d firm , an d sh e stil l says , "I won' t follo w people who I don't think ar e doing admirable things. " While Claire reacted strongly against the "popular crowd " practice o f "isolating] somebod y an d mak[ing ] the m fee l ba d abou t themselves," she failed t o defen d the victims. She feared tha t if she did, she'd be next. So many school kids find themselves caught in the same bind, and there are no simple solutions. Ultimately, Claire chose survival over heroics. It was the onl y way she could cope. In the mids t o f her middle-schoo l ordeal , sh e actually found a boyfriend — a fellow Performing Arts student named Billy Cherry. The relationship wa s nothing serious , accordin g to on e o f Claire's ol d classmates; they were so young that i t wa s a typical "one minut e Susie wa s dating Billy , bu t the n h e move d o n t o Claire " typ e of scenario.
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All the while, Claire was acting, dancing, playing the piano, drawing, and painting. Carl a Danes is an artist, s o it's little wonder that Claire was inspired to spend many hours with pencil or paintbrush clutched i n her small hand. Her dance training was short-lived, bu t she learned enoug h t o b e abl e t o dra w o n i t whe n sh e began t o appear in plays. Gymnastics, as well, were on th e agend a for Claire at abou t thi s time : sh e tumbled, turne d cartwheels , an d execute d backbends and handstands wit h great enthusiasm. A school secretary later reporte d tha t Clair e ha d bee n a tombo y whil e attendin g Performing Arts — she'd neve r show up for class in "frilly dresses." After all , such attire would have encumbered her during her recesstime acrobatic s practices . No matte r ho w much Clair e enjoye d gymnastics, drawing , an d dancing, actin g remaine d he r primar y focus . Eve n befor e sh e offi cially became a teenager, sh e performed i n a few off-off Broadwa y theater presentations , includin g Happiness (n o relation t o the Todd Solandz film), at the Duo Theater; Kids on Stage, at the Grand Central Theater; and Punk Ballet, at the New Ritz Theater. For Kids on Stage, she coordinate d he r ow n danc e moves. In Dreams o f Love, a fil m produced b y New York University students an d executive produce d by th e famou s movi e directo r Milo s Forman , Clair e mad e he r screen debut. This was no lightweigh t exercise : Claire was cast as a molested child . Most parents atten d PT A meeting s to discus s educational issues or school fundraising strategies , but a t the Professional Performing Arts School, parents gathe r to discus s how to match thei r childre n up with agents. By the time Claire was twelve years old, she'd found representation. Soon , she was out auditioning an d landing some big roles. Sh e was approache d b y peopl e fro m th e long-runnin g ABC soap opera One Life t o Live and offere d a role. Most would-be actors would have jumped at the chance. So many big names have used the soaps as a launching pad — actresses Sarah Michelle Cellar and Demi Moore and singer Ricky Martin, t o name but a few. But Claire was worried tha t suc h a career mov e woul d undermin e he r integrity . She didn't wan t t o b e typecas t s o early on, and , accordin g t o he r
24 mother, sh e just didn' t se e soap actin g — al l trauma-drama, all falsehoods — as "legitimate." Claire, says Carla, "had suc h a major headache fro m th e stres s of making a decision." Whe n she finally said no to ABC, any remaining doubts Carla and Chris may have had about thei r precociou s daughter' s professiona l seriousnes s wer e swept away. They now knew that Claire would always reject the path of least resistance in her drive to become a success. In th e meantime , Clair e ha d graduate d fro m Professiona l Arts and ha d embarke d upon her freshma n yea r o f high schoo l at th e snooty, exclusive Dalton. She had als o appeared in a slew of nationally broadcast movies and television shows. First up was a fall 199 2 episode o f La w an d Order. I t wa s titled "Ski n Deep, " and Clair e portrayed Tracy Brandt, a sultry, evil, teenage model who seduces then murder s her olde r paramour. Next Claire played the siste r of the lesbian protagonist i n the HB O movie Th e Coming Out o f Heidi Leiter. Then she appeared as Tyne Daly's daughter in the televisio n movie No Room for Opal. At Dalton , Clair e took o n on e o f her firs t stag e roles, in a play called The Rimners ofEldridge. When the director, Bob Sloan, became acquainted wit h Clair e durin g th e tryouts , h e becam e convince d that he'd unearthed a gem. "Claire immediately impressed me with her truthfulness when I first met her," Sloan reminisces. "There was a wisdom or depth there that belied her years, and I felt I was in the presence of an old soul." A year or two later, the press would begin to characterize Claire in a similar fashion; words like "truthfulness," "wisdom," and "depth" cropped u p constantly in her profiles. Claire quickly set her sights on the role of the very old woman in The Rimners ofEldridge., a person decades older than sh e and bor n in a completely different era . Sloan had faith in her ability to handle it, and so the role was hers. She didn't let her director down . Sloan says that Claire "proceeded t o create a rich and wonderfully moving characterization." Th e pla y ran fo r thre e consecutiv e nights , an d Sloan wa s proud o f eac h performance. During th e secon d night , however, Clair e unknowingl y thre w a monke y wrenc h int o th e works. On opening night, says Sloan, Claire "managed to create this
25 character wher e her emotion s were bubbling righ t unde r th e surface . .. she never quite let them out . The result was a complex and moving performanc e that lef t man y member s o f th e audienc e i n tears. I t wa s exactly the performanc e I had worke d wit h he r an d helped her craft in rehearsals." But on the next night, Claire broke a cardinal rule of the theater: she altered her performance. She delivered something drastically different — and unrehearsed. Recalls Sloan, "Her controlled sorro w came out in a rush of tears and wails. She was throwing he r body about , her ol d woman no w moving with a casual energy that defied her age." Claire's characte r was suddenly possessed with a spirit too young and agile to match her physical and emotional state. Why did Claire change her interpretation without consultin g he r director? For one simple reason : she' d failed to take into consideration the fact that the rules and procedures of the stag e are not thos e o f film o r television. "Oh , I was going for something differen t tonight, " Clair e explained to Sloa n with a big grin o n he r face . "Ho w wa s it?" An exasperate d Sloan could onl y laugh in response to her innocent question . He' d realize d that previous to this, Claire had been in Los Angeles auditioning fo r a role in a new television drama called My So-Called Life. She'd already filmed the pilot an d was waiting to hear whether th e sho w would be picke d up . A s Sloan well knew, television an d fil m actor s ar e directed to try scenes in a variety of ways to determine what will work best fo r th e fina l taping/shooting . I t wa s obvious tha t Clair e was applying that approach to Th e Rimners — she was offering anothe r "take." And she was conducting her ow n audience-response experiment. Sloan explains, "She thought sh e was doing me a favor, giving me a differen t loo k t o wor k wit h i n editing. " So , very gently , he explained tha t "i n theate r yo u hav e this weir d parado x tha t yo u have to d o everythin g exactly as you rehearse d it, but a s if for th e first time. Th e other actor s depend on that to maintai n thei r own characterizations." When Claire finally came to terms with what she'd done, she didn't throw a temper tantrum o r crumble in the face of the criticism. Say s Sloan, "the third an d final night she returned to form," much to his
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Senior year at Le Lycee Francais, Los Angeles, CA, 1997 SETH POPPEL YEARBOOK ARCHIVES
relief. While Sloan has coached many students, some more talented than others , h e remember s th e shor t tim e h e worke d with Clair e fondly an d h e i s happy tha t sh e has achieve d suc h grea t success. Looking back , h e remarks , "Sh e probabl y coul d no t imagin e th e level of fame that awaited her, but I'l l bet she still comports herself in a dignified and mature manner. " Shortly after this, Claire was cast as one of Dudley Moore's "angstridden" daughters (he r words) i n a television comedy . "Even o n a sitcom I had a morbid role, " she later quipped. Unfortunately , th e
27 pilot was destined to wind up on that special trash heap designated for rejecte d pilots. But Claire had no time to mourn the lost oppor tunity. She had other prospects to focus on: the role in My So-Called Life and a part in the Steven Spielberg Holocaust epic Schindler's List. Claire won both roles, but sh e had t o turn down Spielberg' s offer . The film was to be shot on location i n Poland, and no tutors would be provided. So Claire accepted MSCL creator Winnie Holzman's offe r and joined the newly assembled cast of the show that would make her famous. Claire's audition had knocked Holzman right out of her socks. In retrospect, Holzma n assert s that she' d have done "anything to have Claire pla y the part, " du e t o he r "incredibl e self-possessio n an d grace." Claire had taken on the lead role of Angela Chase, filmed the pilot, and then waited over a year for ABC to decide whether to pick up th e show . In the interim , Franci s Ford Coppol a aske d to mee t with Claire. The renowned director was planning to shoot a biopic based on the life of writer Jack Kerouac, as represented in the auto biographical novel On the Road. Although she was really too young for th e role , Coppol a wa s intereste d i n castin g Clair e a s on e o f Kerouac's man y women. Th e projec t neve r cam e to fruition , bu t Coppola, who would later direct Claire in The Rainmaker, admitted to being quite smitten with the budding actress. He marveled at her ability to deal with sexually explicit materia l by relying on what he called her "lovel y poise," as well as her "intelligenc e an d a natura l sense o f truth." Coppola als o noted , a s had s o man y others, tha t Claire exuded a "wisdom tha t reached out far beyond her age." The worl d Clair e inhabite d wa s changing dramatically . I t was unavoidable. To do MSCL, she had to uproot herself and move to LA, leaving her beloved New York City behind. Quitting Dalto n wasn't much of a hardship for her though — she maintained tha t she "felt like a total shrub " there — but sh e was sad to sa y goodbye to her friends. The new terrain Claire was entering was dotted with brandnew obstacles; i t was so difficult t o maneuve r that sh e resolved t o rush past her teens and get into her twenties — she was convinced she'd be more comfortable behaving like an adult .
28 The shift in her lifestyle accommodated her desire to grow up fast . Claire was no longer a schoolgirl. As the sta r of a television series, she could not attend school on a full-time basis, and this suited her just fine. As Claire hersel f pu t it , "Junio r hig h wa s hell; I alway s stuck out. " I n ever y school she' d lande d in , th e bratty-vindictive little-girl type was already well entrenched. She eventually learned to rise above it and concentrate on her main priority. "Once I hit sixth grade," she explained to Vogues Jonatha n Van Meter, "and pubert y was starting to kick in, school was not the right place for me. It was not a nurturing environment. . It was too painful . I had thi s outlet , acting, and I took advantage of it. It was quite intentional. " Still, especiall y for a teenager, not havin g friends you r own age makes for a pretty lonely existence. Claire badly needed someone to gossip with, to share her experiences with. So Chris and Carla filled the void . Clair e coul d alway s depen d o n he r parent s t o kee p he r grounded, t o dispens e advice , to ac t as confidants. Soon, the thre e were spending s o much time together tha t Claire began to fee l th e situation wa s abnormal, despit e thei r grea t relationship . Watchin g other teens , and working on MSCL, she'd become aware of the general belief that you're not supposed t o tell your mother everything . The problem wa s that Clair e and Carla's relationship jus t didn't conform to the prevailing stereotype. Jodie Foster explained to reporter Ann Bergman , "While I ha d a grea t relationshi p wit h m y mom , Claire an d he r mothe r ar e reall y bes t friends. " Sh e then recalle d the followin g incident. Claire , Carla , an d Foste r wer e vacationin g together, an d on e afternoo n the y engage d i n som e parasailing . Mother an d daughter held hands and shrieked a s if they were both teenage girls. Foster remarked that Clair e "really wanted to be with her mom " It was that simple . But Carla never lost sight of her parental responsibilities. I t was a balancing act. One of her main concerns at this point was ensuring that Clair e received decent schooling. "I really had t o fight for her education," she says, especially when Claire was on location. Carla's task wasn't as trying when Claire was filming something in Califor nia: that state, due to the abundance of child actors who call it home.
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Claire and her date for the senior prom, 1997 SETH POPPEL YEARBOOK ARCHIVES
has stric t regulation s concernin g th e educationa l requirement s o f people under the ag e of eighteen. During he r MSCL stint , Clair e attempte d t o complet e anothe r year at Dalton via e-mail with the help of a tutor. When that didn' t work out, she decided to study with the tutor alone for the duratio n of th e show' s season. After MSC L wa s canceled , she enrolle d i n ye t another schoo l — the exclusive Lycee Francois, where she would be educated in French and wear a white and navy uniform. Claire wasn't there very often, because at that point he r film career skyrocketed. Her work on MSC L had won her a part in a new adaptation of Little Women, an d mor e fil m role s wer e to follo w in quic k succession . During he r senio r yea r a t th e Lycee , however, sh e di d manag e to attend at the prom, and her picture appears in the yearbook — she looks just as dorky as the res t of her classmates . In the course of her secondary education, Claire tried to bridge the gap between her studie s and her career . Before filming Les MiseraUes
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in Europe , she was able to convinc e the Lyce e t o incorporat e th e novel into the curriculum. Guided by her mother, she pursued her education n o matter how hectic things became. She'd have chemistry test s mailed t o her o n location o r squeeze in som e economics homework between takes. While Claire ofte n dreade d the quizzes , the exams , the writing of papers, she knew that her schooling was extremely important. Witnessing other actors her age dropping out of school, however, she'd occasionall y feel tempted t o do the same . "It's trick y to keep some sort o f perspective," she remarks. "Everybody loves you, and everythin g you say is brilliant. You think, 'Why do I need to go to school when I'm already a genius?'" Yet there was little danger of Claire becoming a dropout. Even if her ow n resolve had failed , her parents would never have allowed it to happen. However, Chris and Carla's days of parental authority were numbered. When Claire turned eighteen , she told he r mother tha t she no longer wanted her for a manager. She purchased a million-dollar Soho loft and moved back to New York, leaving her parents in Santa Monica where she herself had led them a few years earlier. This was not th e result of delayed teenage rebellion or any other type of conflict. Clair e just felt she' d been too coddle d an d too protected; sh e needed to star t making her ow n choices — and mistakes. Just before he r eighteent h birthday , she' d declared : "W e are incredibl y close, but I should have more secrets of my own." Her decision to sever her business connection with Carla was, in Claire's words, "painful all around." She knew that Carl a felt aban doned. Som e "very volatile" emotions wer e let loose in th e Dane s camp. Still , radica l change , whil e painful , can als o b e beneficial . "You can' t hel p bu t hur t som e people's feelings, " Claire acknowledged, "but a t the same time it's healthy, it's natural. It's what I need to do in order to become a strong, independent person. " Carla had a huge adjustment to make. She'd accompanied Clair e to auditions , t o film locations, t o interviews, perpetually standin g guard, and now she would have to pull back. Not long before this, she'd confided, "You're always afraid for your kids. Claire's got a job where people look at her all the time. Like the sun, it can scorch vou."
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Now, she'd have to let go of that fea r an d let her daughte r fly solo. It was inevitable that the press would question her about Claire's decision, an d Carl a wa s read y fo r them . Sh e told reporte r Linda Yglesias that while she'd continu e t o read Claire's scripts , "I'm no t going to be on salary.... I had a percentage of the managin g fee, but I'm not going to be part of the money stuff anymore... . That's the way Claire wants it. We need to separate." Claire would stil l be able to ask her mother fo r feedback, particularly on all those scripts she was reading, but Carla would have to restrain herself from offer ing unsolicited advice . As Carla struggled to accep t her daughter' s wishes, Claire set out on the path towards self-fulfillment .
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The I 1 B v, V= Child-Adult » I I 1 1U r^, U U I L ^nH O S I U Lthp I S C r PfpQQ I C D3
Interviewers rarely fail to mentio n Clair e Danes's split personality : she has consistently presente d herself a s a giggling teen — or, these days, a vibrant twentysomething — while displaying many attributes of a mature, well-grounded adult . Sh e has neve r concealed herself behind a wall of defenses, a s so many other famou s people do. She has always been accessible, and she comes across as extremely down to earth . Sh e doesn't appea r t o tak e he r succes s fo r granted . Sh e radiates humility, intelligence , an d graciousness . Some journalist s hav e seeme d disconcerte d b y al l o f thi s an d by Claire's tendency to deliver , very casually, all kinds o f thought provoking pronouncements . Tak e Mauree n o f Sass y magazine . In 1994, she asked Claire for her response to Angela Chase's notion tha t "high schoo l i s a battlefield fo r your heart." "Adolescenc e is such a torrid time," came the reply; then Claire confided that dealing with puberty wa s reall y difficult . Fe w teenagers woul d hav e ha d th e confidence t o refe r t o thei r buddin g sexualit y in suc h a forthright way. Maureen described Claire's remarks as, "not a bad descriptio n of what it' s lik e to be a teenager," but, sh e added, "it reall y doesn' t sound like it came out o f the mouth of one. Claire talks in this real adult wa y that doesn't quit e fi t her...." In a 199 5 Movieline article , Denni s Hensle y wrote , "Althoug h Claire Dane s is known for her tee n role s . .. in person the actress exudes a self-assurance that' s decidedl y adult. " Clair e an d Hensle y had chatted about such subjects as acting, her relationship wit h her mom, an d grou p therapy , an d Claire' s cando r ha d mad e quit e a n
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impact o n he r interviewer . When Ker i Goldenha r o f British G Q profiled Claire in 1997, she commented that, "Apart from the telltale crescent remnant s o f baby-blue nailpolish tha t strea k her finger nails, it' s har d t o tel l Clair e Dane s i s stil l onl y seventee n years old...." Goldenhar then gushed that Claire was "intelligent, trusting , and mor e comfortable in her ski n than anyon e her ag e I've seen." Next cam e th e by-now-familia r observatio n tha t Claire , whil e remarkably mature for her age, was at the same time very teen-girllike. It was clear that Claire, still so young, had dazzled th e press by simply being herself. She never squealed about minor o r imagined injustices o r put dow n her competitors, and this, along with everything else , had grabbe d th e attentio n o f entertainment-industr y reporters who were used to dealing with celebrities — of all ages — who did . The Decembe r 199 5 issue of Sassy include d a profile of Claire Danes written by none other than Claire herself. In it, she gives full rein to her teen-girl side and gives her wise-beyond-her-years side a rest. I n a Movieline piece , w e learn tha t Clair e i s "boy crazy. " We learn that she is so boy crazy that she actually spent part of a summer at a surfing camp — not to learn to ride a board but to attract the attention o f a couple of buff surfe r boys. Boys had become a recurrent theme. Anyone willing to listen was told just how much Claire adored youn g members o f th e opposit e sex . When on e reporte r inquired about her thoughts on love, a melodramatic Claire sighed, "Oh, God did good when he created boys." Such remarks were typical Claire Danes interview fare — it was clear that for her, as for many girls of her age , boys had become an obsession . Boy craziness was not the only manifestation of her teen-girl side that Claire displayed to the press: she also waxed insecure about her looks. To some reporters, she' d pronounce hersel f average looking; to others , she' d admi t t o thinkin g he r fac e ha d a fe w flaws tha t needed t o be camouflaged. Related to this insecurity was her habi t of discarding one ensemble after another before appearing in public. Just before appearing on Jay Leno s show, for example, she suddenly felt awkwar d in th e sex y gown she'd selecte d fo r the occasio n an d
35 hurriedly changed into a plain suit. She explained to an interviewer, "I'm s o insecure in that area.... It's, like, amazing how frightening it is." Sadly, most teenage girls express dissatisfaction with th e way they look, and Claire was no exception. In fact, due to her choice of profession, sh e was often subjecte d to th e kin d o f treatment tha t breeds self-imag e confusion and insecurity . One agen t or directo r might proclaim her "stunning," or a "flawless beauty," while another might label her "funny looking" and complain abou t the size of her nose. Being assessed like a piece of meat is no confidenc e booster . Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun, in a 1996 piece coinciding with the release of Romeo + Juliet, praised Clair e for not conversin g in what he termed "Teenag e Upspeak ... where every sentence? Ends in a question?" But he also noted that she was prone to the kind of selfdoubt that assails teenagers — or, at least, teenage celebrities. Wrote Slotek: "Clair e Dane s worries — good , clear-heade d worries, like 'Why am I so famous all of a sudden?' and 'If I'm such a big deal, why can't I get a boyfriend?' and 'How do I keep myself from becoming a Hollywood jerk?' and 'God, did I just say something stupid? Again?'" Claire's insecuritie s cam e throug h i n man y intervie w situations . In 1995 , she told Mar k Marvel of Interview that people her ag e — herself include d — were mainl y concerne d wit h "thei r zits , an d getting that date for Friday night." Maybe so, but it wouldn't be long before Clair e would relinquish suc h childish preoccupations forever. Her matur e side , which s o many had remarke d upon, and whic h had brough t he r throug h thos e turbulen t tee n year s relativel y unscathed, was developing rapidly. And it wouldn't b e long before she'd have to start navigating her way through some pretty grown-up experiences and emotions. Th e adult was eclipsing the child .
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Claire in Love
Claire ha d firs t falle n i n lov e (fo r real) a t th e ag e o f fifteen . Th e object o f he r affection s wa s Andrew Dorff (ye s — th e brothe r o f moody, sex y Stephen) , whom she' d me t throug h MSC L castmat e Devon Odess a (ak a Sharon Cherski) . At acting class , a handsom e guy had caught Devon's eye, and, not being shy, she strolled ove r to introduce herself. The two started chatting, an d Devo n found ou t that this hottie was only eighteen year s old. Sh e was twenty-one, and she thought he was too young for her, but fo r some reason she had the impulse to set him up with someone else. Then she thought of Claire . Devon arrange d for th e thre e o f them — herself , Andrew, and Claire — t o hav e coffe e together , an d thing s unfolde d smoothl y enough. But, after hanging out with Andrew a few times, Claire still wasn't quite sure what to make of him. She couldn't decid e if he was a slightly elusive yet extremely interesting gu y or just a really selfindulgent one . As it turne d out , h e wa s the former , an d sh e an d Andrew became quit e enamoure d wit h eac h other. Andrew didn't act, but hi s brother did , s o he understoo d wha t Clair e wa s going through; h e coul d als o handl e he r frequen t absence s fro m LA. Andrew's passion was writing music — he once wrote and recorded a son g for Clair e called "My First Babydoll." He's never even been tempted to try his hand a t acting. Puppy love blossomed int o a n intense romanc e that Clair e has described a s "wonderful an d overwhelming, " like a n "emotiona l roller coaster." She cherishes the memory of waking up in Andrew's
38 arms, thei r bodie s clos e an d warm , th e mornin g su n shinin g through th e window/Thi s wa s before they' d eve r mad e love , bu t Claire had this to say about the experience: it's "the mos t exquisit e feeling in the world. " Claire and Andrew spent time doing the things most teen couples do: hanging with friends, going to the movies, attending rock concerts. Whil e Claire' s heav y schedul e prevente d he r fro m seein g Andrew as often a s she desired, the tw o did manag e to fin d som e time to be alone together. They'd snuggl e and engage in long, deep conversations. Clair e fel t saf e wit h Andrew . She trusted hi m an d believed that he really understood wh o she was. She gave herself to him and lost her virginity. The moment was right, and she was with the right person . Claire an d Andre w remained a n ite m fo r abou t a year. Thei r breakup was slow and painfu l an d Clair e never full y divulge d th e reasons behind it to her interviewers. When MSCL was canceled and the new job offer s cam e flooding in, Claire became a frequent flyer, but he r absence s weren' t wha t triggere d th e disintegratio n o f her relationship wit h Andrew. In Premiere's 199 6 Romeo + Juliet cover story, she remarked to reporter Christine Spines, "It's no t like there was another woman" and alluded to some unspecified family problems tha t Andrew was struggling with a s a factor contributin g t o their split . Just before Claire left for Mexico City to take on her first leading role, a s Juliet, Shakespeare's tragi c teenag e lover, the pai r calle d i t quits once and for all. As if getting over one's first main squeeze isn't hard enough : imagine having to immerse yourself in the part o f a star-crossed love r an d pla y intimat e scene s wit h som e gu y you hardly kno w — eve n i f tha t gu y is Leonardo DiCapri o — whil e trying to come to terms with your loss. Claire was very worried that the aftereffect s o f the breakup Avould undermine he r performance . She confided in Romeo + Juliet's director , Baz Luhrman, explaining her qualms . "I didn't know how I was going to ge t through al l of Juliet's ecstatic speeches about being in love. I was hurting so much," she recalls. Though she broke into sob s numerous times on the set
39 — behavior tha t would generall y be considere d embarrassin g an d unprofessional — Luhrman an d cre w didn't ge t down o n her to o hard. Afte r all , those intens e melanchol y feeling s woul d ultimatel y enrich Claire' s portraya l of Juliet. When the film wrapped, Claire returned to California emotionally an d physicall y exhausted. Sh e spent som e tim e recuperating , but sh e couldn' t shak e he r depression . Wha t sh e really , reall y wanted wa s a new boyfriend. I t woul d tak e her a good coupl e o f months t o fin d one . Why weren't al l kinds o f boys clamorin g fo r Claire's attention ? The y wer e probabl y a little intimidated , an d Claire was a little shy about flirtin g — she preferred to wait for any interested partie s to approach her . At about thi s time, she began to tell the pres s how jealous she was of her mal e actor friends . When Leo DiCaprio or Jared Leto (from MSCL) entered a club, she'd explain, girls would flock to them. Yet boys would never vie for her attentio n when she'd show up at the same places. "I mean, yeah, you get letters," said an exasperated Claire , "but they're , like , from prison. " While i n Rom e promotin g th e Europea n releas e o f Romeo + Juliet in February of 1997, Claire decided to go dancing. She and her cohorts troope d of f to a nightclu b packe d wit h beautifu l people , and Claire passed a memorable evening swaying her hips to the music partnered with one or other o f the four young Italian men she' d met in that charmed environment. All four wer e great dancers; and all four ha d ho t bodies . But , while sh e found hersel f attracte d t o each of her partners, she was not "into one-night stands . That is just way too scary. But for one evening, surrounded by those Italian boys, I could fee l like Madonna i n her 'Material Girl' video." Back home again , Claire's yearning for an enduring relationshi p intensified. "I' m i n lov e wit h th e ide a o f being i n love, " sh e pro claimed. She wanted to snag herself a "really bright, nerdy boy," but she insisted tha t th e number-on e prerequisite for successfu l unio n was attraction. Pure and simple. She has always been convinced that without tha t initia l bol t o f electricit y ther e wil l b e littl e t o kee p a coupl e togethe r afte r they'v e learne d eac h other' s secret s an d bad habits . "I'v e foun d mysel f tryin g t o tal k mysel f int o adorin g
40 somebody and the feelings just aren't there," Claire explains — "it's really frustrating because 1 want them to be." Had sh e wanted t o experienc e thos e feeling s for Leo DiCaprio? Although she conceded that a "spark" had glowed between them on the Romeo + Juliet set, she explained that they'd denied it because it was too strong for either of them to deal with. They were opposites, and they'd attracted one another: calm Claire (except when shedding tears over Andrew) and hyper Leo . (Claire reports tha t o n th e set her costa r asked her, "How can you be so still?" She retorted, "How can you be so active?") But an attraction was all it was, even though many observer s refuse d t o believ e tha t nothin g eve r happened , given all those passionate love scenes they'd shared; they were forced to kiss each other hundreds of times (Claire titillated fans during an AOL cha t with th e informatio n tha t Le o was a great kisser). Their failure t o make an emotional connection may have been related to Leo's tendency to ac t like a clown. Claire found hi s antics amusing but sa w them a s evidence of his insecurity and immaturity — no t qualities sh e was seeking in a partner. Sh e wanted someon e muc h more serious , centered , an d a s passionate abou t lov e a s sh e was herself. Le o professed to he r tha t h e "didn't believ e i n love " an d blamed his former girlfriends for not bein g "right." Claire scolde d him, saying no — "I think it' s about you, the boy." As the shootin g continued, Clair e and Leo began acting a lot more like affectionat e siblings than heated lovers, and they've remained friends to this day. Their costar John Leguizamo has remarked that he was glad the pair never acte d o n thei r feeling s o f attractio n becaus e it woul d have ruined their onscreen sexual tension. And that was really dynamite. Had Clair e fel t tha t "bol t o f electricity " when it cam e to Mat t Damon, her Rainmaker costar? In early 1997, while working on that film, she'd tangoed with Damon, who is nearly a decade older than she is. This led to many mentions o f their "romance" in the scandal sheets. Whe n confronte d wit h question s abou t thei r relationship , Damon denie d i t ha d eve r existed . T o a Salon interviewer , h e responded wit h a "blank look " and th e comment , "No , she' s onl y eighteen." For her part, Claire consistently acknowledged that some-
41
thing ha d gon e o n between them , bu t sh e would neve r elaborate . But, whatever that "something" was, it obviously wasn't what she' d been looking fo r since the demis e of Claire + Andrew. Then, a s so ofte n happens , thing s jus t cam e together o n thei r own. A while back, Winona Ryde r had give n Claire a C D of som e soulful acoustic rock, the product of an Australian musician named Ben Lee . Claire wa s entranced , an d sh e trie d t o hav e on e o f hi s songs included o n the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. It didn't happen, but Ben Lee sent Claire a fax that read, "Thanks so much for spreading the word. If you want to get a coffee, w e should." The proble m was, the two just never seemed to be on the sam e continent at the same time. Months of electronic flirtation ensued, until, one balmy spring night i n California, Claire and Ben finally came face to face . It was April 20,1997 — Claire's eighteenth birthday. Ryder threw a little party for her and showed up accompanie d by a short, slight dude with green hair. When Claire first glanced at him, she thought he was "just another one of [Ryder's] weird friends, but i t turned ou t to be Ben " Claire was elated. What a present! Ryde r had arrange d for hi m t o fly in from Sydne y for the occasio n (th e flight was fourteen hour s long!) , and Le e had compose d a special birthday son g just for Claire. He whipped out his guitar, performed the tune, and he and Claire haven't let go of each other since . Ben Lee is very talented. Just as talented as Claire Danes. But hi s gifts shine in the low-key indie-rock world, not the glamorous, highprofile world of film and television . Back home in Sydney , in 1993 , when he was only fourteen years old, Ben had forme d a rock band with several classmates. They called themselves Noise Addict. Thei r first performanc e wa s at a book sale , of al l places, and soo n after wards they were signed to a small Australian label. The first American music-industry move r to notice Nois e Addict was Thurston Moor e of the influential alternative band Sonic Youth. Through Moore, the band mad e and release d an E P titled DBF. This momentou s career event happened to Ben Lee at the same time Claire undertook MSCL. The EP caused quite a commotion, an d soon the band was offered a firmer contract through th e Grand Royal label, run by Mike D. of
42 the Beasti e Boys. While they were initially thrille d b y this tur n o f events, the members of Noise Addict became restless because no tour was mounted fo r them. Ben decided to try his hand at a solo effort , and recruited the always-in-demand Brad Wood to work on it with him. Be n was sixteen when Grandpaw Would cam e out. Suddenly, he was indie rock's It Boy; for a few weeks, at least, the record blared out ove r the college-radio airwaves. All this occurred in early 1995, when Claire's film debut, in Little Women, was winning her positive reviews and she had begun filming How to Make an American Quilt. In 1996, missing being part of an ensemble, Ben convinced Wood to produce a full-length Noise Addict album. The y christened th e project Meet the Real You, and it was well received among indie-rock fans. Unfortunately, Noise Addict was beset with internal squabble s and soon broke up. Ben wasn't too sad, though; in fact, "the greatest Australian songwriter of all time" (he jokingly named himself) im mediately began writing songs for a follow-up to Grandpa Would, which would be called Something to Remember Me By. Brad Wood produced fo r the third time, an d the recording sessions took place in Los Angeles in early 1997. It was at around this time that Ben and Claire began corresponding. Clair e had already discovered Grandpa Would an d was eager to hear more from thi s amazing young musician. Something to Remember Me By, an acoustic-based offering with a smoother fee l than Grandpa Would, hit indie outlets in mid-1997, when Claire was still causing a sensation with her portrayal of Juliet. Ben Lee fans, Clair e Danes amon g them, coul d hardl y wait to get hold o f the ne w CD. After Clair e an d Be n got together , the y hit th e road . Through Ben, Claire had the opportunity to experience the life of a popular touring musicia n firsthand . E>urin g th e summe r o f 1997 , Clair e joined Be n on tour , travelin g al l ove r th e Unite d State s — wit h lengthy layovers in L A and Ne w York — as well as visiting Paris an d London. She was coming down from th e buzz surrounding Romeo + Juliet, and she'd just cranked out Th e Rainmaker and U-Turn, so she badly needed a break. She told Dolly magazin e that sh e felt i t was "important" t o "hang out an d see the world on mv own terms,
43 without th e cushio n o f a production company " — or her mother . Of course, she had to redefine her terms a little. Claire was used t o the pampered lifestyle, and the kind o f shabby hotels that Be n and his entourag e staye d i n gav e her th e creeps . But, in typica l Clair e Danes fashion, she got over it, had a great time, and grew up a bit in the process. Next on the agenda for Claire and Ben was an Australian sojourn. Together, they took i n al l of Sydney's glorious sights. On a visit t o the famous Bondi Beach, an obnoxious cele b photographer spotte d the happ y coupl e an d bega n maneuverin g to sna p thei r picture . Attempting to giv e him th e slip , Claire and Be n darted into a huge nearby church an d waited there for a few moments, lik e characters in an action film, hoping the bloke would just disappear. Of course, he didn't. When they stepped outside again , he was ready and waiting. Flashbulbs popped. Claire an d Be n shrugged off the inciden t and resumed their vacation, not realizin g that i t might have been a better ide a t o hav e let th e gu y have his pictur e i n th e firs t place . Arriving back in the States , Claire and Be n were greeted by tabloid features proclaiming tha t Claire Danes, famous teenage actress, was about t o ge t married . On e snapsho t o f Clair e an d Be n leaving a church had triggered this enormous, and false, leap of logic. Furthermore, the minister o f the church had told the New York Post that the well-known duo had been near his church but had failed to mention that they hadn't even spoken to him — about marriage or anything else. Claire' s publicis t nippe d th e rumor s i n th e bud , sendin g ou t numerous pres s release s stating tha t Clair e wa s datin g Ben , the operative word being "dating." The two were not engaged , nor ha d they even talked about it . Still, Clair e ha s confesse d to bein g "s o i n lov e it' s disgusting . [Ben]'s really funny, he' s really smart, an d he loves me really, really well. That's a quality that people take for granted; I mean, it's a skill, and not everybody's capable of doing it. I think that's the most critical quality." The two ar e spotted al l over New York City these days, and thei r mutua l affectio n i s obvious . Anyon e wh o see s the m together can testify to that. For instance, in December of 1997, Twist
45 magazine reported that the two had been spotted at a Beck concert, not just nodding their heads in time to the music but really rocking out, kissin g an d holdin g hands . I n th e summe r o f 1998 , Clair e participated i n the annual fundraiser for the Pediatric AID S Foundation, a gala , celebrity-studde d affair . Be n was her escort , an d h e never lef t he r side . On e witnes s commente d o n ho w joyous the y appeared an d ho w clea r i t wa s that the y ha d eye s only fo r eac h other. The two have never been shy about expressin g their feeling s for eac h other publicly . For their secon d anniversary , Claire an d Ben , still goin g strong, organized a n all-nigh t extravaganza . The y issue d invitation s t o twenty of their best friends. First, they all went out to dinner. Imagine the heads turning as that crowd waltzed into one of New York's finest eateries. After a couple of hours of good food, good wine, and good conversation, they stepped out to a local dance club called the Cave. Claire has described th e plac e as "cheesy," but it' s th e type,of place that plays fun dance music — the perfect kind of venue for drinking and acting silly with a group of friends. They partied into the wee hours, and then Claire and Ben returned to Claire's Soh o loft. They climbed u p ont o the roof an d settled i n to watch the sun come up. They murmured t o each other, cuddled , stretched ou t languidly , waited fo r the daw n — but nothin g hap pened. Th e sun didn' t swell to its full size , it didn't get brighter, i t didn't do anything a t all. Perhaps a little drunk, preoccupie d wit h each other, and tired, the y hadn't realize d that al l the while they' d been facin g i n th e wron g direction an d gazin g at a streetlight ! A hilarious en d to a wonderful night. Claire and Ben continue to grow closer — they might just make it. Be n has sai d o f his ne w CD , Breathing Lessons, that Clair e is "all over" the music in "ways that aren' t eve n tangible " Claire just says, "I wan t to b e i n lov e always. It make s life mor e colorfu l an d yo u have a partner in crime, who you know is going to give you a cuddle when you need one." Isn't that pretty much what we all want?
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Peer Standing
Plenty o f actor s hav e successfull y made th e lea p fro m th e smal l screen to the silver screen, but Clair e did it at a much younger age than most . A s soo n a s he r MSC L ru n ended , sh e mad e he r fil m debut, an d she' s neve r looked back. In th e spa n o f si x years, she appeared i n twelv e films, taking o n a divers e collectio n o f role s and combinin g he r talents with those of some of the fines t actors, producers, and directors working today. Not all her films have hit: a few were independent release s with little marketing capital behin d them, an d a fe w appealed exclusivel y t o a nich e audience . Thi s was fin e wit h Claire , who strov e not t o b e consigne d to a single genre. It's interestin g to compare Claire's caree r path with those of her counterparts — other young female actors who have recently become noticed through television roles , like Neve Campbell, Jennifer Lov e Hewitt, an d Rebecc a Gayheart. Campbell an d Hewitt transformed themselves into pop-culture icon s via their starrin g roles o n Fox's teen dramafest Party o f Five, and Gayheart, originally known as "the Noxema Girl, " did th e sam e by playing one o f Dylan's many loves on th e origina l Fox teen soap, Beverly Hills 90210] thes e days, she can b e see n o n ABC' S Wasteland. Al l three brok e int o th e movie s with roles in horror flicks: Campbell starre d in Scream and Scream 2; Hewitt was featured in I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel; an d Gayhear t played a crazed murderess in Urban Legend (in whic h Jare d Let o o f MSC L fam e costarred , lending th e fil m a touch of credibility).
48 Although Campbell's an d Hewitt's debut vehicles raked in a pile of cas h an d delighte d youn g audiences , an d althoug h Gayheart' s boasted a n ensembl e of cut e young actors, only Campbell's wor k has shown some glimmers o f originality. In Scream, not onl y does she, th e femal e lead , survive , but sh e als o defend s hersel f — n o dashing hero conies to her rescue. In the ridiculous Urban Legend, Gayheart has t o enac t th e age-ol d clich e o f the gir l going psycho because she loses her man . Doe-eyed Hewitt's mai n onscree n dut y has been to shriek loudly while displaying an abundance of cleavage. She once complained to Entertainment Weekly tha t she had actually been refused parts because, as she phrased it, "My name isn't Claire Danes or Liv Tyler." So that's why she resorted to the slasher genre. Later, Hewit t tone d dow n he r remarks , citin g youn g actor s lik e Claire and Leo DiCaprio as two mai n reasons why newcomers like herself hav e managed to fin d s o many roles. Campbell, Gayheart, and Hewitt ar e attractive, they are serious about their careers , but, as of yet, not on e of them has ventured outsid e o f the Hollywoo d mainstream. And not on e has portrayed a character with the emotional depth that Claire has demonstrated. Claire can hold her ow n against young female actors who make film thei r exclusiv e domain, a s well — especially the "It Girls, " the ladies of the moment , such as Alicia Silverstone, Heather Graham, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Silverstone first made a name for herself as a teenage temptress in several Aerosmith videos. Then she made waves playing a manipulativ e psycho-vixe n wh o prey s upo n a n olde r married man in The Crush. The pouty-pretty-girl type has been her trademark, and her straitjacket, ever since. Her biggest success was as a bratty California rich girl in Clueless; the character reforms herself into a less-self-centere d Californi a ric h gir l b y the movie' s end . While Clueless wa s a smash , it s mai n effec t wa s o n th e fashio n industry, not on the consciousness of teen girls, its primary audience. Wearing miniskir t suit s an d carryin g cel l phone s a s accessorie s became all the rage. Clueless premiered in 1996, when Silverstone was eighteen, and so far it's been the highlight o f her career. Hollywood has been rough on Silverstone . She was scorned fo r gaining a few
49 pounds and not starving herself back down to waiflike proportions . Her face disappeared from the screen. Her latest film, Blast from th e Past, with Brendan Fraser, is an empty gimmick. As for Graham, she's best known as Mark Wahlberg's roller-skating lover i n th e por n odysse y Boogie Nights, a s Mik e Meyers's sultry sidekick i n Austin Powers 2: The Sp y Wh o Shagged Me, an d a s th e pretty, naked actres s in Stev e Martin's Bowfinger. Whil e Graham' s allure is apparent, she's remained typecast as the leggy blonde, a notoriously difficult stereotyp e to shake. The fact is, there just aren't very many three-dimensional role s for women in Hollywood. Everyone knows it, everyone remarks on it , yet nothing muc h changes. As a result, when the juicy roles do pop up, they are hotly contested by a pool of very talented performers. Claire Danes is part o f that pool. So, o f course , i s Gwynet h Paltrow , wh o earne d a n Academy Award i n 199 9 fo r he r leading-lad y tur n i n Shakespeare i n Love. Paltrow debute d i n a smal l rol e opposit e Bra d Pitt an d Morga n Freeman i n the thrille r Seven, and he r caree r took off. Like Claire, Paltrow has excelled in film adaptations of great literary works: she was magnificent as the heroine of Jane Austin's Emma and very sexy in a modern-day version o f Charle s Dickens' s Great Expectations. Some accuse her of having enjoyed an easy ride because her parents — producer Bruce Paltrow and acclaimed actress Blythe Banner — are such well-established Hollywood players, but Paltro w could no t have achieved what she has, at twenty-five, without exceptional talent. Of all the "It Girls," Paltrow most closely matches Claire's stature. Other contemporar y young femal e actor s wh o wil l no t fad e from vie w anytime soo n includ e Natali e Portman , Li v Tyler, an d Minnie Driver . Lik e Claire , thi s tri o ha s veere d awa y fro m th e cheesy-Hollywood-romance-comedy-drama rout e t o succes s an d instead focuse d on challengin g roles. Portman stunne d jus t abou t everyone when she cropped up in The Professional and in the DeNiro/Pacino epic Heat. Then, as the precocious child on the brink of adulthoo d i n Beautiful Girls, starrin g Timoth y Hutton , Mat t Dillon, Uma Thurman, and Rosie O'Donnell, sh e lit up the screen every time she appeared. Portman snare d the covete d role of Anne
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in a Broadway production o f The Diary of Anne Frank, and has since become a household name due to her participation i n the Star Wars prequels. As for Tyler, who would have guessed she'd turn out to be such a fine performer ? After all , she entered th e busines s by appearing i n Aerosmith videos alongside Alicia Silverstone — her da d is Steven Tyler, Aerosmith's lead singer. Tyler's breakthrough role was in th e film Stealing Beauty; her gracefu l performance impressed audiences and critic s alike. She was also charming as one of the thre e sisters growing up during the 1950 s in Inventing the Abbotts — she played the girlfriend of the very gifted Joaquin Phoenix. And you can't help but notic e he r i n he r five-secon d came o i n Claire' s fil m U-Turn: she's positivel y radiant . Tyle r an d Clair e ar e friends , and they'v e been spotte d ou t an d abou t togethe r i n Ne w York City on several occasions. Minnie Driver , although a bit olde r tha n th e others , is still a n uncompromising young actress on the rise with skills to rival Claire's. Watching her perfor m i s entrancing. A native of England , Driver made waves with her first starring role, in the film adaptation of the novel Circle of Friends, an extremel y moving, realistic portrait of a group of college students living in Northern Ireland. Driver starred opposite Chris O'Donnell, who has not been able to rise to the level of the performance he delivered here in anything he's done since — maybe Drive r dre w ou t th e bes t h e had . Sinc e Circle o f Friends, Driver has proven to be the highlight o f every film she's appeare d in, including Sleepers, the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, Grosse Point Blank, and th e fil m adaptatio n o f Osca r Wilde's A n Ideal Husband. Like Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, and Claire Danes herself, Driver i s blessed with th e abilit y to conve y emotional dept h wit h the subtles t of facial expressions . Each of these young actresses has thereby built a fan base of film lovers who go to the movies to enjo y vicarious experiences. Claire's influence ca n be traced in the career development of yet another grou p o f young female actor s — smart, sassy, in-demand young starlets such as Reese Witherspoon, Kirsten Dunst, and Katie
51 Holmes, t o nam e just a few. These ladie s belon g t o th e sam e age bracket as Claire. And, like Claire, they became professional actresses at a very young age. But while thes e girls were hardly unheard of before Claire' s star rose, Claire's success has opened doors for them by spawnin g so many mor e actin g opportunities . Clair e starte d a trend. At fourteen , Reese Witherspoon, wh o i s three year s older tha n Claire, attracte d attentio n wit h he r wor k i n Ma n i n th e Moon. She also starred in Freeway and in the spousal-abuse thriller Fear opposite Mark Wahlberg before breaking through a s a trendy high-schooler transported back to the 1950s in Pleasantville and as a sophisticated , self-assured virgi n i n th e sultr y Cruel Intentions, alongside Sara h Michelle Cellar and the man she would later marry — Ryan Philippe. Like Claire , Witherspoo n ha s stretche d hersel f i n a variety o f roles. She' s been a manipulativ e overachieve r who, with Matthe w Broderick, get s he r teache r fire d i n Election; she wil l als o b e costarring i n th e fil m adaptation s o f Sidne y Sheldon' s Best Laid Plans and Bre t Easton Ellis's controversia l American Psycho. In th e latter, playing a character named Evelyn, she will share screen credits with heavyweigh t Willem Dafoe , a s well a s Jared Leto, Boys Dont Cry's Chlo e Sevigny, and Christia n Bale. In interviews, Witherspoon comes across as confident and intel ligent. Sh e does no t allo w reporter s to badge r her ; sh e refuse s t o play game s wit h them . Claire' s confidenc e fall s shor t o f Reese Witherspoon's an d she tends to accommodate reporters rather than set the rules for them, but the two young actors do share some things: both have admitted t o feelin g a little lonel y o n th e job, and both harbor caree r aspirations besides acting . Witherspoon comments , "Certain aspect s of what [actors ] do is lonely. I don't meet a lot of twenty-three-year-old girl s I have a lot in common with... . There are certai n sacrifice s you mak e fo r th e dream. " Clair e ha s echoe d these thought s tim e an d tim e again . Althoug h sh e adore s actin g and understands tha t to succeed you must devote massive amounts of time an d energ y to the cause , location wor k hasn't allowe d her the chance to meet and maintain a core group of friends. Although
52 neither girl would ever dream of turning her back on the acting profession, each has shown an interest i n at least learning abou t othe r fields. Claire is studying humanities a t Yale, and Witherspoon wants to become a doctor. She, like Claire, has no desire to live in a showbusiness bubble . Kirsten Dunst i s as dedicated a s Claire and Rees e Witherspoon , having acte d sinc e the ag e of three. Sh e is well aware of her goo d fortune, an d ha s bee n quote d a s saying , "I' m lucky , an d reall y blessed to be where I a m . . .. I tried t o pick very diversified roles, and no t concentrat e on on e thing. I think that's wha t has worked best fo r me . People know I ca n d o anything. " Sounds like Claire. Dunst mad e her fil m debu t a t eleven , costarring with tw o o f th e hottest leading men around: Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The film was the scree n versio n o f Anne Rice's nove l Interview with a Vampire, and in it both men fight for the love of young Claudia, Dunst's character, a fierce little vampiress. Dunst took command of the role, and she is still remembered for it. Afterwards, she disappeared fro m th e public ey e for awhile , except whe n sh e appeare d (wit h Claire ) i n Little Women. Recently, Dunst ha s made a major comeback, appearin g i n two very fun films, Drop Dead Gorgeous and Dick. The formulaic Drop Dead Gorgeous, intended t o be a satire of beauty pageants, succeeded mainly in mocking those who enter them. Dick, however, was a more successful exercise . It chronicle s th e mishap s o f two ditz y teenage girls wh o becom e involve d i n Richar d "Dick " Nixon' s Watergat e scandal without really knowing it. Dunst, playing opposite Michell e Williams o f Dawsons Creek, delivers a great performance. Like Claire and many of her counterparts, Dunst has been largely educated by tutors, so she, too, sorely misses the company of people her own age. Also like Claire, Dunst comes from a stable family. She still lives with her parents, who, she claims, help keep her dow n to earth. Th e kin d o f nurturin g sh e an d Clair e hav e receive d fro m their families serves them well as they build thei r careers . These days, Dunst heads out of one project and into another. Her plate is as full as Claire's was when she was seventeen and just coming
53 oft Romeo + Juliet. She will soon be seen in Cheer Fever, a farce about fanatical, aspirin g professiona l cheerleaders. Other forthcomin g projects include The Virgin Suicides, about five too-good-to-be-true sisters who can't live with their perfections and end up offing them selves; the second sequel to The Crow; and All Forgotten, a film set in the 1800 s an d intende d fo r foreig n distribution , i n whic h Duns t plays a severely depressed, enigmatic older woma n who seduce s a younger man. Last on this list o f promising youngsters, but certainl y not least, is Katie Holmes, part o f the youthful ensemble that's made the television dram a Dawson s Creek suc h a runaway hit. Holme s i s th e cynical-yet-sweet Joey Potter. The story of how she landed the part is a testament t o her strong will. Holmes grew up i n Toledo, Ohio — anothe r planet, a s far a s Hollywood is concerned. She'd alway s liked acting and had participated in a couple of school plays. In fact, the acting bug had bitten her so hard that she hired herself an agent based o n th e West Coast. Tha t agen t began sendin g her auditio n scenes for new television pilots. Holmes would act them out, a family member woul d videotap e her , an d sh e would sen d th e agen t th e tapes. This is how she tried ou t fo r the part of Joey, and th e res t is history. Dawson's Creek i s well into it s third season, and Holme s ha s already grace d countless magazin e covers , including tha t o f Rolling Stone, and ha s been tappe d fo r a handful of feature-film projects, including The Wonder Boys, the sequel to LA Confidential, whic h stars Michael Douglas and Rober t Downey Jr. Homes has also appeared in Th e Ice Storm with Leo DiCaprio's buddy Tobey Maguire and i n the forgettabl e thriller Disturbing Behavior. Go , in whic h Holme s costarred with another on-the-rise femal e actor, Sarah Policy, failed to mak e the cas h register s ring , bu t th e critic s like d it . Holmes' s latest film is the comedy-horro r flick Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Katie Holmes and Claire Danes have a number of things in common: both work constantly; both ar e twenty years old; both have some big-name support s (Clair e has Jodi e Foster, while Kati e has Kevin Williamson, the man behind Dawson s Creek, the Scream films,
54
and the ne w series Wasteland, wh o treats her like a little siste r an d helps her to ge t good parts); and both hav e stable families. Finally, both hav e their sight s se t o n highe r education . Holme s ha s been accepted at Columbia Universit y in New York, but she' s deferred her acceptance indefinitel y because sh e has a seven-year contrac t wit h her hit series . She's not concerned , though . She is convinced o f the importance o f education, just a s Claire is , and she'l l commi t t o i t when the time is right. All of these young performers, and a host of others not mentione d here, populate Clair e Danes's professional universe . They are competitors an d cohorts; the y share many of the same frustrations an d aspirations. It' s clear , however, that within thi s select societ y Clair e is a leader. Sh e has wo n th e respec t o f her peer s an d o f industr y heavyweights. The wa y Claire i s generall y regarde d wa s indicate d in a piece on tee n star s that recentl y ran i n Entertainment Weekly ("Who's Who in Hollywood High"). The magazine used high-school stereotypes a s awar d categories , an d Clair e triumphe d ove r th e dopes, geeks, nerds, snobs, and hip kids, to become "valedictorian. " The valedictorian traditionall y holds the highest GPA , is involved in all kinds o f wholesome extracurricular activities , and, above all, is destined to succeed. It's as apt a designation fo r Claire as any. A few other youn g celebs received positive title s — Drew Barrymore, for example, who lived through an d achieved more by age twenty than most people do in a lifetime, was named a "distinguished alum. " But, according to Entertainment Weekly, man y of Claire's contemporarie s just didn't make the grade.
Dps and Downs
Acting is hard work. The actor's life is not what the averag e person may perceive it to b e — consistentl y glamorous , exciting , surreal. Readings scripts, flying off to audition sites , and traveling to exotic locations t o shoot an d promote your movies are not alway s enjoy able experiences. This isn't to deny the perks of the profession. You can't bea t earnin g millions o f dollars , attendin g fabulou s soirees, and hobnobbin g wit h th e ric h an d famous . Bu t the movie-going public ofte n doesn' t realize the amoun t o f pressure big-name stars such as Claire Danes must dea l with on an ongoing basis. Claire has to turn in top-quality performances if her films are to succeed — she's partially responsible for ensuring that they generate as much profit a s possible. She's forced t o devot e huge amounts of energy and attention t o her physical appearance. Her shooting an d publicity schedule s ar e grueling , leavin g her littl e tim e t o spen d with Ben Lee, her friends , and her family . Privacy is always a loaded issue; she owes her fan s a certain acces s to he r life , but sh e has t o allow hersel f ampl e breathing roo m a s well. It's a matte r o f self protection. Sh e must als o be carefu l t o distanc e hersel f fro m th e Hollywood bureaucracy, from th e gossip mongers, from the extreme competition amon g actors, just to keep herself sane. The stress arising from al l of this ofte n lead s to exhaustion. Indeed, after makin g Polish Wedding i n Detroit , Th e Rainmaker in Memphis , an d Le s Miserables i n Prague , Claire was so fatigued when she returned t o LA tha t on e da y sh e fainted . While Clair e ha s acknowledge d th e wonderful things her career has brought her, she hasn't hesitated t o
56 critique its negative aspects. Of these, lack of privacy may be the most problematic. Claire doesn't comprehen d wha t prompts complet e strangers to mob her . When she and Be n visited th e Louvr e in Paris , she was, to us e her word , "accosted." "I'm standin g in fron t o f a Van Gogh painting, and people are blinding me with flashbulbs. Me! I'm like, 'No, no, take a picture of that work of art.'" On another occasion , when she arrived at an industry-related gathering, a bunch of strangers immediatel y bega n followin g he r around , beggin g fo r he r autograph. They weren't even necessarily fans; they appeared to be the kind of people who collect the autograph o f any celebrity they see in hopes of selling it for a lot of money — on the Ebay auction Web site, for instance. Claire resented the surprise attack. She felt as if sh e wer e being stalked . A similar inciden t occurre d whe n sh e visited Disneylan d to be interviewed fo r a Vanity Fair cover story. She was enjoying the rides , free o f scrutiny, when she was spotted. Soon, with a pack of teenage girls in hot pursuit, she was forced t o flee the park. To make matters worse, she'd had to use the restroom but knew that if she used the public facility the pesky fans — awestruck b y the fac t tha t sh e had kisse d Le o DiCaprio i n Romeo + Juliet — woul d rush int o th e restroo m an d corne r her. Sh e was forced to sacrifice her comfort and endure a long limo ride back to town before she could find relief. When recounting these incidents, Claire's tone shifts between wonderment and extreme exasperation. Then there was the day she and a few friends went out shoppin g together in New York. On a whim, they all wore wigs (like Dharma and her crazy sidekick Jane on the sitcom Dharma and Greg). Claire and he r poss e had s o much fa n doin g thi s tha t the y decide d t o wear thei r wigs that evenin g when they hit th e clubs . Outside one establishment, a celebrity photographer sa w through Claire' s slight disguise and began snapping pics. At first, Claire paid no attention , thinking, "Ooh, young artsy photographer takin g pictures of eccentric young people" (common practice in NYC) . But, on closer inspection sh e discovered that the shutterbug was neither art studen t no r tourist bu t a member of the paparazzi. Feeling "naive and dumb, "
57 Claire laughe d i t off . She could hardl y believ e tha t wearin g a wig was news, but th e next day one paper ran the photo wit h a captio n reading "Claire Dane s — Wild Child." While lack of privacy is a major issue , the profession' s effect o n her socia l lif e i s right u p ther e o n Claire' s lis t o f grievances . Most teens would rejoice at the thought o f being liberated from the classroom, but to Claire it meant being shut off from a major an d natural source of friendships with people her own age. For her, there would be no high-school camaraderie , n o participating i n organized sports , no stud y groups . Sh e was to mis s ou t o n man y typica l aspect s o f adolescence, an d th e lac k o f share d experienc e woul d isolat e he r from he r peers. In 1996 , she grumbled to one interviewer, "I live in an adult world, but I'm a kid.... There are a lot of opinions coming at me. It's insane... . People my age need to have downtime.... I haven't gotte n muc h o f that, whic h I' m reall y really missing." Not only was sh e missin g downtim e — sh e wa s growin g up ver y fas t and feeling her separation from day-to-da y reality. At times, she was depressed and lonely. As she put it, "The most destructive thing about being a n actres s i n this business i s that you're constantl y shielde d from spontaneit y an d real-life experiences." Attending colleg e a few years later would help alleviate the situation, but by then her adoles cence was just a dim memory . Next o n th e downsid e inventor y i s th e self-estee m issue . Th e constant focu s o n physica l appearanc e was, an d continue s t o be , very draining for Claire. She understood a t a very young age that an airbrushed magazine-cover photo hardly counts as an accurate portrait o f a real person — strangely , though, man y people persist in thinking i t does. As Claire has explained, the illusio n i s "created by hair people, lighting people, and photographers," but onc e it exists it must be maintained. Whe n movi e critic s an d industry type s rat e her according to her looks, Claire, who knows that she isn't conventionally beautiful , can' t help bu t fee l a bit hur t an d resentful . But she's had to rise above it, to convince herself. "I don't really care," she asserts. "I've ha d a lot of opportunities, an d I've not been limited i n any way when i t comes to the work, and that's all that matters. "
59 Anyone who watches films an d television these days will witness the effects o f the grea t pressure placed on femal e actor s to appear attractive. Especiall y i n th e Unite d States , "attractive " is usuall y equated wit h "thin. " Young actresse s like Claire , Jennife r Aniston , Keri Russell , and Sara h Michelle Cellar , amon g countles s others , engage in rigorous exercise and diet regimens. Claire acknowledges that she has succumbed to this pressure partially as a result of seeing what ha s becom e o f he r peer s wh o hav e dare d t o pu t o n a few pounds — think of Alicia Silverstone. She knows that to land prim o roles sh e has t o b e vigilant abou t her figur e — s o much fo r pizza and yummy junk food. Now that she' s at Yale, though, sh e finds she has little time to exercis e or coun t calories . "All of my remain-slim routines hav e gone right ou t th e window," she said in an intervie w conducted shortl y after th e start of her first semester. "I've realized I was unnecessarily neurotic about food an d thing s — because I was encouraged to be." Let's hope the pressure to loo k like a toothpic k won't ge t to her agai n after graduation . Aside from coping with the lack of privacy and the assault on her body image, Claire has to battle career-induce d fatigue . Of course, any dedicated worker gets wiped out fro m tim e to time, but mos t don't hav e t o operat e unde r intens e scrutiny . To paraphrase th e Police song, every step Claire takes, every move she makes, someone is watching her. "It's taxing, " she says; "you don't realize how much it take s t o constantl y giv e something o f yourself t o th e pres s — that's the ultimat e sacrifice. " Sh e has t o thin k carefull y befor e sh e opens her mouth , too , o r ris k landin g i n hot water . She's learned about this the hard way. That lesson came out of some experiences she had while making Brokedown Palace, a fil m abou t tw o youn g women , drugs , an d prison, which was set in Thailand but filmed in a very poor sectio n of Manila, capital of the Philippines. Accustomed to five-star hotels and the best restaurants, Clair e found Manila to be a "ghastly and weird city. " Th e cultur e shoc k an d th e pressure s o f filmin g ha d skewed Claire's sense of etiquette, and this had cause d her to make some overly generalized, tactless statements regarding her host city to both Vogue an d Premiere, two widely distributed publications .
60 In th e Octobe r 199 8 Premiere cover story, released directly afte r the Vogue piece , Clair e tol d write r Christin e Spine s tha t sh e ha d fought dail y with people fro m Fox , the film's production company, about variou s scrip t problems . She believed tha t th e stor y lapse d into tired cliche — take two attractive young women and put the m into a perilous situation i n a hot climate — as an excuse to play the sex card. The camera would just have to zoom in on her and costar Kate Bekinsale , sweat y an d scantil y clad . Thi s stressfu l situatio n occurred in the midst of another setback : the film's director walked out and had to be replaced. Claire's energy and patience were eroding. Filming too k plac e insid e a psychiatric hospital . T o Premiere, Claire describe d th e hospital patient s a s having "no arms, no legs, no eyes, no teeth." She explained that she'd become distraught when her scene s wer e interrupted b y their screams . Sh e also expresse d disgust a t th e inadequac y o f Manila' s waste-managemen t syste m and at the presence of cockroaches and rats. The Manila experience, she continued, was much like being imprisoned. Even afte r Brokedown Palace wa s i n th e ca n an d Clair e ha d returned to New York City, her angst stayed with her. She got herself into a few scrapes with strangers — at the fashionable joint Moomba, when a man screame d obscenities about Ben Lee, Claire screamed right bac k a t him . Whil e shocke d a t he r abnorma l reactio n an d regretting her loss of control, Claire knew that she was in the process of releasing pent-up feeling s tha t had t o come out. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it. Claire's inflammatory comments to Premiere and Vogue ha d mad e thei r wa y back t o Manil a an d man y o f it s citizens were outraged. Her remarks were hashed over in the Manila Bulletin for days running. An opinion columnist repeatedly referred to Claire as an "uncouth observer " but went on to use her statements in a discussio n o f th e man y hardship s an d issue s Filipino s mus t face. For instance, "The cockroac h smel l that entere d Miss Danes's sensitive nostril s i s a metapho r fo r th e social , political , spiritual , commercial an d urba n environmen t i n whic h w e liv e i n th e metropolis. I t stinks, figuratively speaking." Claire's statemen t tha t Filipinos hav e "no legs , no arms , n o eyes , no teeth " wa s said t o exemplify the country's "economic crisis. " The point was that while
61 natives of Manila have serious problems t o confront, Claire shoul d not have been the one to point the m ou t to the world. After a week or so of this sort of debate, in late September 1998 , the majorit y o f Manila' s city-counci l member s (th e mos t zealou s anti-Claire faction) voted twenty-three to three in favor of prohibiting all Claire Danes films fro m eve r being shown in tha t city . Kim Atienza, the most outspoken of the council members, abhorred what he calle d Claire' s "irresponsibl e sweepin g statements, " bu t seeme d more concerne d abou t ho w they migh t affec t tourism , declaring , "her statement s insult u s an d mak e us lose visitors. " On e counci l member who voted against the ban, Julio Logarta, replied that anyone who comes to Manila "can make comments, positive or negative . .. this resolutio n i s in fac t abridgin g [Clair e Danes's] rights . Most of what she said is true." Months later, Claire winced when asked about the debacle during an interview with Hilary Sterne for In Style. She had alread y apologized for her outburst , makin g it clea r that he r negativ e reaction s had not been to Manila as a whole but to the limited part of it she'd seen. It hurt her that her apolog y wasn't accepted . Sh e stated tha t she believe d he r remark s wer e misunderstoo d an d tha t sh e was "very angry about that. " When sh e spoke to Michae l Krugma n of Flaunt no t lon g afte r this , i t was clear tha t she' d ha d a chance t o calm down a bit. Now she sounded lik e a mature, laid-back colleg e student mor e exasperate d with thi s bou t o f terrible publicit y tha n angry a t it . Sh e explained tha t whe n she' d mad e he r infamou s remarks she hadn't been mentally or emotionally ready to comment on the Manila experience ; rash opinion s tha t sh e should hav e had the wisdo m t o swallo w had flow n ou t o f her mouth . Clair e the n attempted to lay the whole thing to res t once and fo r all: "Again, I apologize t o everyon e that wa s offended, I was wrong, but Jesus , enough already...." In earl y 1999 , anothe r conflic t erupte d i n Claire' s professiona l life, this time prompted by factors that had nothing to do with her. Claire's agency , Creativ e Artist s Agenc y (CAA) , an d a n offshoo t project calle d Artists' Managemen t Grou p (AMG) , which ha d bee n started u p b y CA A cofounder Michae l Ovit z an d Claire' s manager ,
62 Rick Yorn, declared war on one another. Most actors have a team of people t o advis e them o n caree r decisions; Claire is no exception . She has an agent — Karen Friedman — who helps her to choose the right projects and a manager — Yorn — who backs up the operation. A manager who crosses the fine line between his job an d th e agent's i s regarded with suspicio n by the agent , who fear s h e will take the clien t away. So when Yorn became involved in AMG , Claire found herself i n a quandary: should she remain faithfu l t o CA A or move on t o AMG ? The initial plan of AMG was to "share" clients: its managers would work alongsid e CAA' S agents . Clair e staye d with AM G for a time , believing that the new arrangement would work out just fine. Then the fragil e CAA/AM G liaison bega n to dissolve. The agency began to suspect th e managemen t grou p o f sneakily stealing their stabl e of clients right out from under them, and it canceled their arrangement. Those stars who were being "shared," including Martin Scorsese and Minnie Driver, were instructed t o choose: they could either remain at CA A o r joi n AM G and fin d ne w agents . After meetin g with CAA reps an d speakin g with Ovit z (who' d been callin g her a t he r Yal e dorm room) , Claire finally decided t o sta y at CA A — primarily t o avoid losing Friedman , the agen t she' d bee n with sinc e the ag e of twelve. Claire was the firs t perso n t o leave AMG. Yorn told Variety's Bill Higgin s tha t he understoo d Claire' s decisio n bu t admitte d t o being "extremely disappointed i n the way this has gone down." The CAA/AMG soap opera was played out for weeks in trade journals and business magazines before the uproar subsided and the pressure on all concerned was alleviated. Pressure o f variou s kind s an d o f varyin g degree s ha s drive n many young celebrities t o dru g and/or alcoho l abuse . Not Claire . She may have had a drink or two on occasion, but there have never been an y reports o f Clair e engagin g i n drunke n antic s o r bein g caught with drug paraphernalia. When asked how she managed to avoid that particular pitfall, Claire replied: "I don't need to escape in that way.... I can do it in my work; I have that as an outlet. I have a plan. I gotta stick to it to accomplish what I want to get done." Like
63
V «s$
other well-grounde d member s o f he r pee r grou p wh o hav e thei r sights set on success and self-fulfillment, she knows that hallucino gens, depressants , an d upper s ca n provid e onl y temporar y relie f from stress , pressure, and personal problems . So what' s th e upside ? Beyon d th e stress , th e exhaustion , th e invasion o f privacy , the insecurity , what make s Clair e Danes' s lif e vibrant, challenging , an d just plain fun? Clair e has this to say: "I'm not goin g to si t here an d moa n an d groa n because I have one to o many fabulous perks . .. it's really hard to act, but people say it's not a glamorou s lifestyle , and i t absolutel y i s ... I love glamour. " The first-class travel , the plush hotels, the cutting-edge restaurants , th e exclusive socia l events , th e pampering , th e amazin g clothe s — Claire adores it all. She's thrilled to have a job that allows her to be an international explorer: "It's really great to have access and money because suddenly . . . [y]o u ca n sa y 'I'm curiou s abou t Ital y — let' s g o there thi s summer.' You get an incredible amount of access to so much." She was also delighte d t o discove r that , a s a star, anothe r typ e o f privilege d access will always be available to her: she can meet anyone she wants by simpl y pickin g u p th e phone . "Like , I coul d loo k throug h a magazine [and ] say I want that guy' s number, an d that's absolutel y possible to do." Another major source of enjoyment for Claire stems from he r hard-won credibilit y i n the fil m world . Goo d parts ofte n arrive o n he r doorste p thes e days ; sh e n o longe r ha s t o perus e mediocre script s o r fret ove r auditions. She was offered role s in Les Miserables an d Th e Mod Squad, for example, on the strengt h o f her reputation alone . Claire derive s pleasur e fro m he r friends , a s well — a circl e o f young celeb s includin g Winon a Ryder , Leonardo DiCaprio , Bijo u Phillips, Li v Tyler, and, o f course , Ben Lee. Ryder is the pa l Clair e has been spotte d wit h mos t frequently . Together, they've attende d such high-profile event s as film premieres, the ShoWest Awards, and the Academy Awards. Ryder has been a great friend t o Claire . On e of th e bes t things sh e eve r di d fo r he r youn g companio n was, of course, to introduce he r to Ben Lee, but Ryde r was also responsible
65 for hooking Claire up with one very cool gig. When Ryder was dating Soul Asylum's lead singer, Dave Pirner, she managed to get Claire a part i n th e band' s "Jus t Lik e Anyone" video. Clair e was cas t a s a normal high-school girl — normal, that is, except for the two humps protruding fro m her back. She gets invited to the school prom by a boy played by Ryder's brother Yuri . While they're slo w dancing, a spiteful femal e classmat e tears of f the shaw l Claire's characte r ha s used to hide her secret. When her date sees the humps, he's disgusted. At that moment, beautiful angel wings sprout from the humps, and Claire flies awa y from he r tormentors. Speakin g to Dennis Hensley of Movieline, Claire described the video-making experience as "really fun." Sh e jumped at the chance to do the minimovie because, "How many chances do you get to be an angel?" Another terrific perk that comes with being the celebrated Claire Danes is having various musician s pen ode s to you. To date, three rock bands have released songs inspired by Claire or have mentioned her in their CD-line r notes. Chocolate Honey Monkey, a California outfit, wrot e a song called "Claire Danes" ; the band' s bas s player had develope d a crush on Clair e after seein g MSCL. Th e son g was Chocolate Hone y Monkey' s first to be played on th e radio . Soon, the band's fan s were scribbling things like "Claire Danes was here" on the windows of their tour van. All of this unfolded in 1994-95, when MSC L was in it s first and onl y season, and i t set the stag e for other artist s to express their Clair e Danes admiration . In th e line r note s to their 199 6 CD Irresistible Bliss, the popula r alterna-rock ban d Sou l Coughin g wrote , "Gu s [th e band' s tou r manager] would like to than k Clair e Danes and ask s that sh e call him (he' s listed i n th e Pensacol a phone book)." Then ther e was a more dubious tribute from an alternative group called Size 14. They devised a song called "Claire Danes Poster" that includes the lyrics, "every once in awhile I pretend she's my hand " Of course, the song that really touched Claire's heart was Ben Lee's beautiful composition "Claire's Birthday Song." While those other musical mentions could have amused, flattered, or even embarrassed her, how could she resist Ben crooning "you're the only thing I want / the only thing I want / the only thing on my mind / all the time"?
66 Imagine attractin g th e attentio n o f top-flight fashio n designer s Cynthia Rowle y and Narcis o Rodriguez , inspirin g them t o desig n glorious creation s just for you. Access to the latest in custom-mad e fashion is a major benefit of celebrity for Claire. In 1996 , she got to stride down the catwal k at a Rowley show; and Rowley designed a gown fo r Clair e t o wea r t o he r high-schoo l pro m — a long sil k confection o f vibran t pink s an d gree n pastels . Rowle y describes Claire a s possessing "such sparkle , and ton s o f char m an d style, " while Rodriguez says that bein g aroun d he r i s "inspiring" because she's so self-aware, mature, yet easy to connect with. Rodriguez has designed many glittery gowns for Claire to don o n special occasions. For th e 199 7 Academy Awards ceremony, sh e wor e Rodriguez' s elegant, demure short-sleeved cashmere top and long skirt, both i n an ic y aqu a blue . Fashio n mag s praise d th e uniqu e desig n fo r months afterwards , and suc h illustriou s competitor s a s Ralp h Lauren and Marc Jacobs even came up wit h thei r ow n versions of the cool-blu e ensemble . On informa l occasions , Claire sometime s turns t o Rodrigue z a s well: sh e ofte n sport s hi s soft , hip-lookin g black lamb coat, which, Rodriguez claims, she has the style to carry off a s i f i t wa s a jean jacket. Clair e als o ha s bee n photographe d wearing clothes from the collections o f Calvin Klein (she attends his runway shows) an d Donn a Karan . Giorgio Arman i has sculpted a few dresses for her, too. Starring in such films as Romeo + Juliet has brought Claire fashion freebies fro m th e best lines, like Miu Miu, the sublin e o f ultrachi c Prada. But when she wants to shop, to hit the stores and see what's out there, she heads first to Urban Outfitters, the chain emporiu m for youn g hipsters. "I like the look of the nineties," she says. "I don't think we're going to regret these clothes years from now. " So, while celebrity has been an enormous and often troublesom e burden fo r Claire to support — especially since she'd had to com e of age in the public eye — the downs are ultimately outweighed b y tVip nnc Anrl cVip VnnwQ it
The Iv y Leaguer
While promotin g Romeo + Juliet, Clair e couldn' t contai n herself . She just had to tell her interviewers tha t she'd decide d t o go to university — in fact, she was at that moment preparing to take her SAT S (which sh e ende d u p takin g twic e i n th e hop e o f improvin g he r scores). Two factors, sh e explained, had prompte d he r decisio n t o pursue a higher education at this time: she couldn't wai t any longer to ente r a world wher e she could for m a "group o f close friends I can hang out with regularly," and she was anxious "to read the great books and talk about ideas. " What fo r many would hav e been a fairly straightforwar d choic e — if you've got the grades and the funding, go for it — was actually a mor e complicate d on e fo r Claire . Man y Hollywoodite s warned that b y cloisterin g hersel f a t universit y sh e would b e hurtin g he r career. Clair e wa s adamant abou t he r decision , bu t th e mor e sh e talked about her plan to go away to school, the more those industry insiders trie d t o discourag e her . Frustrated , Clair e exclaimed , "I t seems that apart from m y family everyon e wants me to stay dumb. They jus t wan t m e t o mak e mor e movie s an d mor e money. " But family members weren't her only champions. Jodi e Foster supported her a s well, telling her that "college is too much fun not t o do " and generally boosting her confidence. Once the decisio n was made, it was time to g o school shopping. Claire and her family looked at Sarah Lawrence and Columbia University, both in New York, as well as Harvard, Princeton, Vassar, and Brown (the first school her father had attended). After mullin g over
68 all their various drawbacks and advantages, Claire finally settled on Yale, her lat e grandfather's alma mater. She explained that a s she'd reflected upon her tour of all those venerated institutions she realized that Yal e ha d mad e th e bigges t impressio n o n her . " I reall y like d Yale, although it was extremely intimidating.... I felt so unworthy." Along with all the other applicants , Claire had to write entrance exams and essays, which intimidated he r more than anything she'd experienced t o dat e — eve n auditioning agains t Leonardo! In th e spring of 1997 , she told a n Australian journalist how queasy she'd felt afte r takin g the dreaded multiple-choice tests that would determine her clas s level for such courses a s math an d English . She explained tha t it's almos t impossibl e t o gauge how well you're doin g on that kind of random test — you can't study for them, and about halfway throug h yo u actuall y star t t o wonde r i f yo u reall y know anything at all. Despite he r fear s o f bein g turned down , Clair e was accepted t o Yale. Her days of studying in isolation during whatever odd intervals her work schedule allowe d were nearly over. News of her imminent arrival spread throughou t th e Yale community, although tha t com munity ha d alread y welcomed quit e a fe w celebs. In fact , Claire' s mentor Jodi e Foste r ha d bee n a Yalie . S o ha d Sar a Gilber t o f Roseanne, Kellie Martin of ER, and Crysta l McKellar of Th e Wonder Years, among others. Nonetheless, a full-length article appeared in the Yale Daily News (in 1997 ) announcing that Claire had been accepted. The piece also explained that she'd had to defer her acceptance for a year t o finis h u p a coupl e o f films — Brokedown Palace an d Th e Mod Squad. Yale Daily News reporter Be n Diamond ha d interviewe d Carla Danes, who elaborated on her daughter's reason s for puttin g off school ; Brokedown Palace, Carla insisted, was too good a role for Claire to pass up because, "There is a lot of potential for real acting. It's also a statement on the world's drug problem and how differen t nations and cultures are clashing as they try to deal with this reality." Furthermore, Clair e would be "not just the girlfriend of the boy" — her characte r wa s to be a focal point o f the film. She wouldn't b e just another pretty supporting actress propping up a heroic male (as
69
Claire's high school graduation, 1997 SETH POPPEL YEARBOOK ARCHIVES
she wa s i n Th e Rainmaker}. Carl a als o emphasize d that "Clair e i s very serious about receiving an education" and that Gibso n Danes, Claire's deceased grandfather, would have been proud t o know that Claire was to attend hi s alma mater . Throughout tha t pre-Yal e year, Claire continue d t o fee l excite d about launching her ne w career as a student, but she' d also started to profess that she was "emotionally addicted " to acting. It became apparent tha t she was determined t o d o it all. In May of 1997 , she told T V Hits magazine, "I really care about being an educated person and I' m extremel y passionate abou t acting . It' s temptin g t o jus t continue wit h m y caree r because I lov e what I d o s o much... . Hopefully, I can make both things happen. " He r strategy would be to treat the two parts of her life as separate entities, focusing on one at a time.
70
As the fatefu l da y approached, Claire felt a growing trepidation . Of cours e it wasn't the though t o f living away from hom e for th e first tim e o r relocating t o a n unfamiliar settin g tha t wa s worrying her: she'd already been through all that. She also insisted that it wasn't "because I' m afrai d m y caree r will suffe r o r anything. " Instead, i t seems, the source of the problem was simple insecurity. To Jonathan Van Meter of Vogue magazine she admitted, "I've actually been really, really worried this entire year, kind of obsessing over it.... I'm fearfu l that I'l l b e completel y inadequat e a s a student." Sh e even asked if the interviewe r knew how ofte n student s were expelled from Yale . Her nerves were fraying fast . It got to the point, said Claire in retro spect, that Jodie Foster had to get on her case — she'd call her up and say, "You're stil l going , right?" Then she' d add , "I'm goin g to dra g you ther e myself , pul l yo u b y your hair. " Ther e wa s obviously n o way Claire could back down. One of Claire's specific fears was of having to compose long, analytic term papers. Back in 1995 , she'd alread y begun thinking abou t college; she wrote an essay for Sassy magazine in which she confessed to havin g a "huge phobi a o f papers" and bein g scare d of going t o university becaus e sh e thought i t wa s going t o b e "on e bi g ter m paper." Three years later, on th e doorste p o f Yale, her impression s hadn't changed. Sh e told Christine Spine s of Premiere that sh e was "petrified o f writing." When she began receiving As and B s in suc h courses as Child Psychology, English Modernism in the City, Computer Science , The Modern Intellectua l Agenda , and Graphi c Desig n (her favorite), her fear s mus t have diminished. Convince d that she would fail , sh e actuall y manage d t o ear n som e ver y respectable grades — while making the huge adjustment to student life . Part o f that adjustmen t was getting used to having a roommate and livin g in a closet (a s opposed t o a huge New York loft space) . Before sh e got to Yale , Claire wa s concerned abou t thi s issue , an d she also fretted abou t how this new, restrictive living arrangement as well as all the new important demand s o n her time, would impac t on he r relationshi p wit h Ben . She spoke abou t i t t o Spines : "My boyfriend an d I have a life together that I like, and that's going to be
71 disrupted." Finding the time and space to be alone together would be a challenge . Bu t Clair e wa s lucky: sh e was paired wit h a great roommate. Her name was Allison, and she'd grown up in New York City, too. Living with majo r movi e actress Claire Danes wasn't that big o f a deal to her , which wa s lucky for Clair e — imagin e being forced to share a very tiny space with someone who was completely overwhelmed b y th e fac t sh e wa s livin g wit h Angel a fro m MSCL . Allison had a boyfriend, too, so they both had the need for privacy. Evidently, Clair e an d Alliso n worke d somethin g out , becaus e Ben Lee has been spotted on campus many times during visits to his Ivy League girlfriend. Once Claire overcame her fea r o f writing papers and trepidatio n about her roommate, she still had to get a handle on the recognition factor. How could sh e go about her dail y business a t Yale if she was constantly being singled out an d ogle d by her fello w students ? She breathed a huge sig h o f relie f whe n i t becam e apparen t tha t he r celebrity status wouldn't affec t he r classmate s for long. "I function on campus pretty well," she stated in one interview. "People who meet me are immediately disillusioned an d are not awkwar d around me." Of course, there are some unfortunate exceptions. Not everyone can get ove r the fac t tha t she' s a celebrity. "It's peopl e who ar e o n th e periphery o f m y socia l worl d wh o sometime s behav e i n strang e ways because they'r e int o m e o r threatene d b y me," she explains . Among th e periphera l people wer e those wh o pu t togethe r Yale' s muckraking newspaper , Rumpus. Its editor announce d tha t he was "very excited" to lear n tha t suc h a well-known actres s was at Yale because i t gav e hi m fres h materia l t o wor k with . Spie s were un leashed. The first Claire Danes gossip to hit the pages of Rumpus was a report that someone had heard her swearing loudly. The next came when a few wild fraternity boys who worked for the campus laundry service allegedly snagged some of Claire's undies. Presumably, someone had seen her drop off her laundry bag, grabbed it, pawed through it, and pilfere d he r lingerie . Rumpus was thrilled t o ge t the scoop . During the 1998-9 9 academic year, the rag also slammed Claire for not dating "Yale men" and printed an eavesdropped report that she'd
72 told some friends she was dining with that Leo DiCaprio i s "an ass." Surviving this kind of public harassment had to be one of the more trying aspects of Claire's freshma n year , but surviv e she did. Gradually, Claire settled int o her new and dramatically differen t surroundings. Just like her fellow students, she became accustomed to eating poorly and irregularly, studying all night, and racing off to class in the morning dresse d in the first outfit she could grab from her closet. She started to blend in physically, too. Even though she' d vowed no t to , she became addicted t o wearin g gym shoes and , as she told reporter Hilary Sterne of In Style, she began looking like a "sloppy, gross , smelly mess." This wa s a rather extravagan t way of saying that she' d exchange d her flowing designer dresse s and cash mere sweater s fo r worn-ou t Levi' s cord s an d sweatshirt s — th e campus uniform. For a girl who'd ha d t o obses s for so long abou t how sh e presented hersel f t o th e world , i t wa s — mos t day s — "thrilling to wake up and not worry about what you're going to wear." Claire is still ensconced a t Yale, working hard to attain her degree. She has emerged to meet with the press when necessary — to pro mote Th e Mod Squad, for example . During these press junkets, she may complain a little about acting withdrawal — after all , acting is her passion , an d par t o f her itche s t o thro w herself int o th e nex t juicy role — but sh e sounds happ y to be just where she is for the time being . Sh e loves th e opportunit y universit y lif e provide s t o engage in intellectual conversations with people of her own age. She claims to have "met som e amazing people," and she' s focusin g her energies o n philosoph y an d psycholog y course s because sh e i s intrigued by their relation t o the actor's craft. Still, she keeps her craf t and he r studie s strictly differentiated. She has to. To stay sane, she says, sh e must b e "completely immerse d i n eithe r on e o f the tw o worlds: Hollywoo d o r academia" ; "whe n the y star t t o conflic t o r merge, I star t feelin g fracture d an d confuse d an d I don' t kno w how to handle either of them." So far, at least, student/actress Claire Danes seems to be handling th e challenges of her new so-called lif e extremely well.
What's Next?
So what's next on Claire' s agenda? She has a few years left a t Yale, so she won't b e abl e to ac t ful l time , but sh e certainly plans t o mak e room for projects on her summer breaks. Given her time restrictions, she'll have to choose her projects more carefully than ever. It's more difficult tha n it seems: somethin g tha t sounds lik e a good fit whe n it's pitche d t o yo u ma y begi n t o fee l al l wrong afte r a perio d o f reflection — a s Claire was to learn . In April 1999, Variety reporte d that Claire' s follow-u p t o Brokedown Palace woul d b e Head over Heels, i n whic h sh e would sta r opposit e he r T o Gillian o n He r 37 th Birthday costa r Freddi e Prinze Jr. Claire was to portra y a beautiful artist who falls in love with Prinze's character, a sexy young man who just ma y have murdered someone , witnessed by Claire's character. The plot may have sounded intriguing , and this likely hooked Claire initially, bu t sh e came to realiz e that a lot — maybe too muc h — depended o n how it was handled. Tw o months later , in June of 1999, Claire made trade-publication headline s whe n sh e announced tha t after thinkin g har d abou t th e project she had decided tha t the role wasn't righ t fo r her . She was withdrawing. Sh e had spoke n to th e film's director, Mark Waters, and its producer, Robert Simonds, an d the dissolutio n o f thei r agreemen t was amicable . Creativ e Artists Agency — th e fir m tha t represent s Claire — foun d a replacement for her , Monica Potter o f Patch Adams. In th e earl y winter o f 1999 , Claire received a better offer . Jodi e Foster asked her to star in an upcoming film that she will be directing and producing . Tentativel y title d Flora Plum, th e movie , a tragi c
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tale, is set in the circus world of the 1930s . Claire has signed on, and is slated to pla y a poor helples s creature who get s her sho t a t th e spotlight unde r the Big Top, assisted by an eccentric circus employee who discover s her, promotes her , and, of course, falls i n lov e with her. Some people ar e saying that Russel l Crowe (star of Th e Insider and a great pal of Jody Foster) will be the male lead. Excited about the project, Claire told Premiere how much she's looking forward to working with Foste r again . Production wa s originally schedule d t o begin during the summe r o f 1999 , but Foste r postponed i t t o lat e summer o r early fall 2000 to accommodate Claire' s schedule . Rumor has it that Claire will also star with Richard Gere in a new film titled Dr. T and the Women. This comedy, which will be directed by Robert Altman of Nashville, Cookie's Fortune, and Ready t o Wear fame an d writte n b y Ann e Rapp , wh o als o worke d o n Cookie's Fortune, tells the tale of a philandering gynecologist , played by the eternally handsome Gere, who faces a severe trauma in his life. This induces him to engage in some bad behavior. Claire and her pal Liv Tyler are set to play two of the women he encounters o n the job. It will be great to see Claire star in a comedy — the onl y work we've ever seen her do in that genre was her cameo in U-Turn. Her costar list for this project also includes indie actress Laura Dern, Mad about You's Hele n Hunt, and American Pie's Tar a Reid. We recently saw — make that heard — Claire in a film that sh e actually completed som e time ago . The English version of the ani mated feature Princess Mononoke, one of many films created by Hiyao Miyazaki — whose work is extremely popular in his native Japan — features the voice of Claire Danes. Disney caught wind of Miyazaki's successful, educational , movie-lengt h cartoon s an d bough t th e American rights for nine of them. Princess Mononoke i s the only one scheduled fo r theatrical release ; the remainin g eigh t will appear in video format. Miyazaki's vehicles are said to diffe r fro m th e Disney classics in that they are less singsongy and they focus on more serious themes, such as raising environmental awareness . Disney went all out in casting the English-language dub o f Princess Mononoke. Claire's voice issues from th e lips of the heroic princes s
75 herself, while the wonderfu l Minnie Drive r is the voic e o f Eboshi . Gillian Anderson of the X-Files is heard as Moro. Billy Bob Thorto n of Sling Blade, rising star Angelina Jolie, and ra p ico n Sea n "Puffy " Combs ar e also heard i n the cours e o f the film. The story revolve s around th e ques t o f a young man name d Ashitaka, played by Billy Crudup fro m Inventing the Abbotts, to fin d a cur e fo r th e diseas e inflicted upon him by the evil Boar God. In the midst of his journey, he meet s Princes s Mononok e an d discover s tha t she , a huma n raised by a pack of wolves (sound familiar?), is leading her village of animals agains t som e exploitativ e human s wh o ar e destroying th e forest for monetar y gain . The original , Japanes e version o f Miyazaki' s Princess Mononoke grossed about $15 0 million a t the box office , makin g it the secon d most successfu l fil m i n Japanes e history . Th e mos t successful ? Titanic holds th e number-on e spot . Let's hope th e film can repeat its success in America — with al l those big names attached t o it, it has a good shot.
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The My So-Called Life Phenomenon My So-Called Life i s on e o f th e mos t highl y acclaime d televisio n shows for young adults eve r made. It also has one of the most tur bulent histories . I n Apri l o f 1993 , its creator , Winnie Holzman , screened th e pilo t episod e for networ k execs at ABC . The networ k then sent the pilot out to test audiences and critics, and the new teen drama was very well received. But MSCL almos t die d o n the shelf . It didn't debut until August 24,1994. The delay was mainly caused by an extende d debat e over the exac t natur e o f the show' s audience, which, in turn, created a dilemma abou t what the appropriate tim e slot for the show should be. The network finally designated Thursday from 8 PM to 9 PM Eastern time as a Mscx-only zone. Holzman was elated. At last her sho w would air, and no t opposit e NBC' S monsterhit, Seinfeldl The sho w centere d o n th e lif e an d time s o f Angel a Chase , a n average middle-class girl , portrayed with exceptional grace by Claire Danes. Angela resided i n a n affluen t Pittsburg h subur b wit h tw o basically stabl e parent s — Patty , a perfectionis t businesswoman, and Graham, a chef — as well as her annoying twelve-year-old sister, Danielle. Angela experienced high school the way many young people do: in a frenzy o f confusion and self-doubt . She inhabited a world where overbearin g parents, best friends , acne , an occasiona l social issue, but mostl y romantic crushes, rule. Touching on important theme s in a moving and realistic way, the show's team of talented writers, headed by Holzman herself, managed never t o trivializ e o r sensationaliz e hot socia l issue s th e wa y the
78 writers of other teen shows, like 90210 and Party o f Five, have sometimes done. Some of the topics MSCL thoughtfully addressed during its run wer e homophobia and homelessness (ga y character Rickie is beaten b y hi s fathe r an d lef t t o fen d fo r himsel f o n th e street) ; censorship (Angel a takes on th e school principal , who has banne d the sophomore-clas s magazine, Liberty Lit, because of sexual overtones i n a haik u i t ha s published) ; alcoholis m an d dru g abus e (outrageous Rayanne overdoses o n a n Ecstasy combination an d is rescued by Angela's mother); sex (Angela contemplates having sex with th e elusiv e Jorda n Catalano , ver y awar e tha t man y o f he r friends "do it all the time"); and a range of the self-image problems that virtually all teens battle. If MSCL' S focus o n th e real-lif e concerns o f American teenager s made it unique, then s o did its simultaneous focus o n the real-lif e concerns of their parents. Angela's parents grapple d wit h their own issues a s they tried t o guid e her throug h hers , and tha t mad e for some very unusual television. In teen-centered programming, parents are generall y presente d a s one-dimensional . Winni e Holzma n recognized this pattern an d se t about undermining it. This turned out to be a daunting task. Holzman told television criti c Rob Owen that it was actually more difficult t o create original and lifelike adult characters than it was to create their teenage offspring. But , she explained, sh e was not necessaril y on a crusade to set new standards and brin g ne w tee n rol e model s t o prime-tim e T V — sh e just wanted to be involved in something "interesting. " Her passion ha d allowed her t o creat e a dramatic ye t often humorou s serie s that a group o f kids, a group o f parents, o r eve n an entir e famil y coul d watch and, ideally, discuss together afterwards. My So-Called Life analyzed teen elation and frustration with such consistent intelligenc e tha t i t gave rise to a legion o f obsessive fan s and ha d televisio n critic s searching for new superlatives. Out o f it all came a major new talent, Claire Danes. And while Claire's talent was the engine that propelled every episode, the rest of the cast was equally phenomenal. Each player appeared perfectly suited to his or her role : Jared Leto as the intense , aloof, educationally challenge d
79 Jordan; AJ. Lange r a s the wack y an d whimsica l Rayanne ; Devon Odessa a s the uptigh t ye t tolerable Sharon ; Devo n Gummersal l as the geek y Brian; Wilson Cru z as the sensitiv e an d insightful Rickie ; Lisa Wilhoit a s the pesky, nosy Danielle; and Tom Irwin as Graham and Bes s Armstrong a s Patty — a convincingl y flawe d mo m an d dad. Th e cas t connecte d superbl y o n camera . Everythin g jus t clicked. Behind-the-scene s credi t fo r th e exceptiona l qualit y o f MSCL als o has to go to the show's producers, E d Zwick and Marshal l Herskovitz, wh o als o worke d o n thirtysomething (pre-MSCL ) an d Relativity (post-MSci) . They helped to infuse the series with a depth so many shows sorely lack. Holzman explains, "We saw only two people for the part of Angela. Claire was the second . We stopped lookin g afte r w e saw Claire." I n 1997, whe n asked for his thoughts concerning Claire's Angela, executive producer Zwic k declared, "Wha t sh e knows canno t be taught." It was clear to al l concerned tha t her abilit y t o conve y a teenager's constantly mutatin g emotion s i s what gav e Angela suc h a lifelike edge. Rob Owen, television criti c for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and author o f Genxrv y an examination o f pop-culture television , evaluated Claire's evocatio n o f Angela this way: "Claire Danes was perfect as Angela Chase because she's an extremely talented actress , capable of th e typ e o f nuanced performanc e necessary to giv e that utterl y realistic characte r life . Sh e wasn't afrai d to mak e Angela unlikable . Frequently th e characte r seeme d selfish , bu t Dane s mad e he r sympathetic anyway . Tha t abilit y t o balanc e differen t facet s o f the character' s personalit y an d stil l mak e Angela accessible to th e audience was her most important contributio n t o the role. " Despite such endorsement fro m industry insiders, an d regardles s of the stron g critical support for MSCL, the sho w received low ratings throughout its run. A coalition of zealous fans , which ha d sprun g up ver y early in th e game , began to worr y that their ne w favorite show would no t b e renewe d for a second season . Steve Joyner was one o f thos e fans . Whe n MSC L premiere d o n Augus t 24 , 1994 , Joyner, along with million s o f others, was instantly hooked, and he wanted t o sta y that way. He began spendin g mor e an d mor e tim e
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checking out th e America Online bulleti n board s dedicate d t o the show. The responses people were posting confirmed Joyner's own. Terms lik e "real," "well observed, " "engaging," an d "riveting " wer e cropping u p regularl y i n description s o f MSCL . Joyne r no w kne w that others were experiencing MSCL the way he was: "for a moment it's not like you're just watching a show, but you're part of the story; you almos t mak e a n emotiona l investmen t i n th e character s and what's going to happen to them." He also noticed that a lot of chatroomers wer e saying they actually knew people who closel y resembled the various MSCL characters. Joyner remarks that for many fans, to si t through a n episod e o f the sho w was to "vicariousl y reliv[e ] that part of your life." The show was "very emotionally engaging. " Then a new theme began to creep into the chat: MSCL'S alarmingly low ratings. Joyner reports that there were plenty of postings urgin g all those dedicate d fan s ou t ther e t o write , e-mail, phone, o r fa x ABC. The network had to be persuaded to give the show a chance to find it s audience. I t just ha d t o demonstrat e it s faith i n the serie s and renew it for a second season, despite the poor ratings. As Joyner watched thi s save-MSC L movemen t develop , h e couldn' t hel p bu t notice how haphazard it all seemed. Knowing that organization was the key to success, he swung into action. "I started scripting an open letter to the one hundred o r so people I'd seen on AOL, saying, 'Y'all have the righ t idea, but th e focu s i s scattered. I think collectively if we concentrate ou r focu s into an organized, cohesive, centrally led campaign, our voice will roar.'" He was dead on. Joyner's campaign would turn ou t to be history-making. Joyner headed hi s ope n letter t o MSC L fan s "A So-Called Call to Arms." In it , he proposed th e formatio n of a united fron t t o sav e MSCL. Tha t unite d fron t woul d be name d Operatio n Lif e Suppor t (OLS), an d it s tactic s woul d includ e no t onl y th e bombardmen t of ABC with individual pleas, but als o large ads in the majo r enter tainment publications . Tha t mean t OL S woul d hav e t o d o som e fundraising, so , not wastin g any time, Joyne r used hi s open lette r to reques t donations . H e wa s uncertai n abou t thi s aspec t o f hi s endeavor; after all, to his fellow AOL subscribers he was just a stranger
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in cyberspace . It didn' t see m to matter — Joyner explain s that his request "wa s met wit h grea t fanfare." After it s firs t week , OLS had pulled in abou t two hundred dollars . Then, on Decembe r 7, 1994, the first media story about OL S appeared. Joe Adalian, a reporter for the Ne w York Post and a CompuServe bulletin-board mediator , ha d notice d tha t someon e name d Stev e Joyner was postin g inf o regardin g OLS and MSCL . He contacte d Joyner in his reporter capacity, and Joyner granted him an exclusive. Soon, citizen s o f th e nation' s mos t densel y populate d cit y were made aware of OLS. Other reporters quickly followed Adalian's lead, and i n th e week s and month s tha t followed , Joyner an d severa l MSCL cast members were interviewed by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, People, TV Guide, Time, and hundreds o f local newspapers. The y wer e also invite d t o appea r on CNN , Entertainment Tonight, an d MT V to tel l the countr y abou t OL S and it s save-Msci movement. All this media hubbub prompted mor e donations, an d soon OLS had lot s o f cas h t o purchas e ad s with : mor e tha n si x thousand dollars. On Januar y 26, 1995, the dat e of the show' s season finale, full-page ad s ran i n Daily Variety an d th e Hollywood Reporter, tw o key trad e publications. Anyon e at AB C still unawar e of th e MSC L phenomenon wa s now clued in. The ads caught Winnie Holzman' s attention: her staf f contacte d Joyner that da y and summone d hi m to a meeting. According to Joyner, Holzman was ecstatic at the results the OL S action was producing. She "expressed enormous gratitude, essentially telling me no matter what happened, OLS did what it had set out to do. " Later, though, Holzma n di d vocalize some criticis m of OLS. What she didn't like was the fact that in order to boost donations, Joyner and friend s decide d to offe r MSCL-log o T-shirts, hats , mugs, an d othe r suc h paraphernali a a s incentives . Joyner called these items "premiums," a s they were given in exchang e for some thing else, not to make a profit. He understood Holzman's objection — after all , that logo legally belonged to the sho w she had worked so hard to create — but he also insisted that he was "using the show to sav e the show . No one was making any money of f of this." Still,
82 despite her reservations , Holzman did no t tr y to prevent OLS from distributing the premiums . By about Februar y 1995 , Joyner was facing burnout. H e wanted his pre-OL S life back. With th e help o f only a handful of other OLS diehards, h e was fielding about on e thousand e-mai l messages per day. Remembe r that in 1994-95 the Internet was not nearly as sophisticated a s it i s today; receiving and sendin g out s o many messages via AOL' S mid-nineties-er a e-mai l syste m wa s extremel y time consuming an d exhausting. Joyne r had realize d that th e campaig n was literally running him, but h e could see no way of pulling back. The pressur e t o kee p th e momentu m goin g wa s intense. Bes s Armstrong (ak a Patty Chase ) reporte d t o hi m tha t whil e sh e was visiting ABC' S Ne w Yor k office s shortl y afte r th e broadcas t o f th e show's final episode, a network official informe d her that they were being inundate d wit h "Sav e MSCL!" mail — ther e wer e piles o f i t in th e mailroom . Clearly , the mor e effor t Joyne r an d hi s cohort s expended, th e greate r the reactio n the y produced. Th e supporters of OL S were adaman t tha t thei r campaig n b e kep t going , an d s o Joyner soldiered on. Then Claire , o f al l people, purportedl y sabotage d OLS' S efforts , creating wha t Joyne r calle d a "countereffect." Claire , he r mother / manager, and Michael Lazo of the Writer's and Artist's Agency had entered int o discussion s wit h AB C honcho Te d Harbert ove r th e legitimacy o f Claire's contrac t an d Claire' s misgiving s abou t bein g locked int o participatin g i n th e serie s season afte r season . At th e time, Harber t wa s president o f AB C Entertainment, an d i t was his job t o decid e which show s would ge t axed from th e lineup. Joyner was disturbe d b y thi s developmen t becaus e if Clair e was hesitant about continuing o n with MSCL, how could OLS possibly induce ABC to save the series? Voicing these concerns, Joyner provoked a bit of animosity from Claire, but he still believes he did the right thing by speaking up on behalf of OLS . Ultimately, though, Claire just didn't yearn t o remai n i n television ; sh e had alread y entered int o a new project with Susan Sarandori and Winona Ryder.
84 During th e nex t fe w months, Joyne r continue d t o respon d t o e-mail inquiries an d to act as what he calls "a primary resource for reporters." The question o f whether or not MSCJ L would be canceled still hung in the air . Then, when AB C made its sad decision t o pul l the plug , Joyne r hear d abou t i t a day before the pres s did . I t was May 15,1995, the same day the show's cast and crew had their fear s confirmed. My So-Called Life wa s over. Less than a year after i t ha d debuted, th e mos t intelligent , moving , an d groundbreakin g tee n drama in TV history was finished, despite the heroic efforts o f Operation Life Support . Of course, the show didn't sink without a ripple. In June 1995, a month afte r th e fina l episod e aired , Ke n Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrot e that the cancellation amounted t o a "cultural crime " — no othe r sho w that aire d durin g the 1994-9 5 television seaso n could match it in terms of writing and acting. And, while Tucker had lots of good things to say about the show's entire cast, he reserved his highest praise for Claire, declaring that if "the series [had] continued for anothe r season, who knows what kind of dramatic miracle s lea d actress Claire Danes might hav e performed as Angela." It wa s postmortem time , an d Joyne r ha d hi s ow n theorie s t o contribute. H e cited three main factor s leading to MSCL' S untimely demise: low ratings — ABC was on top of the heap and did not want to ris k fallin g off; the show' s tim e slot , opposite NBC' S hi t sitco m Mad about You; an d th e fac t that MSC L was expensive to produce — the average per-episode cost was about $1.2 million (approximatel y twice as much as that of Mad about You or a similar sitcom) . Joyner now swears that "if you took the show today, [ABC would] be ecstatic to have it. Or someone else, another network, would pick it up. Today, or eve n tw o year s ago, MSCL woul d b e wel l receive d an d we' d b e watching the third or fourth season." Television writer Joyce Millman of Salon concurs : MSCL "wa s a t th e merc y o f th e Nielsens , whic h meant a lot mor e back when ABC , CBS , and NB C were the onl y real players." Television writer Davi d Biancull i (quote d b y Ro b Owen) ventures to sa y that AB C made a "stupid" decisio n by canceling the show and points ou t tha t it took a few years for megabits like Mad
85 about You and Seinfeld t o take off. M y So-Called Life wasn' t afforde d that opportunity t o establish itself . It just wasn't mean t t o be, but, the legen d lives on, reminding AB C of its lapse in judgment . In fact, it's astonishin g ho w vital the MSC L phenomenon i s these days. Dissertations hav e been written abou t it . Critics still mentio n it in reviews of other teen T V shows and movies. A boxed video set of all nineteen episode s has been issued by BMG . Author Catherine Clarke has adapte d the MSCL premis e and character s to creat e two novels fo r teens . Reruns of th e sho w air worldwide. Almost every profile o f Claire , the mos t successfu l youn g actor t o emerg e fro m MSCL, mentions the late, lamented show. Another powerful indicato r of th e show' s continue d popularit y i s th e proliferatio n o f MSCLrelated We b activity . There ar e numerou s site s dedicated t o it , as well as chat rooms and discussio n boards. My So-Called Life, th e Web site (mscl.com), stands out fro m th e rest. It's well executed and chock-ful l o f info. As of May 1999, the site had recorded over one million hits. Although he never really thought he'd us e it, Steve Joyner registered the site, mainly to prevent some one else from registering it and making it into something like, say, a sex site. In 1997 , Joyner learned that a couple of dedicated Germa n MSCL fans wanted the UR L to create a site that would keep the inter national passion for the show flowing. He contacted them , and they all agreed t o wor k together . Th e sit e no w stand s a s a remarkabl e tribute t o the show. But why? What was it about MSC L that has motivated these people to devote such energy to perpetuating its mystique? The site's current project master , self-described "Internet wiz " Mike Glenn , explain s that his involvement with mscl.com came about because, very simply, he "really related to the sho w and enjoye d watching the rerun s on MTV." Afte r mor e than tw o year s of working on th e site , Glenn is prepared t o sa y that th e sho w has ha d " a much greate r affect" o n him tha n h e "eve r thought possible" ; MSC L "looks a t lif e a s life. I t makes us look back at how we reacted growing up. It reminds us of how big every event was at that age and how little it seems now. The show has so many things people can relate to. Every one of us knows
86 someone lik e Brian, someone lik e Jordan, and ca n see portions of every character in ourselves or our friends. " Take a peek at the niscl.com guest book, and you'll see these sentiments o f Mike Glenn's echoe d b y a host o f MSCL fans. A Vancouver, Canada, fa n claim s tha t MSC L ha s a n effec t simila r t o tha t o f th e great works o f literature: "I can' t begi n t o explai n what MSC L is to me. At a time in 199 4 when I had little hope, along came a TV show that I could relate to, a show that was produced fo r real people, not for rating s . . . it let me know tha t mayb e the worl d isn' t on e big sitcom. Maybe for once TV could d o what books have done for centuries . .. evoke passion . .. inspire . .. and instill hope. " Lynda, of England, says that sh e "literally crie d when [she ] heard it had been axed, because it was not onl y a TV show — it was much much more. " Brandy Lynn of Knoxville, Tennessee, confides: "My So-Called L i f e . . . helped me through some tough teenage times (I'm still in the middle of those ) an d mad e m e realiz e I' m normal . I t ha d s o many goo d messages. Even my parents have been caugh t watching." And Anke, of Germany, wishes she could have "seen this show when I was fifteen. I think it would hav e helped m e realize thing s abou t mysel f I saw clearly a few years later." The testimonials go on and on, some con taining diatribes against ABC. That s o many people ca n still get so riled u p abou t a show tha t was axed five years ago after a one-year run i s truly amazing. When it became apparent tha t durin g it s abbreviate d lif e spa n MSC L ha d given rise to a cult following, several new teen-oriented shows were developed t o fill the void. But MSCL was one very tough act to follow . While some viewers and critic s claim that Dawson's Creek, for example, is the new MSCL, there is really no comparison. Joyce Millman, in a piec e entitle d "Dawson' s Crock, " claim s tha t watchin g Dawsons Creek makes her wistful for MSCL: "My So-Called Life was the most soulful, realistic , wise and emphati c sho w about hig h schoo l ever. " Although a n adult , Millma n "identifie d wit h Angela, " becaus e "there's a little Angela in every woman. And a little of the messed up Rayanne, an d th e goody-good y Sharon , an d th e chubby , bubbl y Delia, the girl who had a crush on Rickie even though h e was gay."
87 The Dawson's Creek kids, however, just don't do it for Millman. "All four o f them tal k in glib , show-offy flourishe s o f annoying screenwriterese," Looking back , doe s Clair e eve r ponde r wher e sh e coul d hav e gone with Angela Chase, a character s o refreshingly unencumbere d by "screenwriterese" ? Th e fan s o f MSC L certainl y do . Man y stil l dream abou t a reunion sho w — just a one-shot thin g to wrap u p the danglin g finale . (Whe n th e serie s ended , Angel a ha d finall y gotten bac k with Jordan , prompted b y some eloquen t declaration s from Brian . How would the next season have begun?) In retrospect, the "wha t ifs? " ma y hav e gotte n t o Claire , a s well. While sh e ha d seemed reluctan t a t fiftee n t o admi t t o an y significant similaritie s between herself and Angela, at nineteen sh e told a n interviewer, "it was nea t t o b e abl e t o figur e a characte r ou t an d di g deeper an d deeper and deepe r into who sh e was. I was exactly Angela's age. We were in an extremely similar plac e in our life. "
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MSCL'S Major Players: Where Are They Now? Angela Chase Claire Dane s was , o f course , Angela Chase, a reflectiv e ye t self conscious teenage girl. Like most teens, Angela didn't hate her parents — she just wanted a s little to do with them as possible. Sh e ignored her pesk y younger sister. She couldn't stan d Bria n Krakow — th e boy next door who excelled at calculus and played both saxophone and flute (becaus e he was convinced that "two instruments look better i n college" ) — althoug h sh e never cease d t o tak e advantag e o f him. Desperat e to ad d spice to her mundane existenc e she dumped her cheerleader-perk y best frien d fo r th e excitin g an d outlandis h Rayanne Graff . Durin g th e cours e o f MSCL'S shor t ru n Angela' s character gre w and mature d mentall y an d physically , making, an d owning up to , her shar e of mistakes and survivin g a range of teen traumas. LATEST PROJECTS : the film s Brokedown Palace', Th e Mo d Squad. Jordan Catalano Jared Let o was Jorda n Catalano , Angela' s obsession. Althoug h h e was seventeen years old, he sometimes appeare d i n her sophomore level classes . H e wa s th e typica l sexy , brooding , insensitive-yet sensitive rebel guy — the kin d ever y girl in th e schoo l wants. Few girls could gra b his attention an d eve n fewer coul d hol d it . Angela loved th e wa y he leaned . Th e crow d Jorda n hun g wit h shunne d
90 school dances, drank beer on school nights, and snuck into licensed clubs o n th e weekend . Jordan ha d tw o primar y interests : singin g and playing guitar with the band Frozen Embryos; and working on his prize d car , "Red." Angel a wa s a secondar y interest . Whil e h e cared for her and respected her , he had trouble admittin g it. Angela forced him to realize that he actually had emotions. LATEST PROJECTS: the films American Psycho; A Leonard Cohen Afterworld; Fight Club; The Thin Red Line; Basil; Urban Legend; Prefontaine; and Summer Fling. (One of his earliest non-MSCL performances was a came o in Ho w t o Make a n American Quilt, alongside Clair e an d Winona Ryder.) Rayanne Graff
A.J. Langer was Rayanne Graff, Angela's blunt, eccentric best friend. Rayanne convinced Angela to dye her nondescript blond hair flaming red, encourage d he r t o g o afte r Jorda n Catalano , an d kep t he r apprised o f who m Jorda n slep t wit h an d when . Rayann e was a drunk for the first half o f the season , then sobered up , and finally relapsed, losing Angela's friendship in the process. She wore her long hair differentl y each day , her styl e bein g a mix o f grunge/hippie / whore. Very cool yet rather messed-up, Rayanne typified the high school girl more stable girls — like Angela — either want to emulate or stee r clear of. LATEST PROJECTS : a pregnan t tee n i n th e popula r bu t no w defunc t sports comedy Coach; roles in th e films Meet the Deedles and Escape from LA ; a recurrin g rol e i n th e T V series Brooklyn South; a guest spot o n th e late , great Seinfeld; and , currently , a major rol e i n th e show that's being touted a s the "new " Seinfeld, It's Like, You Know. Rickie Vasquez
Wilson Cru z was Rickie Vasquez, Rayanne's and Angela' s loyal guy pal. Biracial Rickie had his own share of problems. He knew he was gay but wa s not a t all comfortable wit h hi s sexuality — thanks t o
91 his family . Things began to ge t better fo r him afte r h e confide d in his gay English/drama teacher. He sported eyeliner and delighted in sharing gossi p with Angela and Rayann e in the typicall y unkemp t girls' bathroom. Despit e his ow n issues, he manage d to b e a great friend to both of them, as well as to another straight girl, Delia, who had a big crush on him — Delia was the one to get Rickie to articulate, for the first time out loud, that he was gay. Rickie was as introspective as Angela was, if not mor e so. LATEST PROJECTS : the rol e of Jesse in All Over Me, the ga y teen-noir se t in NYC ; a guest appearance on th e hi t serie s Ally McBeal; a recurring spot in the critically acclaimed Broadway musical Rent; an upcoming role, as Victor, the nanny to Charlie Salinger's baby, in Party o f Five. (Cruz has also lectured to college students abou t ga y rights.) Brian Krakow Devon Gummersal l wa s Bria n Krakow, Angela's frequently mentioned, obtrusive, an d overl y smart neighbor . H e suffered throug h the oppositiona l analyse s of his psychologist parents, and therefore lacked socia l skills, which didn' t wi n hi m man y friends. H e lusted over Angela, though, and he seemed compelled t o cater to her many whims. Brian provided a striking contrast t o hunky, cool Jordan — whom Brian, of course, detested. Naturally, Jordan had n o opinio n of Brian. LATEST PROJECTS ? th e par t o f Jak e Rot h i n Relativity, th e sho w MSCL producers wen t t o wor k o n afte r th e demis e o f MSCL ; th e par t o f Zack in Felicity; and numerous appearance s in films including Dick, Independence Day, and It's My Party. Sharon Chersk i Devon Odess a was Sharon Cherski , Angela's best frien d fo r abou t five seconds. Perk y Sharo n go t goo d grades , playe d th e clarine t poorly (alongside Brian) in the school band, organized school func tions, date d an d lost he r virginity t o a jock, fantasized about acto r
92 Brad Pitt , an d ha d bot h disgus t an d respec t fo r Rayann e (it was mutual). Sharo n wa s uptight ye t nice , s o that yo u couldn' t reall y detest her. Like so many others, she became infuriated with Brian on a regular basis. Her mother's best friend was Angela's mom . LATEST PROJECTS: many film and televisio n gues t appearances as well as a role in a video for the song "Wiser," by Buffalo Tom , an alternative band that ha d a song on th e MSCL soundtrack . Patty Chase
Bess Armstrong was Patty Chase, Angela's pixie-faced mom. A takecharge lady who ra n a small print shop , Patty often cam e across as judgmental and reactionary, but her main motivation wa s her desire to be a good mother and wife. With her friend Camill e Cherski, she chatted abou t premenopaus e symptoms , sex , an d Angela' s shor t dating career. She supported Ricki e and Rayann e in times of crisis and even bonded wit h Jordan . LATEST PROJECTS : man y fil m an d televisio n appearance s including a role in John Waters's bizarre film Pecker; and a role in Forever Love, a 1998 CBS TV movie that also starred Scott Foley, who plays Noel in Felicity. Graham Chase
Tom Irwi n wa s Graha m Chase , Angela' s often-flustere d father . Graham resemble d a balding Rober t Downey, Jr. An ex-hippie, h e was much mor e laid bac k than Patty. Graham was a talented che f and during MSCLS seaso n he embarked on a business venture with Halle Lowenthal — the two came close to having an affair. Overall , Graham was a good father, if not a completely committed husband . LATEST PROJECTS : many stage performances, including a stint in Space at th e Steppenwol f i n Chicago ; schedule d t o d o a TV movie wit h Annabeth Gish.
9 3J Danielle Chase
Lisa Wilhoit was Danielle Chase, Angela's bratty little sister. As Patty and Graha m fough t ove r ho w t o dea l wit h th e mood y Angela , Danielle often seeme d overlooked. She developed a major crush on Brian Krakow and contrived ways of spending time with him. Brian would generall y oblige i n th e hop e o f obtainin g th e lowdow n o n Angela. Danielle was often see n flouncing in and ou t o f rooms. LATEST PROJECTS : a role in To m Arnold's no w defunc t sitcom.
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Claire's Movies Little Women SCREENPLAY Robi n Swicord DIRECTOR Gillia n Armstrong PRODUCER Robi n Swicord CAST Trin i Alvarado, Christian Bale, Gabriel Byrne, Kirsten Dunst, Winona Ryder, Susa n Sarandon, Eric Stolt z
Little Women was filme d i n Vancouver , Britis h Columbia , i n th e early fall of 1994, just as MSCL was beginning its run. The screenplay was based o n Louis a May Alcott's classic novel, which i s set in th e late 1800 s and which focuses on the various members of the March family, particularl y the sisterl y quartet o f Jo , Meg, Amy, and Beth . Winona Ryde r lead s th e cas t a s Jo , the headstron g writer . Trin i Alvarado is Meg, the eldes t sister; Kirsten Dunst, of Interview with a Vampire an d Dick i s Amy, the youngest ; and Claire , still just four teen, is the fragile, terminall y il l Beth. The stella r Susa n Sarandon plays their mother . The story , quite simply , follows Jo as she grows up, leaves for university, struggles to decid e whom to marry; it also chronicles Bet h contracting scarle t feve r an d th e tragi c effect s thi s has on the family . Many critics love d directo r Gillia n Armstrong an d writer Robi n Swicord's adaptation of the timeless novel , including Roge r Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. Notoriously har d t o win over , Ebert none theless handed th e film three and a half stars, saying that he "appreciate [d] th e ensembl e acting , wit h th e fiv e actresse s creatin g th e
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Claire and her Little Women castmates A. BERLINER / LIAISON AGENCY
warmth an d familiarit y of a real family." Glowing reviews in Entertainment Weekly an d Tucson Weekly gav e more specific attentio n t o the performance s o f Clair e an d he r costars . Lis a Schwarzbaum o f Entertainment Weekly note d tha t Claire , Kirste n Dunst , an d Trin i Alvarado "play[ed ] sister s Meg , Bet h an d Am y with uncommo n understanding." Somehow , these children o f the 1980 s had manage d to delive r convincin g portrayal s o f a trio o f youn g wome n bor n over a century earlier . Th e magazine awarde d th e fil m a n A ratin g — a relativel y rar e occurrence . Althoug h pannin g Ryder' s efforts , Tucson Weekly's Zachar y Woodruf f praised Gillia n Armstron g fo r eliciting "skilled performances" from the other three March sisters; he maintained that Claire, as Beth, made "sickliness look like a virtue." Before signin g on to d o the film, Claire had rea d Alcott's novel , but sh e still knew nothing abou t the social mores of the mid-nine teenth century, during which Little Women i s set. To prepare for th e role of Beth, she brushed up a little on her history. She was appalled at wha t sh e discovered . Sh e tol d Mar k Marve l o f Interview sh e
Q jr
thought it absurd that waving a fan at a man during a social gathering was amon g th e fe w acceptable ways for a woman t o attrac t mal e attention. The fact tha t women ha d to truss themselve s u p in cor sets and monito r themselve s constantly to ensur e against lapses in ladylike behavior rile d her eve n further. I t was all so oppressive, so exhausting. Still , by acquiring al l this disturbing knowledge , Claire was gaining valuable insight int o th e characte r she would soo n b e playing. It woul d b e a big stretc h fo r Clair e t o g o fro m inhabitin g th e character o f healthy , middle-class , contemporar y Angela Chase t o becoming a youn g lad y o f a bygon e centur y wh o mus t suffe r through a lengthy terminal illness. "Dying," she would learn, was an emotionally drainin g experience . Viewing herself onscree n durin g the proces s o f revisin g filme d takes, looking ghastl y i n he r artfu l makeup, was, as she puts it , a "pretty intens e experienc e . .. very upsetting." But what , i n th e end , were the positiv e aspect s of Claire' s Little Women involvement ? The opportunity t o work with "such a strong group o f women." Vivid exposure to nineteenth-century American social history . Th e chanc e t o pla y a characte r wit h dimension , a character sh e coul d lear n fro m an d identif y with. Clair e insiste d that she and Beth March shared the traits of shyness, maturity, and perceptiveness. She also expressed her wish to be more like Beth in one important respect: Clair e fel t she couldn't possibly measure u p to Beth in terms of generosity. That particular component o f Beth's personality was something she wanted to work towards internalizing , long afte r th e rol e playing was done. How to Make an American Quilt SCREENPLAY Jan e Anderson DIRECTOR Jocely n Moorhouse PRODUCER Lauri e MacDonal d CAST May a Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Capshaw, Jared Leto , Samanth a Mathis , Dermo t Mulroney , Kat e Nelligan, Winona Ryder, Alfre Woodard
98 How to Make an American Quilt was also based on a book, written by Whitney Otto. It centers o n a young woman's ques t to discover who she is and to determine what kind of life sh e wants to lead. In th e movie version, directed by the wonderful Australian filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse (produce r of Muriel's Wedding), Winon a Ryde r portrays the confused twentysomething protagonist, Finn. She is overwhelmed by two major decision s sh e must make : what her dissertation topi c will be; and whether to marry her stable, all-American, carpenter boy friend o r ditch him fo r a luscious, strawberry-munchin g foreigner . While spending the summer visiting her grandmother and interacting with the ladies who make up her grandmother's quiltin g circle, Finn studie s this multigenerational grou p of women intensely and with mountin g interest . Eventually , the quilter s help Fin n addres s both of her dilemmas . A celebrated tea m of older female actors portray the members of the quiltin g circl e — Anne Bancroft, Kat e Capshaw, Ellen Burstyn, and Kat e Nelliga n — an d th e award-winnin g writer/philosophe r Maya Angelou makes her first major fil m appearance . Claire, along with several other talented young actors, makes a cameo appearance in one of the film's many flashback sequences — the device throug h which th e olde r wome n rela y thei r stories . Clair e i s the adolescen t incarnation o f Finn's great-aun t Gladd y Ann (shor t fo r Gladiola) ; her Home for th e Holidays costa r Anne Bancroft i s the adul t Gladdy Ann. While Claire only occupies the screen for about seven minutes, she make s those minute s count . Dresse d i n late-forties-er a attire , she assist s th e younger , pregnan t Ann a (playe d a s a n adul t b y Angelou) a s she awaits the birt h o f her child . Jared Leto plays th e baby's father ; he impregnate s Anna an d abandon s he r t o fen d fo r herself wit h a biracial bab y in a societ y that wil l tur n the m bot h into outcasts. For MSCL fans, the experience of seeing a forties Claire Danes an d a fortie s Jare d Leto — complet e wit h bagg y suit an d slicked-back hai r — i s quit e strange . The y ar e bot h completel y transformed. Even thoug h he r par t wa s minute, Clair e grabbed som e critica l attention. Onlin e video reviewer Scott Renshaw praised the film for
99 being s o "mature" an d "beautifull y constructed," adding tha t "fin e performers" such as Claire Danes "warrant[ed] more than glorifie d cameos." A Virginia newspape r calle d Ho w t o Make a n American Quilt "a sweet romantic patchwor k abou t commitmen t an d friendship wit h a dream tea m femal e cast " The revie w also raved abou t "sublime performances " fro m th e film' s mai n star s an d deeme d Claire an "up-and-comer" In How to Make an American Quilt., Claire demonstrates a n odd combinatio n o f adolescent awkwardnes s and grace, etching yet another highly believable character. Home for the Holidays SCREENPLAY Chri s Radant, W.D. Richte r DIRECTOR Jodi e Foster PRODUCER Jodi e Foster CAST Ann e Bancroft, Rober t Downey Jr., Charles Burning, Holly Hunter, Dylan McDermott
Winning th e part of Holly Hunter's daughte r in Home for th e Holidays, Clair e lande d i n the mids t o f another all-sta r cast . Hunte r i s Claudia, an artist who get s fired just before Thanksgiving . Claire is her sixteen-year-ol d daughter , Kitt , wh o talk s to o fast , drive s to o fast, an d ca n b e classifie d a s "fast" i n othe r respect s a s well. Kit t actually tell s he r mo m tha t sh e want s t o hav e se x with he r boy friend, Ti m — they'v e talke d i t ove r an d they'r e "no t jerks. " Kitt stays with Tim's family over the holidays, and Claudia travel s to her parents' house to fac e the res t of her family . Anne Bancroft is Kitt's delightfully eccentric, wig-wearing grandmother, Charles Burning is her equally outrageous grandfather, and Robert Downey Jr. is Tommy, her theatrical, gay, married uncle who snaps Polaroids of everyone at inopportune moments . The various clan members battle their way through the holiday meal, hurl turkey about, mak e inappropriat e announcements , an d generall y hav e a good time. Claudia grows attached to Mr. Fish, a friend of Tommy's. Working wit h he r goo d friend , actress/director/produce r Jodi e Foster, raised Claire' s standin g i n Hollywood anothe r notch . Under Foster's guidance, Claire navigated her subplot role , which revolved
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around th e controversia l issu e of teen sex , with finesse. Foster was completely take n wit h he r protegee , who, a t sixteen , behave d lik e such a mature professional. Speaking to Kim Masters of Vanity Fair, Foster remarked: "I took a shine to Claire because she doesn't come with any weird baggage. She's so grounded, an d you can talk to her about a whole lot of other things besides acting... . She's a pretty serious girl." Reviews fo r Home for th e Holidays wer e generally favorable. As Kim Williamson wrote , "any screen that share s the like s of Danes, Downey, and Durning . .. promises certai n pleasures, and this cast delivers." It certainly did. This movie is hilarious — a must-see for anyone who's abou t to head hom e for a Thanksgiving feast . To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday SCREENPLAY Davi d E. Kelley DIRECTOR Michae l Pressman PRODUCER Davi d E. Kelley
CAST Bruc
e Altman, Kathy Baker, Laurie Fortier, Peter Gallagher, Seth Green, Michelle Pfeiffe r
One film in 1994 , two in 1995 , and two more in 1996 : the cancellation of MSCL, instead of putting Clair e out o f work, seemed to have cleared he r wa y to becom e a movie star . He r nex t projec t wa s To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, and her costar this time was to be boxoffice heavyweigh t Michelle Pfeiffer. Davi d E. Kelly (of Ally McBeal fame) produced the film and also wrote the screenplay, based on the play by Michael Brady. Claire was chosen t o portra y sixteen-yearold Rachel Lewis, the daughte r of Pfeiffer's Gillian . Rachel Lewis likes to giggle about boys and run aroun d with her overly mature, sex-kitten best friend, named Cindy. Her life, however, is no bed of roses. Her mother, Gillian , plunge d t o her death fro m the family' s sailboa t tw o year s earlier , an d Rachel' s father , David , played by Peter Gallagher, is incapable of coming to terms with his grief. Every night, h e paces along the beachfron t of their propert y talking to Gillian's ghost . Once a highly regarded college professor, David's life is now shattered. Rachel is so adversely affected b y all of
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this that he r Aunt Esthe r (o n her mother's side ) threaten s t o tak e her awa y from he r father . According t o Claire , Rache l i s "The mos t san e perso n i n thi s movie. She's the glue in the family. She's taken on this parental role with her grieving father, yet when you're a teenager you feel this need to rebel So, she's doin g that a t the sam e time, which is understandable. Hormone s wil l d o tha t t o you. " Befor e th e fil m wa s released, Claire promise d potentia l viewers, vi a a Premiere interview, "You'l l laugh, you'l l cry, " because this i s on e "juicy " movie . A s a furthe r enticement, sh e let u s i n o n ho w sh e prepare d fo r th e film' s key scene. Tha t scen e take s plac e afte r Rachel' s firs t dat e wit h Joey , played by Freddie Prinze Jr. of She's AH That (with pierced body an d shaved head). Joey escorts Rachel to a beach party, where she swills hard liquor and gets smashed. After teetering home, she rewards her date with a big sloppy kiss. Announcing that this is her first kiss with tongue, she then puke s at his feet. Hearing the ruckus, David comes running, chase s Joe y away , an d lace s int o Rachel . Drunkenly , ye t extremely poignantly, she in turn chastise s her fathe r fo r wallowing in his grief at her expense . So ho w di d Clair e "research" thi s scene ? Kis s mor e boys ? Fight with her own dad? No — none of that was necessary. Instead, as she admitted t o Premiere, she went out and got drunk for the first time in her life. How else could she accurately reproduce the actions of a young drunk ? I n th e compan y o f he r agent s an d som e legal-ag e friends, she consumed a few kamikazes and some vodka with grapefruit juice . Ho w wer e they ? "Yummy, " said Claire . Sh e became s o intoxicated tha t "the throwin g u p wasn't painful o r anything." Tha t must have been one interesting evening for everyone involved. As if all that didn' t adequatel y demonstrat e Claire' s devotio n t o her craft , ther e wa s the thon g issu e to tackle . The scrip t require d Rachel to provoke her father's ire not only by getting drunk but also by strolling along a crowded public beach in a butt-revealing thon g bikini — a t th e insistenc e o f th e wil d Cindy . Filmin g thi s scen e posed a problem fo r Claire ; she wasn't a t al l comfortable with th e idea of parading around seminude. She even attempted t o get out of
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it, offering to don a one-piece suit instead. Her director rejected this suggestion, however, so on went the thong. Afterwards, she declared that sh e would never again wear a thong — she would foreve r re main a "Speedo kind o f gal." The reviewers were ecstatic. Although many had foun d To Gillian sappy — and it was, at times — they loved Claire. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gushe d that sh e is "exceptionally talented " — she "triumphs" in this rnovie by "carrying [it ] on her own young shoulders.... Danes keeps Gillian from evaporating completely in a shrou d o f sappiness. " Mike Clar k o f US A Today proclaime d tha t Claire, "by herself, just made T o Gillian o n Her 37 th Birthday auto matically worth seeing." Susan Lambert of Boxoffice.com, describin g To Gillian a s a "gentle movi e abou t los s an d love, " enthuse d tha t Claire possessed "a grace far beyond he r year s [and] has perfected adolescent stoic angst to high art." And the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Paula Bernstein wrote, "the always astonishing Danes is so engrossing . . . it's a shame that the story wasn't tol d fro m he r point o f view." The accolade s jus t kep t coming . Identifyin g Clair e a s the "lif e force" o f th e film , callin g T o Gillian "her movie, " Elfried a Abb e of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal declared , "she energizes every scene she's in and her character give s the viewer someone t o care about." Finally, the opinion-making Time magazine put the icing on the cake: criti c Belind a Luscomb e venture d t o sa y that i n T o Gillian Claire "outshinfes] fa r more experienced actors, including Michelle Pfeiffer." Clair e had turne d a performance in a n essentiall y flawe d little flick into a personal triumph . William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet SCREENPLAY Ba z Luhrman and Crai g Pearc e DIRECTOR Ba z Luhrma n PRODUCER Ba z Luhrman an d Gabriell a Martinell i CAST Bria n Dennehy, Leonardo DiCaprio , Joh n Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino, Dian e Venora
During th e weeken d o f Novembe r 1 , 1996 , th e mos t radicall y reenvisioned, the most dizzyin g and dazzlin g Romeo and Juliet ever
103 filmed hit American movie screens. Writer/producer Baz Luhrman's take on Shakespeare's tragic romance grabbed the number-one spot in its first week. Made for a mere fourteen million dollars, th e film would ultimatel y brin g i n over fifty million, making it the highest grossing Shakespear e adaptation ever . Romeo + Juliet's box-offic e contenders — big-budge t vehicle s fo r th e like s o f Bra d Pitt , Bil l Murray, and Whoopi Goldberg — were left i n the dust . What primaril y distinguishe d Luhrman' s Romeo + Juliet fro m earlier scree n adaptation s wa s its settin g — a 1990 s ganglan d — and it s style — polished, frenetic, reflecting the visua l languag e of the MT V generation. Al l visual aspect s of th e film , dow n t o ever y costume, screamed decadence. Even cynical school kids were seduced into receivin g Shakespeare's time-honored message. Until sh e appeare d i n thi s caree r maker , Clair e wa s know n mainly for MSCL — she'd onl y had supportin g role s in the handful of films she'd been in . She was scarcely a blip on Luhrman's rada r screen. For the rol e of Juliet, he considered Alicia Silverstone, quite hot at the time; Natalie Portman, extremely talented but too young; and a throng o f othe r youn g up-and-comers . Then a n Australian comrade of Luhrman's, Jane Campion (wh o made Th e Piano), recommended Clair e based on her MSC L work, and Jodi e Foster began rooting fo r Claire from the sidelines. Luhrma n has said that he "was really struck " by Clair e o n firs t meetin g her , sensing that sh e was very "strong." H e praise d her fo r no t takin g th e fluttering-eyelash approach: most of the other young women who aspired to be Juliet had show n themselves to be smitten with Romeo — in the form of Leonardo DiCapri o — and Luhrman kne w that this would under mine thei r abilit y to interpret th e rol e with confidence . Clair e was the boldes t an d th e bes t o f th e actor s considere d fo r th e par t o f Juliet. In the end , it was that simple , and the job was hers. As far as Romeo was concerned, there had neve r been any question i n Luhrman's mind. He wanted DiCaprio. He'd see n his films — most notably What's Eating Gilbert Grape — and he'd mad e hi s choice, bu t DiCapri o woul d requir e som e convincing . H e wasn' t necessarily interested in working on a project based on a shopworn
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classic. Unti l h e me t wit h Luhrma n personally . When DiCapri o discovered ho w Luhrma n planne d t o reinven t Romeo an d Juliet, Luhrman snared his Romeo,, DiCaprio signed on, and began running through tes t scenes with a stream of potential Juliets . Claire was one of th e fe w who mad e a lasting impressio n o n him . DiCapri o ha s often remarke d that "she was the only girl that looked me in the eye in auditions." And that's not all . Showing up for her initial test scene with DiCaprio, she waltzed in, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and plante d a firm, lusty kiss on hi s lips. DiCaprio late r admitte d that he "was taken aback." Claire had shocked him; she'd jolted him out o f hi s cynical , bore d persona ; sh e was his antithesis , an d th e turbulent chemistr y tha t Luhrma n require d wa s there. Had Luhrman any inkling at this point how shrewd his choice for the role of Juliet would turn out to be? When the reviews of Romeo + Juliet started to appear , it was clear that hi s latest effor t ha d polar ized the critics . They either love d o r hate d his ambitious creation , but mos t wer e inspired t o sin g the praise s o f young Claire Danes . Stephanie Zacharek' s revie w fo r Salon wa s subtitle d "Th e Garis h Junk in Baz Luhrman's New Romeo + Juliet Can't Bury the Brillianc e of Clair e Danes. " The film , Zachare k insisted, "woul d b e destine d for th e tras h heap of Shakespeare adaptations, if not fo r its femal e lead, and its heart, Claire Danes." Zacharek abhorred Luhrman's revision of the classic. DiCaprio, she continued, was only memorable in the scenes he shared with Claire. She summed up by saying, "It's no small stroke of luck that in Danes we have an actress who brings Juliet t o lif e b y instinct and sheer wil l alon e . . . you couldn't fin d one with mor e warmth o r passion. " Rolling Stone sang a different tune . Peter Travers was captivated by the film and everyone involved in it, pronouncing Romeo + Juliet a "whirlwin d o f hardbal l action , rowd y humor , an d rapturou s romance." Claire, he says, "displays poise beyond her years," and she and DiCapri o "fill thei r classic role s wit h vita l passion," deliverin g "magnetic performances Shakespeare has never been this sexy on screen." Travers singles Luhrman ou t fo r praise a s well, advisin g viewers t o "notic e tha t Luhrma n an d hi s tw o brigh t angel s have
105 shaken u p a 400-year-old-play without losin g it s touching, poeti c innocence." Pauline Adamek of the Australian journal Cinema Papers wa s so taken wit h th e scen e i n which th e starcrosse d lover s firs t meet , a truly dream y moment, tha t sh e describe d he r experienc e o f i t a s "watching cinem a history, witnessing th e emergence of a legendary screen duo for our time." Jessica Dean of the Ottawa Citizen, calling Claire "brilliant," lauded DiCaprio a s well and concluded tha t she'd never "seen something so bizarre made so wonderful." And here's one more: Mike Clark of US A Today, whil e somewhat critical o f certain aspects o f the film, was moved to remar k that "Clair e Dane s conveys inner pai n an d someho w make s anachronistic Julie t dialogue sound natura l . . . maybe the movies should follo w baseball' s lead with a seasonal MVP award." Claire Danes as most valuable player? In a n ensembl e of seasoned actors? Reviews don't ge t much bette r than this . Claire herself would have been pretty skeptical, as she headed into this project , if anyon e had predicte d tha t sh e would receiv e such glowing notices . While Romeo + Juliet wa s being filmed , sh e tol d an AO L cha t grou p that "Shakespear e did see m impossible, at first , and ver y frightening." The mai n problem , sh e explained , wa s th e language. But anyone who's seen the movie knows that she conquered that proble m admirably . Speakin g t o Nic k Gaffney , a writer fo r a New York University newspaper, she explained how she did it. With Luhrman an d DiCaprio , sh e "went throug h th e text , lin e b y line , word by word, decoding the language." This way, she got "the gist of the play , and reall y figure d ou t wha t w e were saying specifically. " She also remained focused o n the fac t tha t the language, no matte r how strange i t first seemed to he r ear , was intended t o conve y the troubled Juliet' s passionate emotions: love , anger, hate, joy, sorrow. If she could embody those emotions — as she had don e so successfully i n the pas t — then facilit y with the languag e would come . In the process of all this, she gained a powerful respect for Shakespeare's genius. She revealed during the AOL chat that she'd had to "fill in the blanks for the writer" more than onc e when she was working with
106 other scripts , but wit h Shakespear e that woul d never be necessary. Still, a t the outset , the challenge s thi s particular rol e embodie d loomed large , and Clair e was not a t al l sure tha t sh e coul d mee t them. She later told the following story. One night, she awoke in the wee hours, her hear t racing . Like a small child who' s ha d a night mare, she ran and got into bed with he r mother but eve n then she "couldn't ge t settle d down. " Th e prospec t o f actuall y being Juliet had triggered a sudde n adrenalin e rush . Th e short-ter m remed y turned ou t t o b e a late-nigh t vide o viewin g — th e chees y flic k Grease 2 starring non e other tha n Michell e Pfeiffer . Strangely , this calmed her . But nothing, i t seemed , could dimmis h he r insecurit y about he r looks. Through stud y and practice , she could eventuall y master th e complexitie s o f Shakespearean English , but n o amoun t of pre p wor k coul d alte r he r physica l appearance . A few month s before heading off to the film's Mexican location, Clair e rented th e 1968 Franco Zeffirelli versio n of Romeo and Juliet, which features a luminous fifteen-year-ol d Olivi a Husse y a s Juliet . Sh e became s o obsessed wit h Hussey' s beaut y tha t th e littl e self-confidenc e sh e possessed evaporated . When th e tim e came , she was able to cur b those negativ e feeling s enoug h t o creat e a compellin g Juliet , bu t they never left her. Fortunately, when shooting finally got underway, Claire felt a bit more at ease. She later recalled how "supportive" th e cast and crew were, and she expressed her gratitude to Luhrman for giving her the space and the tools she needed to embrace Juliet fully, all on her own . So, Claire's insecuritie s were in check , she had learne d to spea k convincingly like a teen fro m a bygone age, and th e camera s were rolling. Then a new set of problems arose — location-specific ones. Claire was laid low by a particularly intens e strai n o f flu; DiCaprio was tormented by a little bug called "Montezuma's revenge"; and Carla Danes, while visiting the set, was hospitalized for severe pneumonia. In addition, loca l thugs preyed on the Hollywood contingent , mugging many cast and crew members. On e crew member was relieved of fou r hundre d dollar s b y a couple o f violent thieve s who force d their wa y into hi s cab; he als o had th e pleasur e of having his hea d
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slammed into the cement. And one of DiCaprio's friends , partyin g at a local nightclub, wa s beaten u p b y a security guard. Claire an d DiCaprio recounte d thes e calamitie s i n a n Octobe r 199 6 Premiere cover article. Clair e also complained to Chris Mundy of Us that the whole filming process had been tough for her; she'd never really felt in her "element." One of many reasons for this, said Claire, was, "the movie's als o about gangs , so there were a whole bunch o f little boys [DiCaprio an d his cohorts?] runnin g aroun d creatin g havoc . .. it was a lot of fart jokes . .. a lot of mooning. " The Romeo + Juliet experienc e may have been toug h fo r Claire , but it was well worth the struggle. Claire learned a great deal from th e undertaking, an d ho w many o f us win suc h accolade s for learning our lesson s well? A year after Romeo + Juliet wa s released, the rav e reviews were still rolling in . Claire, no w seventeen, reflecte d during a Total Film magazin e intervie w tha t sh e sa w Julie t a s someon e "every teenage girl can associate with . .. because every teenage girl has those problem s an d emotions . Bu t she is also very thoughtful , smart and passionate. Something I strive to be." Why, Claire? Because, "Without passion, everythin g seem s so tough." Comment s suc h as this demonstrate why Claire was the perfect person to play a modern Juliet. I Love You, I Love You Not SCREENPLAY Wend y Kesselma n DIRECTOR Bill y Hopkins PRODUCER Josep h Fiedle r CAST Jud e Law , Jeanne Moreau, James Van de r Bee k
In I Love You, I Love You Not, Claire stars as Daisy, a naive Jewish girl attending private school i n New York City. French film ico n Jeanne Moreau play s Daisy' s grandmothe r an d primar y confidante . Th e film focuse s o n tw o things : th e difficult y Dais y has i n comin g t o terms with her Jewish identity, and the problems sh e encounters i n her relationship with a schoolmate — an intelligent, popular athlet e named Etha n — played by handsome Jud e Law of Midnight i n the Garden of Good and Evil.
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A survivor of a Nazi concentration camp , Daisy's grandmother is tormented b y her memories, and it becomes clear that her tormen t has penetrate d Daisy' s subconscious . Whe n Dais y isn't ponderin g her heritage or studying, she's mooning over Ethan. She doesn't really fit in with his crew because she prefers reading to partying. Because she can't tolerat e he r judgmental, overbearin g parents, she spends each weeken d wit h he r grandmother ; th e tw o whil e awa y man y happy hours i n the grandmother's large and tranquil bac k garden . In short, in I Love You, I Love You Not, Claire plays an intelligent, yet somewhat dork y young woman wh o has her work cu t out fo r her building socia l skills and overcoming naivete . The film's weaker moment s com e whe n Dais y and he r grand mother froli c togethe r amon g th e flower s — it' s al l just to o cute . Furthermore, the aftereffects-of-the-Holocaust them e is inadequately rendered. The grandmother's sufferin g i s sentimentalized, and thi s undermines an y authority th e fil m ma y have on th e subject . Still, Claire rises above such heavy-handedness: when she discovers antiSemitic graffiti o n her locker, she conveys her distres s with subtlet y and conviction. The film's stronger scenes are those in which Daisy and Ethan appear together. Compared with the Daisy/grandmother scenes, they have a certain immediacy , a realistic edge ; they manage to evok e some o f the intensit y and complexit y o f teen experience . Daisy's disappointmen t i s palpabl e when , soo n afte r attractin g Ethan's attention , sh e lose s i t becaus e hi s buddie s (includin g Dawson's Creek's Jame s Van der Beek ) convinc e hi m tha t sh e isn' t cool enough. I Love You, I Love You Not wa s Claire's sixth film (produced before Romeo + Juliet bu t release d after it) , and th e screenpla y was based on a two-character play that was only twenty minutes long. Wendy Kessleman wrote the stage play, and later , after receivin g the necessary financial support in the form of a McKnight Fellowship Award, turned i t into a feature-length rnovie script. It had a brief theatrica l run i n th e fal l o f 199 7 and was released o n video i n 1999 . Conse quently, i t wasn' t widel y reviewed . Thos e review s that di d appea r commented o n th e film' s made-for-T v productio n value s an d
109 bemoaned it s poor handling o f the Holocaust. However , some critic s singled Claire' s work out fo r praise: such critical endorsemen t was becoming pa r fo r th e course ; even if a project she was involved i n was flawed, her performance wo n raves. Two reviewers had a lot of positive thing s t o sa y about I Love You, I Love Yo u Not. Christin e James of Box.office.com describe d the movi e as "a simple yet elegant and authenti c portrai t o f the delicat e emotion s o f a delicate girl, " adding tha t "excellent, moving performance s ar e given by Morea u and Danes , who portray a very genuine affection an d connection. " Seattle Times critic John Hartl was taken with the film's "impressive cast," and declare d tha t Morea u playe d he r rol e wit h "perfection, " Law with "intelligence," and the ever-radiant Claire with a "startling openness." When I Love You, I Love Yo u Not wa s being shot , Jame s Van de r Beek was nowhere near a s popular wit h young film and televisio n fans a s he i s today. In a n Apri l 199 6 Teen Machine articl e entitle d "The Retur n of Claire Danes," he was quoted as saying that Claire is "amazing" t o wor k wit h an d " a very swee t girl. " He generousl y concludes, "Whenever anybody' s that goo d and better than you [as an actor], they bring out a better performance from you. " The Rainmaker SCREENPLAY Francis Ford Coppola DIRECTOR Franci s Ford Coppola PRODUCER Michae l Douglas, Fred Fuchs CAST Mat t Damon , Danny DeVito , Virginia Madsen , Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke, Andrew Shue, Dean Stockwell , Jon Voight, Johnny Whitworth
This 1997 blockbuster was based on John Grisham's bestseller of the same name. Avid Grisham readers flock to any Grisham film adaptation, an d th e legendar y director/write r Franci s For d Coppol a draws his own legion of admirers to the cinem a with the releas e of each ne w movie . Combin e thes e tw o factor s wit h a cas t featurin g such box-offic e magnet s a s Danny DeVit o an d th e sky' s the limit . The Rainmaker raked in over forty-five millio n dollars .
no Matt Damon, who had receive d such acclaim for Good Will Hunting, starred as overeager fledgling attorney Rudy Baylor. Pairing up with th e shift y Dec k Schifflet, playe d by DeVito, he investigates an insurance company that has wreaked havoc in the lives of a sick boy and his mother — Mary Kay Place, aka Camille Cherski from MSC L — throug h variou s scams . I n th e cours e o f hi s detectiv e work , Baylor stumble s upo n Claire' s character , Kell y Riker , a beautifu l young woman wit h a southern draw l who i s being beaten b y her husband, menacingl y portrayed b y Melrose Place vetera n Andrew Shue. Baylor helps Kelly get free of this violent thug once and for all. Claire was attracted to the role of Kelly for a couple of reasons. "I did th e movi e because of Francis [For d Coppola], " because of th e "wonderful" cas t tha t ha d bee n line d up , an d als o becaus e sh e "found th e idea of playing an abused wif e kind of appealing . .. it's sort of an interesting se t of feelings that come up and she's in such a devastating situation." Sh e prepared fo r the role by speaking to a friend o f her mother's who worked in a shelter for battered women; from tha t conversatio n sh e gleane d informatio n tha t woul d hel p her to convey Kelly's physical and emotiona l pain. Despite the care she had take n t o delive r a credibl e an d compellin g performance , however, Claire ultimately regretted that the subplot she was involved in ha d no t bee n mad e mor e centra l t o th e actio n o f th e film . She thought that the subjec t EHl y embodied — spousal abus e — deserved more serious consideration . Overall, however , Th e Rainmaker was a n intriguin g an d fast moving flick, engaging filmgoers and critics alike. John Hartl of the Seattle Times called it the bes t John Grisham adaptation sinc e The Firm, regardless of its stereotypical good-vs-evil plot. Powerful criti c Janet Maslin o f the Ne w York Times proclaimed th e fil m Coppola' s greatest recent achievement: "Th e filmmaker and the cast apparentl y put a great deal of effort int o developing individua l performances , and th e resul t is a rich, lifelike textur e fo r the whol e film." Maslin gave Clair e hig h marks , judging her t o b e "firs t rat e . .. giving a stirring, wistful performanc e that i s free o f false ingenuousness. " Claire's Rainmaker compatriots couldn' t hav e agreed more. Even
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though she' d ha d reservation s about the developmen t o f her character, she'd take n on the part as written and give n it her best shot . Everyone recognize d what she' d done . Coppol a himsel f declare d that "If she were a pianist o r harpist o r flutist, she'd be considered a prodigy." Damon concurred, saying, "She's so close to her emotions" that she appeared to handle tough scenes effortlessly. "I remember we had t o d o a n emotional scen e in which Claire had t o bawl her eye s out over and over again.... I wanted to know how she pulled it off. " Damon later learned that Claire was recalling a touching TV special she'd seen, letting the feelings it had triggered in her integrate themselves into her performance. He was profoundly impressed by Claire's capacity to internalize the pain of others. Claire's circle of colleague admirers was expanding.
U-Turn SCREENPLAY Joh n Ridley DSRECTOR Olive r Ston e PRODUCER Joh n Ridley CAST Jennife r Lopez , Nic k Nolte , Sea n Penn , Joaqui n Phoenix , Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Jon Voight
Another nove l adaptatio n fo r Claire : U-Turn wa s based o n Joh n Ridley's Stray Dogs. In it, protagonist Bobb y Cooper, played to perfection by Sean Penn, becomes stranded i n a strange, isolated tow n after hi s car breaks down. Spooked by the town's eccentric inhabitants and on the lam from som e tough characters he owes money to, he's al l se t t o mak e tracks . The n h e catche s a glimps e o f Grac e McKenna — portraye d by Jennife r Lope z — an d he' s entranced . One thing leads to another, and he's soon caught up in a diabolical scheme. Claire play s Jenny, a ditzy flirt wh o someho w manage s t o lea d Penn's characte r into even deeper trouble just when it seems things can't ge t much mor e precarious. Jenny sports an elaborat e hairdo, and dresses like a hick chick — in acid-wash jean skirt and a T-shirt adorned with ladybugs and the motto "Don't Bug Me." Jenny has a boyfriend, Toby, played by the magnificent Joaquin Phoenix, who is
112 comically possessive. These junior psychos are made for each other; Claire an d Phoeni x ar e truly hilarious , an d thei r contributio n t o this whacked-ou t thriller-comed y i s priceless . (Aske d abou t ho w Phoenix wa s to work with, Clair e remarke d tha t though h e coul d get "very anxious and kind o f obsessive about his roles" — in othe r words, somewhat difficul t t o work with — sh e respected him an d thought h e was a "riot.") The part of Jenny was Claire's first comic role, and it was quite a stretch fo r her. She had t o develo p a whole new set of instincts — she had t o act in what she has described a s a "much mor e exaggerated and less subtle" manner. It was director Oliver Stone's coaching that allowed her to succeed. He forced her to test her limits. "Oliver kept saying, 'More, more, more, we want flailing limbs,' so I gave it to him." She also had to tone down her looks, the way she presented her physical attributes to their best effect, because Stone was adamant that sh e look like a "desert rat. " All of this left Clair e feeling ou t o f her element , bu t whe n sh e viewed th e finishe d product , sh e was relieved t o see how well her scene s played — her performance was much more toned dow n than she'd imagined, given all that "flailing." The film' s satirica l edg e combine d wit h it s strangenes s an d violence didn't sit well with some reviewers. Others, however, appreciated it for those very qualities. Russell Smith of the Austin Chronicle identified U-Turn a s a radical departure for Stone and described the acting i n genera l a s "remarkable"; Claire , i n particula r — eve n though he r part was small — he deemed "memorable. " Susa n Ellis of th e Memphis Flyer credite d Claire , a s a "dumb-as-dirt teenag e hussy," a s well a s the res t o f th e film' s "oddbal l characters, " wit h creating a deliriously nightmarish contex t for Penn's lead performance. Janet Maslin enjoyed Claire and Phoenix as a "giddy ingenue" and "her amusingl y unhinged boyfriend, " adding tha t the movie as a whole was one of Stone's mos t "gleeful experiment [s]." Whatever the critic s said , the big names attached t o U-Turn — Penn, Lopez , Nolte , Thornton , Voigh t — fille d theate r seats . The fact tha t th e film was directed by the king of stirring epic dramas, Oliver Stone , didn' t hurt either. Stone, focuse d on the big picture ,
113 hadn't reall y noticed Clair e until he r audition , an d the n h e kne w whom he wanted to play Jenny. Claire was lucky to have been chosen. Working o n U-Turn wa s a vital firs t opportunit y fo r he r t o hon e and to showcase her very charismatic, comic side. Polish Wedding SCREENPLAY Theres a Connelly DIRECTOR Theres a Connelly PRODUCER Te d Tannebau m CAST Gabrie l Byrne, Lena Olin, Daniel Lapaine, Ada m Tres e
Polish Wedding i s all about a large, working-class Polish family , th e Pzoniaks, who liv e i n a subur b o f Detroit . Clair e i s Hala, a lively teenager who is intent o n exploring her sexuality. During this exploration, however , sh e get s pregnant b y a sex y youn g polic e office r named Russel l Schuster, played by Adam Trese . When i t become s clear tha t Russel l has n o intentio n o f meeting hi s responsibilities , Hala's parent s an d he r fou r strappin g brothers charg e over t o hi s house an d dra g him out . As Hala's dilemm a evolves , her parents, Bolek and Jadzia (portrayed by Gabriel Byrne and Lena Olin) grapple with thei r ow n problem s — man y o f whic h ste m fro m a n affai r Jadzia is having. The intertwining plots make for some amusing and serious moments . First-time directo r Theres a Connell y di d no t hav e a good tim e making Polish Wedding. She told Entertainment Weekly tha t the film hadn't turned ou t the way she had hoped i t would an d compare d the undertaking t o a rocky romance. Sh e cited budge t constraints , an incompeten t productio n designe r wh o ha d t o b e fired , an d a battle over her desired shootin g locatio n — her hometown, Detroit. Then, when the film was screened a t a Chicago film festival, things really got ou t o f hand. Th e Anti-Bigotry Committe e of the Polis h American Congres s caught wind o f it. Because Polish Wedding deal s with the touchy subjects of extramarital se x and teen pregnancy, the organization becam e concerne d tha t the movi e woul d conve y the message to the movie-goin g publi c tha t Polish wome n ar e "loose" — a bad ol d stereotype . Congres s membe r Fran k Milewski, wh o
114 had reviewe d th e scrip t (h e admitted tha t h e hadn't actuall y see n the offendin g flick) , denounced Polish Wedding fo r "makfing] Polis h women out to be sluts" and for daring to "mock" the Catholic reli gion. The Polish American Congress called for a boycott of the film; the movie's distribution company and some members of the Polish community defende d it. Connelly, wh o had grow n u p i n a Polis h community herself, had made a film about one particular family — her intentio n ha d no t bee n to creat e caricatures or paint al l Poles with the same brush. When the reviews started comin g in, Connelly had to withstan d a whole new round of tribulations. Whil e some reviewers were kind — like Judy Gerstel of the Toronto Star, who praise d Connelly fo r "capturfing] th e flavor and rhythm s o f this humble family ric h in life an d vitality " — man y other s didn' t pul l thei r punches . The y dubbed the characters "rehashed stereotypes" and slammed Connell y for "direct[ing ] the actor s into flat , unemotional , and stif f performances." Some even noted that Claire, who had s o often transcende d mediocre script s t o tur n i n exemplar y performances, didn't shin e this time. Claire put on a brave face and spoke to the press about her Polish Wedding experience . The role of Hala had been a bit o f a departure for he r simpl y because Hala is an overtly sexual character — she is largely defined by her sexual identity. She told Kim France of Allure that the long, blonde wig she'd wor n in the film weighed "pounds, " and she commented that she' d "never played a sexpot." She felt tha t it had been an important step — it was "cool" to present that aspect of herself to the public . One o f Polish Wedding's weake r aspect s wa s th e utte r lac k o f chemistry betwee n Hal a an d Russell . Speakin g t o a n interviewe r about what it was like to costa r in a film with Claire Danes, Adam Trese shed som e light o n the reason s behind thei r failur e t o ignite onscreen. Trese, who has mainly worked in theater and on other indi e films, confessed tha t the lovemaking scenes had been a n ordeal for him: "I didn't know Claire at all before we started the movie, I had done a sex scene [only] once in a TV pilot and I was shaking, I was
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so nervous." Fo r the lov e scen e that took plac e in th e middl e o f a field, Trese said, Claire had to be nearly naked. Claire herself had been uncomfortable wit h this , an d he r reticenc e ha d furthe r unnerve d Trese. So much fo r the glor y of love. Trese had als o been obliged t o learn t o rid e a heavy-dut y Harle y Davidso n motorcycl e — thi s freaked hi m out , too . Althoug h h e practiced diligently , h e couldn't overcome his apprehension whe n the time cam e to shoot the scene where he zooms up close to Claire and sweeps her up onto the saddle. Adding to the fun was the fact that Claire was wearing a long, flowing wedding dress . Tres e fretted . "I kep t worryin g abou t killin g th e movie sta r by accident. I t was a lot of stress." In the end, Trese gave a rather wooden performance — not surprising, under the circumstances. So Clair e had a t last appeare d i n a dud. I t happens t o eve n th e best actors sooner or later. A project may sound grea t on paper, but it's difficult to assess how well it will translate int o a series of moving images. Every project involves a significant amount o f risk, and occasionally a n artisti c gambl e just doesn' t pa y off . That Claire , afte r achieving success in the Hollywood majo r league, would choos e to work o n a n independen t fil m wit h a n unknow n directo r a t al l is testament t o he r professiona l darin g an d independence . Sh e can simply chalk this on e up to experience.
Les Miserables SCREENPLAY Rafae l Yglesias DIRECTOR Bill e Augus t PRODUCER Sara h Radclyffe CAST Lia m Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Um a Thurma n
When Victo r Hugo' s epi c nineteenth-centur y romanti c nove l Les Miserables ascende d t o the silve r scree n in 1998 , it was a cinemati c event. The story centers on Jean Valjean, a peasant who is imprisone d for stealin g a loaf o f bread t o fee d hi s sister' s starvin g family , an d traces hi s ensuin g transformation . Playe d by th e grea t Irish acto r Liam Neeson, Valjean i s at odds with the world an d has many runins with authorit y figures , especiall y on e Inspecto r Javert . Valjea n
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stands up for the powerless, for people in trouble, including Fantine, a poo r prostitute , playe d b y Um a Thurman , an d he r daughte r Cosette, played by none othe r tha n Clair e Danes. Add to th e mi x various love triangles and a heated political climate and you get one hell of a story — one that put Claire' s passionate side to good use. Describing the project to the press, she was clearly excited to be a part of it, saying, "Hugo staple d o n to that stor y a really juicy, romantic, engaging stor y wit h heroi c character s an d multipl e romances . I t tackles really huge, exciting feelings an d ideas. " What wo n this "juicy" role for Clair e was her wor k in Romeo + Juliet. Les Miserables director Bille August had seen her radiant Juliet and though t "Cosette. " H e compared Claire in actio n to "listenin g to Mozart — she has that childlike simplicity and clarity and purity of min d that' s combine d wit h seriou s depth. " It' s har d t o believe that Claire had almost turned August down, but she had her reasons. On the brink of graduating from hig h school, she was experiencing a new freedom and enjoying every minute of it. Friends in tow, she was driving aroun d LA , actin g silly , going t o weeken d parties, an d gorging herself on frozen yogurt (fa t free). Rarely afforded th e tim e to just relax and have a little fun, she was understandably reluctan t to give it all up to go and bury herself on another distant movie set — Le s Miserables wa s slate d t o b e sho t o n locatio n i n Pari s an d Prague. In the end, though, her curiosity and her passion for acting won out, and sh e signed on to play Cosette. When th e tim e cam e for Clair e to begi n her pre p work for th e role, she faced a daunting task. In this version of Les Miserables th e cast was required to speak with an English accent, a skill that Claire had not yet mastered. She labored ove r it, but the fruits of her labor weren't altogether convincing , and when the reviews started comin g it, it became apparent that several critics had noticed. A good English accent should be included in any serious actor's bag of professional tricks — Claire will just have to keep polishing hers . Overall, Bille August's cinematic version of Les Miserables, a truly epic production, me t wit h critica l approval . Christophe r Brandon of TNT online's entertainment organ, Roughcut, was very impressed.
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August, he proclaimed, had expertly directed a "strong cast that lives up to ... hig h expectations. " And Claire, Brandon added, "shines." The San Francisco Examiners Walter Addiego loved the fil m a s well, pointing ou t tha t Clair e was "good i n a role that coul d hav e been sticky-sweet." The Mod Squad SCREENPLAY
Scott Silver
DIRECTOR Scot t Silver PRODUCER Aaro n Spelling CAST Jos h Brolin, Omar Epps , Dennis Farina , Giovanni Ribisi With the release of The Mod Squad, a film based on the hit televisio n crime series of the sixties, moviegoers agai n got to see Claire Danes in a starrin g role . Thi s Mo d Squad, grittie r an d hippe r tha n th e original, had been updated t o a nineties setting, and Claire played a very ninetie s Juli e opposit e comrade s Pet e an d Line , playe d b y Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps. The film borrowed the premise of the series : Julie has committe d assault ; Lin e i s a thief ; Pete i s a n arsonist; in order to stay out o f prison, they must help Los Angeles law enforcers bust bad guys. It's fun to see Claire take on a n edgier, more aggressive character than she ever had before. As Julie, she cusses, smokes, swigs whiskey, knocks out a lying, cheating boyfriend, struggles with a coke habit, wears skin-tight clothes , makes out with guys in toilet stalls, all the while working the camer a for all it's worth. She glares, she throws punches, she walks with a sexy swagger. Claire told interviewers that she'd actually done most of her own stunts, but she'd drawn the line at leaping out o f a moving car. What inspire d he r to join the squad ? Two things: comin g ou t of Brokedown Palace, she longed for something lighter; and she wanted to surprise people by making an unpredictable choice . She certainly surprised, and excited, Scott Silver, the film's writer/director. Worrie d that the flick would be considered a "cheesy remake," he was thrilled
118 to hea r throug h Claire' s agen t tha t sh e was interested — he tol d Christine Spines of Premiere that Claire Danes's participation would give the projec t "a legitimacy." Not that Claire's decisio n t o play Julie had been arrive d a t overnight. While she was wrapping up Brokedown Palace in Manila, her agent had informe d her about the Th e Mod Squad project and sent her a tape containing an episode o r two of the original series . Soon after returnin g to the States, she took off for Sydney to spend some mellow time with Ben Lee. A month later , she flew back to Califor nia, where she met with Aaron Spelling , the ma n behin d th e Mod Squad series , a s well a s suc h othe r televisio n megabit s a s Beverly Hills 90210 and Seventh Heaven, to name but two . Claire described the encounte r a s the "most amazin g experience. " Tha t clinche d it . Chatting with Spelling got her stoked to perform in the film. Spelling himself told reporter David Poland that he — like Silver — was "thrilled, thrilled, thrilled" that Claire, the young actress he'd "love d in Romeo + Juliet" wa s going to d o Th e Mod Squad. The original , sixties-TV Julie was played by Peggy Lipton, whom Claire had me t while shooting Little Women. Lipton later told Jane magazine's Gig i Guerra that she found Claire to be a "very intuitiv e and technical actress" — a great choice to fill Lipton's platform shoes as the ninetie s Julie . But shoe-filling was only a part o f it. Claire's undertaking was somewhat more creative than that. Speaking to Jon Burlingame o f the Lo s Angeles Times, she described he r revampe d Julie as "a bit more strong-willed and a little more aggressive, which is good , a positive change. " I t wasn' t tha t Clair e dislike d Lipton' s portrayal — sh e just wanted to creat e a character who was a little less passive. Despite the fact that it had a lot going for it, The Mod Squad floundered at the box office. Made for twenty million dollar s (two million of tha t wen t t o pa y Claire's salary) , the fil m onl y pulled i n abou t $13,300,000 durin g it s entire nationwid e run . Many critics panne d it, and that didn't help matters. They seemed incapable of accepting The Mo d Squad fo r what it was: a hip, slick, sassy, cool action fil m
120 for kids . Still , th e fil m didn' t receiv e a universa l thumbs-down . Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The Mod Squad i s a great-looking picture that zips along with grace, light on its feet bu t possessed of just enough gravity to allow us to take its people rather than its old TV series premise seriously." He went on to praise Scott Silver fo r "direct[ing ] hi s star s with a n assure d sense of neo-noi r style and pace , set off by some welcome humor." The San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Graham appreciated th e film's "light tone" — it was all part o f it s "slick charm. " Et c als o credite d Silve r with ensurin g that th e fil m didn' t "com e acros s as a cam p o r perio d piece " and made specia l mention of the "appealing youn g stars" who made u p the squad. Then one of the industry's toughes t and most influential critics, Roge r Ebert, got int o Th e Mo d Squad's corner . Whil e h e found fault with the storyline, he maintained tha t "The Mod Squad has an intriguing cast , a director who knows how to use the camera, and a lo t o f sl y humor"; Eber t conclude d b y judging th e flic k a "classy production" an d congratulating the "talented an d well-chosen" cast for enriching th e proceedings wit h "pure actin g touches. " So — what, when all was said and done , did Clair e derive fro m her Mo d Squad adventure ? "What I realize d wa s that movie s ar e hard n o matter wha t kind o f story you're telling . Bu t it's bee n fun, and I haven't had to sort of plumb the depths of my soul too much, which is refreshing. I thought it would be really neat to be involved with something that was groovy and hip and young and a bit flashy. " Brokedown Palace SCREENPLAY Davi d Arata, Adam Field s DIRECTOR Jonatha n Kapla n PRODUCER Ada m Field s
CAST Kat
e Beckinsale , Amanda de Cadenet , Jacqui Kim , Daniel Lapaine, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bill Pullman, Paul Walker
Brokedown Palace is the dramatic depiction o f what befalls two recent graduates of a Midwestern high school when they decide to take an exotic vacation together. Claire is the outspoken , self-centered, manipulative Alice , an d Englis h acto r Kat e Beckinsal e (o f Th e Last
121 Days o f Disco} costars a s do-the-right-thing-girl Darlene. Thei r firs t thought i s to head of f to Hawaii , but the n Alice convinces Darlene to lie to her parent s and g o to Thailand instead . There, they sneak into an expensive resort, meet a sexy blond Australian, and wind u p traveling with him to Hong Kong where they are pressed into service as his personal heroin couriers . After being apprehended by customs officials, th e tw o fin d themselve s incarcerate d i n a nightmaris h women's correctiona l facility . Th e movi e follow s thei r struggl e t o stay friends an d sta y sane. For Claire , shootin g Brokedown Palace wa s a n ordeal . Sh e will never forge t it. Perhap s a s a result, th e performanc e sh e delivere d was unsurpassed in its sheer intensity by any of her previous work . Brokedown Palace wa s i n th e ca n befor e Th e Mo d Squad sa w th e light o f day , but i t wasn' t release d unti l abou t si x months later . Claire had bee n accepted to Yale for the fal l 199 7 semester, but sh e delayed he r acceptanc e unti l th e followin g year s o that sh e coul d take on the rol e of Alice — a part she found absolutely enticing. As does Th e Mod Squad-, this movi e represent s Claire' s graduation t o more adult fare . It was a tough rit e of passage. On locatio n i n Manila , Philippines , Clair e ha d t o endur e eve n harsher workin g conditions than those she'd experienced o n the set of Romeo + Juliet in Mexico City. Shooting took place in an impoverished section of the city, and the culture shock was overwhelming. Claire told Jon Burlingame of the Los Angeles Times that "it was four months o f poverty , and i t wa s really hard. I was so afrai d t o sto p working. It was such a traumatic experience." Claire couldn't fal l back on her Brokedown Palace comrades, her film "family," to compensat e for th e turmoil aroun d her, either. Despite establishing a successfu l onscreen dynami c with Beckinsale , Claire was disappointed t o dis cover that n o real-life friendship would develop from it . On-set stability was in short supply. The film's original directo r walke d out in the middle o f production, bumpin g u p stres s levels among the cast and crew considerably. Fed up with the bickering, Claire decided to take charge herself. "Power wa s just up fo r grabs on the othe r sid e of th e world , so I was like, 'Oh, all right, I'll tak e it,'" she confided
122 to Christin e Spine s o f Premiere. Fox 2000, the film' s productio n company, began consulting her abou t scrip t changes. Somehow, despit e al l o f thi s craziness , Brokedown Palace go t made. And when it was time to assess the finished product, it became apparent that Clair e had blow n everyone away. Even Carl Franklin, the director who walked (after clashing with the production company over a castin g issue) , had onl y goo d thing s t o sa y about Claire . Franklin, who directed Devil in a Blue Dress, compared her to none other tha n A l Pacino ; he sa w a similarit y i n th e wa y the tw o ca n draw viewers in with the look in their eyes. "She just has this amazing strength an d kineti c power, " h e tol d Christin e Spines . "[T]here's something in her eyes that pierces through and arrests you." Franklin's replacement, Jonatha n Kapla n o f Th e Accused Fam e (fo r whic h Claire's mento r Jodie Foster won an Oscar), echoed Franklin's senti ments. "She's absolutel y brilliant, " he exclaime d t o Jonatha n Ven Meter o f Vogue. Like so many others , Kapla n had notice d Claire' s amazing abilit y t o ac t with grea t intensit y on e minut e the n tur n around an d behave like a normal, sill y teenager the next . "She has the greates t powers of concentration an d th e mos t amazin g commitment, emotionall y an d intellectually , t o wha t she' s doing, " h e continued; "it's no t like she's some precocious genius .. . but when it comes to work, she gets into a zone." But Brokedown Palace did not strike a chord with the moviegoing public. While it did do better at the box office than Th e Mod Squad, it hadn't eve n passed the ten-million-dollar mark three weeks after its theatrica l release . For th e sak e o f comparison , Romeo + Juliet topped eleven million in its first week alone. Commercial failure did not, o f course, necessarily equal critical failure. I n fact , Brokedown Palace was hailed in some quarters as a solid, sometimes intriguing, piece of entertainment. Roger Ebert handed it three stars, citing Claire and Kate Beckinsale's onscreen relationshi p a s a highlight. He praised th e film' s simpl e plot structure fo r avoiding "sneaky ... tricks o r grandstand plays. " Stephen Holden of the New York Times identified the film's not always sympathetic portraya l o f the two naive young American girls as its
1?3 1 &> 3
strongest aspect . H e wa s enthralle d wit h Clair e a s sh e "skillfull y metamorphos[ed] fro m th e beautiful , refined , introspectiv e teen ager of My So-Called Life and other good girl roles into a rude, insufferable pain in the neck." Holden summed up by declaring that she had virtually carried the film with the "steady emotional current " of he r "fin e performanc e " One critic , Salon's Stephani e Zacharek, who despise d Brokedown Palace — citin g it s "terrible " plo t an d dialogue, its array of one-dimensional characters — still had this to say abou t Claire : sh e i s "one o f th e mos t talente d actor s o f he r generation " My So-Called Life fans could have told her that a long time ago.
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The Claire Danes Quiz QUESTIONS tiple Choke 1) Whic h typ e of summer camp did Clair e attend i n 1995 ? a. Buddhis t b. actin g c. surfin g d. modelin g 2) Wh o wa s the recipien t o f Claire's firs t real kiss? a. Jare d Leto b. a n elementary-school pa l c. Mat t Damo n d. Andrew Dorff 3) Durin g the filming of which movie did Clair e feel that she had really matured? a. Little Women b. Les Miserables c. T o Gillian on Her 37 th Birthday d. Romeo + Juliet 4) Whic h acto r ha s Clair e identifie d a s someon e sh e woul d jus t love to shar e the scree n with some day ? a. Harriso n For d b. Joh n Tuturro c. Be n Lee d. Matt Dillo n
126 5) Whic h high-action, explosive Hollywood film did Claire describe as "repugnant and misogynistic"? a. Matrix b. Th e Terminator c. Di e Hard d. Armegeddon 6) Clair e mad e a hilariou s gues t appearanc e o n Saturday Night Live during which year? Which fil m wa s she promoting? a. 1994 , Little Women b. 1997 , The Rainmaker c. 1999 , The Mod Squad d. 1996 , Romeo + Juliet 7) Wha t i s the nam e of the stree t Claire grew up on? a. Nas h b. Melvill e c. Halste d d. Crosb y 8) T o whom i s Claire referring in th e followin g statement? "I sort of glow , and . .. is like a string of firecrackers tha t kee p going off." a. Jare d Leto b. Leonard o DiCaprio c. Joaqui n Phoeni x d. Giovanni Ribis i 9) Whe n Clair e was still a child, a movie wa s shot o n he r block ; she an d he r pa l pu t o n makeu p befor e headin g ove r t o th e shooting location i n the hope of attracting th e attention o f the film's heartthro b star . Who wa s the heartthro b an d wha t was the name o f the movie? a. Patric k Swayze , Ghost b. Joh n Cusack , Say Anything c. Matthe w Broderick, Ferris Bueller's Day Of f d. Rob Lowe, About Last Night
127 10) Fo r whic h leadin g cu r rent-affairs magazin e did Clair e pe n a n article entitled "I f I Were President"? a. Time b. Newsweek c. George d. Z Magazine True/False
1) Clair e has consulte d a psychic. 2) Clair e hates to danc e in public . 3) Clair e fears rocke r Courtney Love. 4) Clair e has stolen something . 5) Clair e has never modeled . 6) Mery l Streep is Claire's favorit e actress. 7) Clair e has donated time an d money to charit y events. 8) Clair e was never even nominated fo r a n Emm y Award, despite winning rave s for he r rol e as Angela Chase on MSCL. 9) Clair e supports th e caus e of women' s rights ; fo r example , she insists o n equa l pay for male and femal e actors . 10) Clair e used to watc h th e Moll y Ringwald vehicle Sixteen Candles obsessively, mimicking th e brat-packer's ever y move. Who Said What?
Guess which entertainment-industry personalitie s made the following comment s abou t Claire . Choos e a quot e sourc e fro m th e lis t that follows these comments. 1) "Clair e is chic to the utmost; just the way that she carries herself is really elegant." 2) " I wa s like , 'Oh m y gosh ! Thi s i s Clair e Danes , th e gir l fro m Romeo + Juliet and My So-Called Lifel' I f I ever was starstruck, it was by Claire."
128 3) "Wheneve r anybody's that good and better than you are [a s an actor], they bring out a better performance from you. " 4) " I talk to her fo r hours, and you would have thought tha t thi s girl ha s bee n marrie d twenty-fiv e times . I mean , sh e jus t knows." 5) " I don't think I've seen anyone her age who has the poise, depth and emotiona l quality she has." 6) " I don't really understand why she's captured my heart. She just has an amazing honesty in her presence." 7) "Sh e has that special truth barometer. " 8) "Clair e could tap into a subtext o f a scene and believe it. There was no phoniness or showiness about her performances. " 9) " I lov e he r — she' s wonderful! She works real hard. She' s i n school, she's on the set, she's rehearsing — it's hard. I just think she's wonderful!" 10) " I love her. She's really dedicated to what she's doing." Source List a. AJ . Langer b. Ti m Martin Grous e c. Steve n Spielberg d. Pau l Walker e. Oma r Epps f. Jodi e Foster g. Michae l Pressma n h. Devo n Odessa i. Jame s Van der Bee k j. Camero n Diaz
130 ANSWERS Multiple Choice
1) Answer : c., surfing camp. Claire told Movieline that she chose it because she wanted "to meet surfe r guys." 2) Answer : a., Jared Leto. Claire once confessed to a n interviewer that she' d fel t lik e "suc h a n idiot " and tha t sh e "didn't kno w where to start or what to do" when she had to kiss Jared Leto — aka Angela's love interest, Jordan — during a MSCL scene . 3) Answer : d., Romeo + Juliet. T o Buzz, Clair e admitte d tha t sh e really "grew up in that movie. " 4) Answer : b., Joh n Tuturro , th e quirky , talented sta r o f Barton Fink. This somewha t strange reply was elicited fro m Clair e by the Britis h magazine Empire. 5) Answer : d., Armageddon. Claire sai d this i n he r Octobe r 199 8 Premiere intervie w — th e on e i n whic h sh e als o mad e thos e controversial statements about the Philippines . 6) Answer : b., 1997, The Rainmaker. Claire made a great SNL guest host. 7) Answer : d., Crosby Street, in New York City's Soho district. 8) Answer : b., Leonardo DiCaprio. Claire employed this metapho r in a behind-the-scenes piece on Romeo + Juliet that ran i n Elle. 9) Answer : a., Patrick Swayze, Ghost. Claire could watc h the fil m crew at work fro m a window i n he r family' s loft. Bu t sh e an d her frien d too k suc h a long tim e gussyin g themselves up tha t Swayze had departe d before the y got downstairs. 10) Answer: c. , George. Th e magazine' s foundin g editor , th e lat e John R Kenned y Jr., adored Claire . Her essa y appeared i n th e October 199 6 edition.
131 True/False
1) True . Claire sometime s phone s a psychic name d Georg e who resides i n Be n Lee's hometow n — Sydney , New South Wales , Australia. 2) False . In a Vogue interview , Claire recalle d an enjoyabl e evening spent working up a dance-floor sweat at a party hosted by Georgio Armani i n Milan , Italy . He r partne r wa s Othello's Laurenc e Fishburne. 3) True . Sh e mentioned thi s bizarre phobi a t o Mademoiselle., bu t she wouldn't elaborate . 4) True . Sh e once pilfere d som e o f thos e sticker s tha t al l young girls used to collect from he r cousin . This tidbit arose during a conversation she had with an El reporter concerning her role in The Mod Squad. 5) False . An immaculately attire d Clair e hi t th e catwal k during a show that designe r Cynthia Rowley mounted i n 1995 . 6) True . Claire tol d T V Hits that her "ultimate goal" is to achiev e the kind o f success that Meryl Streep has seen. 7) True . According to People, she paid between $1,00 0 an d $2,50 0 to tak e part i n a June 199 7 carnival stage d t o rais e mone y fo r the figh t agains t pediatri c AIDS . Ther e Clair e me t wit h som e AiDS-afflicted kid s and lent a hand a t some of the booths . 8) False . I n 1995 , Clair e garnere d a n Emm y nomination fo r he r portrayal of Angela. Unfortunately, she didn't win — and she' d never hav e another chanc e because the sho w was axed afte r a single season . 9) True . Claire once told a reporter that though women have come a long way since the 1900s , so much mor e needs to be done to ensure that woman an d men are treated a s equals in American society. 10) True. Claire still tells interviewers ho w much sh e adored Moll y Ringwald while sh e was growing up , eve n identifyin g her a s a role model .
132 Who Said What?
1) e. , Omar Epps, hunky Line from Th e Mod Squad. 2) d. , Paul Walker, from Varsity Blues, also Claire's Brokedown Palace costar. 3) L , James Van der Beck, from Dawson's Creek, also Claire's / Love You, I Love You Not costar . 4) h. , Devo n Odessa , Angela's firs t pa l Sharo n o n M y So-Called Life. 5) f. , Jodie Foster, Claire's ido l and mentor . 6) c , Steve n Spielberg , lik e Foster , a membe r o f the Hollywoo d royalty and a longtime Clair e supporter . 7) g. , Michael Pressman, Claire' s director for T o Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. 8) b. , Ti m Marti n Grouse , Claire' s teache r a t th e Le e Strasber g Theater Institute. 9) a. , A.J. Langer, Angela's fun-loving best frien d Rayann e on M y So-Called Life. 10) j., Camero n Diaz , hot youn g actress, girlfriend of MSCL' S Jared Leto, and, apparently, a n admirer o f Claire .
My So-Called Life Episode Summaries Episode One; The Pilot WRITER Winnie Holzman DIRECTOR Scott Winant
Welcome to the world of fifteen-year-old Angela Chase. In this inaugural episode, Angela dyes her pale-blond e hair flame red withou t the approva l of Sharon , her bes t friend . Thi s impuls e o f Angela's evolves int o a powerfu l source o f tensio n betwee n th e tw o girls . Angela hook s u p wit h exciting , energetic binge drinke r Rayanne and he r gay , sensitive, biracial friend Rickie . Sh e develops a huge crush on the educationally challenged, aloof, but super-ho t Jordan. Angela's uptight mother, Patty, and laid-back father, Graham, display their personalities, as do Angela's obnoxious kid sister, Danielle, and her socially inept neighbor Brian. Rayanne drags Rickie and Angela to a club, calle d Let' s Bolt, and sinc e a n ultracoo l (an d mythical ) character named Tino never shows up to get them inside , Rayanne gets whiskey stupefied an d has an interlude with a n older guy that leads t o broke n glas s and a lif t hom e i n a squad car . In th e end , Angela makes up with Patty, with whom she constantly fights, after witnessing an intense conversatio n betwee n Graham and "anothe r woman." HIGHLIGHT A s Angela an d Rayann e are being shoved into th e polic e car, Jordan appears. Drunken Rayanne screeches, "Omigod, Angela! Omigod!" while pointing i n his direction. Bot h girls smile happily because Angela has succeeded in attracting Jordan's attention.
134 Episode Two: Dancing in the Dark WRITER Winni e Holzma n DIRECTOR Scot t Winan t
This episode opens with Angela mentally comparing the only kisses she ha s eve r experienced. It's a lead-in t o th e firs t kis s she shares with Jordan , in his car, outside Brian' s house. Jordan orders her t o get into the car after handing her a fake ID card he's had made for her, then he lunges. To her ow n amazement, Angela is repulsed, yelling, "I don't open my mouth this wide at the dentist." Meanwhile, Rickie and Rayanne harass Brian in his own kitchen while eating food tha t he hasn't even offered. Angela uses Brian to meet up with Jordan, and almost take s extr a credi t fo r a science projec t sh e hasn't touched . Earlier, Sharo n notice s Bria n makin g goo-go o eye s a t Angel a i n class, and calls him o n it. Meanwhile, Graham and Patty fall furthe r apart, althoug h Graha m doe s take the ste p o f breaking of f a non sexual affair he' s been having. At Camille Cherski's suggestion, Patty convinces he r husban d t o tr y ballroo m dancin g wit h her ; sh e also chops he r hai r off , revealing finel y chisele d cheekbones . Graham' s dorky younger brother makes his first appearance. CLASSIC QUOT E Rayann e attempts to convinc e Angela that "par t of " Jordan is "partly interested" in Angela, but "he has other things on his mind." Angela reacts by exclaiming, usin g great teenspeak, "That's the part that's s o unfair. I have nothing else on my mind!" Episode Three: Gum and Gossip WRITER Justi n Tanne r DIRECTOR Marshal l Herskovit z
Moments afte r Rayann e hands Angela a note , base d o n a rumo r started by Brian, that reads, "Angela and Jordan: Complete Sex! Can You Believ e Her???" a gu n goe s of f i n th e hallwa y of th e school . Brian is the only witness, and he reports that he saw Rickie running away. Liberty High students an d their parent s freak out, except for Angela (du e t o th e not e an d th e reaction s i t elicit s fro m strang e
135 boys and from Jorda n himself) an d Rayanne (who insists the whole thing i s no big deal, yells "Shut up! " a t everyone in the girls ' room , fakes a gun-shot noise, then pretends to be shaken up in an attempt to get out of class). Patty meets Rayanne's mother, Amber, for the first time. Amber says how lucky Angela is to "be with" Jordan, insinuating that the two have had sex, which leads to a very comical interaction between the contrasting mothers . MOMENTOUS EVEN T Bria n Krakow — th e geek , the nerd , the awkward kiss-ass — stands tall before Libert y High's intimidatin g principal , Mr. Foster ; an d a semicut e girl , neve r t o b e see n agai n i n MSCL , actually takes an interest i n him . Episode Four; Father figure WRITER Winni e Holzma n DIRECTOR Mar k Rosner
Angela gives Graham the col d shoulder fo r the bulk of this episode and broods over his "affair." However, Graham bonds with Rayanne and offer s th e two girls his tickets to a Grateful Dead concert, hoping to win back his distant daughter . Angela commits the deplorable act of selling the tickets to Jordan in an effort to make herself look cool , which upset s Rayanne , who relishe s Graham' s generosit y becaus e her ow n father is completely absen t fro m he r life . Also, Woodman and Jones, the printing company that th e Chase s run, gets audited by the IRS . W e meet Patty's sharp-tongued , insensitive, overbearing father, wh o falter s i n fron t o f th e IR S representative. Everyon e is reconciled i n the end . This rank s amon g the show' s mos t serious , tension-ridden, thought-provokin g episodes . HILARIOUS INTERLUD E A s Graham fiddles with a broken rain gutter, he motions to a rollerblading Brian for assistance. Getting no response from Bria n after severa l attempts t o communicate , Graha m blows him off , accuratel y mimicking what he believes are Brian's thoughts: "Well, Sir, I'd like to help but I' m too busy picturing you r daughte r naked."
136 Episode Five: The Zit WRITER Bets y Thomas DIRECTOR Victo r Du Bois
Angela ha s he r firs t majo r pimple an d he r self-estee m dwindles. Sharon, whom Angela no long;er hangs with, finds a boyfriend; Jordan still hardl y notices Angela . She thinks everyon e is more beautiful than she , including her ow n mother. Patt y pushes her to atten d a mother/daughter fundraisin g fashio n show , which make s Angela even more self-conscious. She announces that she's ugly and is unfit to appear in public. This makes Patty, who is going through her own image crisis, feel so guilty that she lets Angela off the hook — she's allowed to skip the fundraiser. "The Sophomore Girls Top 40 List," composed b y a grou p o f "hormonall y challenge d [Libert y High] boys" (to quote Sharon's mom), contributes stil l further t o Angela's feelings o f inadequacy : Sharo n i s vote d mos t "wel l endowed" ; Rayanne is designated the girl with the "most slut potential"; Angela is ignored. The episode ends on a high note however. Angela watches Patty and Danielle, her fundraise r replacement , strut their stuf f o n the fashion-show stage. It occurs to her that sometimes people really do seem beautiful — even she has her moments. INTROSPECTIVE SIDEBA R Angela' s wallowing calls u p th e imag e of a statuesque, blonde , blemish-fre e model who' s currentl y gracin g magazine covers. This perfect (a t leas t i n Angela's eyes) specime n materializes in the girls ' room a t school and tells Angela that she' s "so lucky" she doesn't have a boyfriend who keeps her out late every night an d tha t sh e has simple-to-manag e hair. Angela, of course , responds by becoming convinced that she's even more boring than she'd previously suspected. The clincher come s when Angela, exasperated, ask s the mode l apparitio n wh y she's show n up here . Her reply is that she doesn't know — it's not like she actually ever needs to us e the restroom . Thi s little scene superbly symbolizes the self doubt Angela tackles throughout th e episode .
137 Episode Six: The Substitute WRITER Jaso n Katim s DSRECTOR Elle n S. Pressman
Vic Racine substitutes for the English teacher of Angela, Brian, Jordan, and Sharon , incitin g controvers y with hi s unorthodo x teachin g methods. He' s s o cool that kids who aren't enrolle d i n the clas s — like Rayanne and Ricki e — flock to it . Sharon writes a sexy haiku about he r feeling s fo r Kyle , which result s in th e student-produce d journal the Lit being banned from school property. Everyone thinks Rayanne wrot e th e haiku , whic h work s ou t wel l fo r bot h girls . Angela risk s suspensio n b y distributin g th e journal . Thi s reall y bothers Graham, as he still hates being called to the principal's office . These incidents no t only teach Angela that censorship is wrong and that she must stick up for her beliefs, but the y also demonstrate to her than an individual may be brilliant in one sense and a total loser in another. While Vic Racine may inspire enthusias m i n a normally deadbeat student like Jordan, he seems incapable of taking responsibility for his own life. While all this is occurring, Danielle obsesses over the numbe r o f Girl Scout cookies she's sold . FANTASTIC IROW Y No t once , but twic e in this episode , Graham, while at Liberty to speak with the principal on Angela's behalf, sees Jordan Catalano scurry past. Little does he know that this is the young man who has sent his beloved daughter into a n emotional turmoil . Episode Seven; Why Jordan Can't Read WRITER Libert y Godshall DIRECTOR M . Piznarsk i
The previou s episod e ha s clue d u s int o th e fac t tha t Jorda n ha s reading problems. In this episode, Angela discovers that he is dyslexic. Jordan finds a very long note Angela has written to Rayanne expressing her feelings for Jordan — Rayanne had dropped the note durin g a school field trip to a museum. He gives it back to Angela, swearing he hadn't rea d it , but, o f course , sh e challenges that . They argu e
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intensely, and then she learns the truth — the truth that no one else knows and that draws her closer to him. Jordan invites Angela to see him rehears e with his band, Frozen Embryos. Rickie is on hand t o hear Jorda n perfor m his son g "Red," whic h ma y o r ma y no t b e about Angela. Meanwhile, Rayanne carries on an affair with George, the museum security guard (who distracted her, causing her to drop Angela's note), and Patty worries that sh e may be pregnant. When Patty gives voice to her concerns , Angela goes into fits of laughter. This lifts her out of the gloom that had descended on her after Jordan failed t o sho w up to mee t he r parent s a s promised, th e conditio n Patty and Graham had imposed o n her dating him again. AMAZING QUOTATION S Th e show' s writer s reall y packed som e grea t lines into this episode. When Kyle insults Rayanne for allegedly doing George in the museum, Sharon lays into him: "If a guy did that on a field trip you and your friends would give him a medal." She's right on. When Bria n see s how Angela has don e hersel f u p fo r Jordan' s parental visit, he says, "You look like you're going to a costume party as someone else." He's right on,. Shortly thereafter, Angela screams at Brian, "You jus t analyze everything until it barely even exists!" She is absolutely right on . Episode Eight: Strangers in the House WRITER Jil l Gordon DIRECTOR Ro n Lagomarsin o
Sharon's father, Andy, suffers a heart attack, and Sharon must spend a fe w uncomfortable day s with th e Chas e family while her mo m attends t o he r fathe r i n th e hospital . Selfishly , Angela ignore s Sharon's pain; Angela feels lef t ou t becaus e her othe r friends , even Rayanne, are showering Sharo n wit h attention . Sharo n develop s a brief, absurd fondness for Brian — she needs comforting, and he r jock boyfriend is away. This provokes Angela, they fight, but finally, after seve n episodes, th e tw o girl s officiall y becom e friend s again . Angela wins a hug an d a genuine " I like you" smile fro m Jordan .
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Meanwhile, Graham undergoes a midlife crisis and admit s that h e hates his job at the print shop , which prompts Patt y to fire him. NOTABLE OCCURRENCE S Bria n infiltrate s Angela's boudoir an d stand s before he r mirror , over which .Angel a has flun g her bra . Th e very sight of this intimate object makes Brian blush. Also, Patty steps out of characte r by pulling Graham into a hospital close t and shovin g her tongue dow n his throat.
Episode Nine: Halloween WRITER Jil l Gordon DIRECTOR M . Piznarsk i
It's Hallowee n an d Angel a an d cre w dress up : Angel a as a fifties chick, Rayanne as a sexy vamp, Rickie as a straight boy (he borrows some o f Brian' s clothes) , Sharo n a s a cat, an d Daniell e a s Angela. They learn of a Liberty legend — a boy named Nicky Driscoll died in the school gym one Halloween night. Angela envisions Nicky as a loner like Jordan, and obsesses over this idea to an annoying degree . Tino ha s suggeste d to Rayann e that the y conduct a seance, but o f course Tino never shows up to get things started. Brian does, however — even though h e hasn't been invited. The gang (Angela, Rayanne, and Rickie) wants to get inside the school to hold the seance, so Brian breaks in. There, he an d Rayanne get locked into a room togethe r while Angela wanders about on her own. Sharon trick-or-treats with Danielle. Patt y an d Graha m becom e entrance d wit h eac h other' s costumes and skip Camille's party so they can have a night of passion. Jordan almost gets kicked out of school but then decides to listen to Angela's advice. AMUSING NOT E Th e scene s between Rayanne and Bria n are a lo t o f fun. His hormones rage; she notices and starts to tease him. She also instructs him on how to lie successfully to his parents, and then fall s asleep on his shoulder. The fact tha t the y are locked in together all night is very exciting fo r Brian but a big snore for Rayanne.
141 Episode Ten; Other People's Daughters WRITER Richar d Krame r DIRECTOR Claudi a Weill
Angela meets Amber Valone, who teaches her how to read tarot cards and how to insert the word "karma" into the conversation. In one of the episode' s opening scenes, Patty catches Rickie holding a can of Milwaukee's finest, Miller beer, and assumes that it's his; he's actually holding i t fo r Rayanne . Rayanne receives some mone y fro m he r deadbeat dad and blows it all throwing an insane bash in her mother's tiny apartment. After nearly overdosing on a mix of Ecstasy, whiskey, and beer , she spins way out o f control . Angela calls Patty, who, as usual, takes the situatio n i n hand. Later , while at the hospita l with Rayanne, Patty realizes what a good, introspective person Rickie is — she'd alway s just considered him strang e — and invites him t o her parents' forty-fift h wedding-anniversar y party, which is being held at the Chase home. Patty's stubborn father is not in attendance, but in this episode we get to encounter her equally stubborn and controlling high-society mother. CLASSIC QUOT E Daniell e i s with Patt y durin g th e bee r sighting , an d Patty shoos her outside . Danielle whines, "My life is totally edited! " Episode Eleven; Life of Brian WRITER Jaso n Katims DIRECTOR Tod d Holland
This is arguably the best-ever MSCL episode. For one thing, it offer s definitive proof that school dances suck — for everyone. We also get a goo d loo k insid e Brian' s awkward universe. Sharon introduce s Brian to the cute new girl in school, Delia, who instantly develops a crush o n him . H e goe s along wit h i t fo r awhile , visiting Deli a a t work, stuttering, getting erections in the science lab, and so on. After indirectly asking Graham's advice while helping him to redecorate the Chase's maste r bedroo m (comparin g Angela to "grea t wallpaper" that is out of his price range and Delia to the nice, affordable variety),
142 Brian bring s himself to as k Delia to th e Worl d Happiness Dance. Delia ecstatically accepts; everything's set — until Angela interferes, again motivate d b y he r ow n selfishness . Rayann e is busy setting Rickie up with the new boy in school, Corey, and Angela feels out of the loop. She is determined t o go to the dance on the off chance that Jordan will show up. In need of a date, she uses Brian, thereby leading Brian to commit his two most deplorable acts: he dumps the bubbly and adoring Delia for Angela; and he later tells Rickie, who is forlorn after learnin g that Core y is interested i n Rayanne, not him , that h e can't hang with Angela and himself because they want to be alone. Jordan an d Angela experience yet another completel y meaningles s but totally meaningful moment together, minutes before Rickie and Delia, who share the stigma of being alone at the dance, tear up the dance floor. Meanwhile, Patty signs Graham up fo r a cooking class without hi s consent . BEST LINE S A t school , day s before th e dance , when Rayann e urges Rickie to ask Corey to be his date, Rickie freaks and starts screaming at Rayanne . Kids a t nearb y lockers star e a t them . Sh e demands , "Well? Isn't that who you really want to go with?" He replies, "Well, yeah, in som e imaginary universe that exist s like in m y mind!" At the dance , Corey sits with Ricki e waiting for Rayanne to sho w up. When Ricki e realizes their misunderstanding , he dutifull y admit s that Rayann e never had an y intention o f coming. Core y is visibly disappointed. H e says , "It's jus t weird , you know , when you have this picture o f how something's goin g to be and it turns ou t t o be something completely different." S o true. Episode Twelve: Self-Esteem WRITER Winni e Holzman DIRECTOR Michae l Engle r
Angela and Jordan make out — for real — in Liberty High's secre t smooch spot : th e boile r room . Thi s pressin g engagemen t force s Angela to miss a geometry review that she desperately needs in order to pass her midterm. Angela is both elated by what's gone on between
143 her an d Jorda n an d disturbe d b y hi s refusa l t o acknowledg e he r existence i n front of his friends. Sharon an d Rayann e join togethe r (a rar e occurrence) to protec t thei r pal , which onl y makes Angela belligerent and prompts he r t o see k Jordan out. The two go to see the ban d Buffal o To m perform , an d Jorda n i s crue l t o Angela . Rayanne attacks him verbally in retribution. Meanwhile, Brian flips out over his calculus homework an d is indignant tha t Angela has the gall to request his assistance with her piddly geometry problems. Yet this episode has a sweeter ending than an y of the others . SWEET MOMENT Jorda n sweeps Angela's hand up i n his own. They are standing in a crowded school hallway with all of their friends lookin g on. It's a breathtaking gesture . Episode Thirteen: Pressure WRITER Elle n Herman DIRECTOR M . Piznarsk i
Jordan an d Angel a are a rea l coupl e — fo r abou t thirt y seconds . He's eage r for sex ; she's unsure . The y have a few frank discussions , and sh e even accompanies him t o a n abandone d hous e wher e all the kids go to do it. But Angela can't go through with it, so she tells Jordan that sh e has to be with Rayanne because Rayanne has falle n back int o her self-destructiv e habit s (thoug h thi s i s not ye t true) . Angela takes off, and the n sh e avoids Jordan for awhile. Hungry for guidance, Angela talks t o everyon e about he r dilemma , includin g her docto r an d Sharon . Sharon lends Angela a sex video belonging to her parents, which later winds up in the hands of — who else? — Brian. No episod e o f MSCL is complete withou t Angel a using Bria n for something ; i n this case , it's hi s bicycle, which sh e leaves at th e house o f Brian' s nemesis , Jordan , afte r goin g ther e t o apologize . Jordan is pissed because Angela has lied, he becomes very angry, he spits som e hostil e word s a t her, an d a breakup i s indicated. Bria n visits Angel a soo n afterwards , an d sh e confesse s that sh e i s sa d because boy s onl y wan t on e thing ; bu t sh e als o admit s he r ow n curiosity, which shocks poor Brian. Finally, things get better between
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Angela and Jordan. When Angela practices he r drivin g technique s using his car, Jordan employs a driving-lesson metaphor to describe the way Angela has related to him sexually. Patty finally meets Halle Lowenthal (Graham's cooking comrade), although Halle has already met Jordan, along with Graham, which infuriates Patty. When Halle suggests that Graha m take the job of chef at the restaurant she will soon open , Patty and Graham — you guessed it — get into a fight. NOTABLE EVEN T Whe n Jorda n come s ove r t o th e Chase' s hous e t o return "Angela's " bike, the y discus s thei r relationshi p an d wh y it hasn't worked . Unbeknowns t t o Angela , Graham i s dozin g o n a nearby couch. He comes to and overhears everything, even Angela's admission t o Jorda n tha t sh e had though t abou t havin g se x with him al l the time . The shock ari d horror tha t registe r on Graham' s face ar e classic. Episode Fourteen: On the Wagon WRITER Elizabet h Gill DIRECTOR Jef f Perr y
Jordan an d Angela have broken up , but it' s hard t o tel l — they'r e together constantly . Angela, still infatuated, acts as Jordan's soundin g board, ignorin g Rayann e in th e process . When wor d get s aroun d that Jorda n an d Tino' s band , Froze n Embryos , need s a singer , Rayanne convinces them to let her try out, much to Angela's dismay. Rayanne gets the gig, an d o n the nigh t o f her first performance as an Embryo, she freezes onstag e and then runs out, leaving Rickie to think that she's gone off to drown her sorrows in alcohol. Alarmed , he calls Patty, which leads Patty to do what she does best: make false assumptions. The next morning, she charges over to tell Amber that Rayanne has gone off on a binge, only to be informed that mothe r and daughte r spen t wha t was left o f the evenin g eating chocolate chip cookie dough together. Patty drives Rayanne to school. There, Rayanne confronts Angela for being so distant with her. MUSICAL INTERLUD E Jordan , Rayanne, and Amber inflict ghastly renditions of the Ramones ' song "I Wanna Be Sedated" on us. They do
1J.K S *§• 3
their best, but no t on e of them ca n hold a candle to Joe y Ramone, lead singer of the legendary punk band . Episode Fifteen; So-Called Angels WRITER Winni e Holzman with Jason Katims DIRECTOR Scot t Winant
This i s on e o f th e mor e bizarr e MSCJ L episodes . It' s a traditiona l Christmas show , an d it' s completel y depressing . Singer/guitarist Juliana Hatfield appear s as the ghost of a homeless teenager. Angela discovers her in the school's band room, strumming her guitar. This apparition heralds what has become of Rickie's life; in the episode' s opening scene, he lies face dow n in the snow, bleeding from th e lip after a run-in with his violent and homophobic father . Rickie sleeps in a n abandone d warehous e an d attempt s t o kee p other s fro m knowing what's goin g on, but Angela finds out . When Patty is told about th e tragi c situation, she' s typically judgmental at first , the n she takes Rickie into her home. On a lighter note, Sharon convinces Rayanne t o hel p staf f a helpline fo r depresse d folks o n Christma s Eve, an d th e onl y call she get s to tak e is from a n emotionall y dis turbed Brian. Rayanne gets him to stop crying by pretending to be a phone-sex operator. SENSITIVITY ALERT Jorda n finds Rickie wandering the street s and offer s to dro p hi m a t a shelter, which i s a much mor e generou s act than most Liberty High students would be capable of. And Jordan doesn't let just anybody into his car. Episode Sixteen: Resolutions WRITER Elle n Herma n DIRECTOR Patric k R. Norris
It's New Year's Eve. This episode opens on a light note, perhaps as a way o f makin g amend s fo r th e darknes s o f th e precedin g one . Sharon cozies up to Kyle, Jordan is confused a s to what holiday it is, and Angela , Rickie, and Rayann e share a bow l o f popcor n whil e
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pondering thei r Ne w Year' s resolutions . Ricki e leave s th e Chas e house, assuring everyon e that he' s fine. He's not, of course. Rickie finally moves i n wit h Mr . Katimski, the teache r wh o i s constantly badgering him to join the drama club. As it turns out, Mr. Katimski is gay, too, and thi s living arrangement remain s relatively stable for the duratio n o f the MSCL season . Angela convinces Jordan to ge t a tutor and Brian, of all people, is the one assigned to this demanding task. Bein g dyslexic, Jordan hilariously , an d aptly , pronounces hi s tutor's name "Brain." At first anxious to back out of his obligation, Brian finally comes around when Jordan offers t o teach him some thing in return: how to hit on a girl. Sharon and Rayanne bond for real — ove r sex. What else ? Sharo n feel s strang e about enjoyin g sex with Kyle more after the love is gone. Also, there is continuing tension between Graham and Halle, whom Graha m finally decides to work with a t the restaurant . PRIZE MOMENT Whe n Mr. Katimski discovers that Rickie is no longer at the Chase house, he runs straight over there to find out what the deal is. Patty comes to the door, unaware that Mr. Katimski is going through caffeine withdrawal. The jittery visitor accuses Patty of not taking care of Rickie properly, and then Graham appears, demanding "Who are you?" Patty starts to cry. This agitates Graham even more, and so he shouts "Who are you?" again in a much louder an d more aggressive voice . Thi s entir e interactio n i s ver y realistic . It's also laugh-out-loud funny . Episode Seventeen: Betrayal WRITER Jil
l Gordon
DIRECTOR M . Piznarsk i
Rayanne succumbs to the bottle again because she's stressed about landing a role in the Liberty High production of the play Our Town. She goes to Louie's and meet s u p with Jordan. Both ar e depressed, and the y have drunken se x in Jordan's prized red convertible in an attempt t o alleviat e thei r individua l miseries . Bria n catche s th e whole thing on video while working on a school-yearbook project,
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and Sharo n prie s th e stor y ou t o f him . Angel a overhear s Sharo n pass it on to Delia, and she rapidly develops a complex about being "sweet an d innocent " She acts ou t he r pai n b y dressing provoca tively and hitting on Corey, which hurts Rickie. Rayanne confides in Patty about all of this, and Patty can relate because she once treated a girlfrien d th e sam e way . Rickie forgives Angela ; he understand s what motivate d he r action s an d point s ou t tha t b y doing i t wit h Jordan, Rayanne was trying to "be" Angela. Graham and Halle start fighting, whic h i s not a good sig n accordin g t o Camille , who ha s taken an instant dislike to Halle. This is one very emotional episode . WINNER QUOTE Arrivin g at school freaked ou t abou t what he has witnessed, Brian decides to tell Rickie. He is so nervous and distraugh t that h e can' t fin d th e righ t words . Exasperated , Rickie says, "Hey, Brian — could you, like, pick a sentence and g o with it? " Episode Eighteen; The Weekend WRITER Ada m Dooley DIRECTOR Tod d Holland
Angela is still very angry with Rayanne , but sh e is forced t o spen d an entir e weekend with he r whe n Rayann e shows up a t her hous e uninvited, handcuff s hersel f to Patt y an d Graham' s bed , an d lose s the key . Rickie, Sharon, Brian, and Daniell e al l scramble to unloc k Rayanne before th e owner s o f the bed return . Where ar e the elde r Chases? On vacation with Graham's brother and his wacky girlfriend, who reall y grate s o n Patty' s nerves . No t surprisingly , Patt y an d Graham go away to relax but en d up locked in battle again. Bits and pieces of the action a t the Chase house are filtered through the eyes of youn g Daniell e — th e younge r siste r i n aw e of th e olde r siste r and he r amazin g friends . Daniell e revel s in th e opportunit y t o b e near the objec t of her affections : Bria n Krakow. NOTABLE EVEW T Patt y step s ou t o f characte r fo r th e secon d tim e i n eighteen episodes. Pissed at Graham and cre w for leaving her alon e all day after they'd all agreed to go ice skating together, she becomes
148 inebriated durin g dinne r i n th e quain t littl e dinin g roo m o f thei r hotel. She heats up, begins to yell , spills wine on her blouse , tears the blouse off, and generally embarrasses everyone present. Graham has to carry her off to bed.
Episode Nineteen: In Dreams Begin Responsibilities WRITER Winni e Holzman DIRECTOR Elodi e Keene
Jordan tell s Bria n how upse t h e i s that "she, " Angela , hates him . Then Jorda n tries t o enlis t hi s tutor a s his ghostwriter . Bria n initially resists but the n caves in and compose s a lovey-dovey note for Jordan t o giv e t o Angela . An immens e amoun t o f tensio n build s until Angel a gets the not e an d Jorda n gets the credi t — i n mor e ways than one . Angela seeks Jordan out an d give s him th e biggest smooch a s poor Bria n looks on. Later, Angela goes to se e Rickie at Mr. Katimski' s an d i s devastate d when Ricki e informs her tha t i t was Bria n who wrot e the letter . Intercut wit h thi s scen e is one i n which Jordan shows up on Angela's doorstep, where he meets Patty, who i s anticipating th e arriva l of he r ol d flam e Ton y Poole. As it turns out, Jordan is Tony's spitting image. Delia develops a crush on Rickie even though she knows he's gay, and thi s evolves into a very sweet subplot . Rayann e tries to tal k to Angela, but Angel a ignores her. Sharon decide s that she'l l be Rayanne's friend. Ther e are mo ments of sexual tension between Halle and Graham . CLIFFHANGER SETUP S We'v e reached th e en d o f th e end . Angela goes with Jordan , he r obsession , bu t no w sh e regard s Brian with ne w eyes; his true feelings for her have been revealed through the ghostwritten note . So we're left i n limbo — what would have happened next? Woul d Angel a have staye d wit h Jordan ? Would sh e hav e resolved things with Rayanne ? Would Graham cheat on Patty with Halle? Woul d Daniell e gro w u p an d sto p bein g annoying ? We'l l never know. This is a sad moment i n television history.
Awards, Nominations, Significant Nods Golden Glob e Awards: In 1995 , Claire was awarded a Golden Glob e after bein g named Bes t Actress in a Drama Series. She was just fifteen years old . Emmy Awards: In 1995 , Claire was nominated fo r a n Emm y Award for he r portrayal o f Angela Chase, but sh e didn't win. People magaiine' s AAost-BeautifuS's Pol! : In 1996 , Clair e place d sixt h in Peoples onlin e Most-Beautiful Poll with 26, 913 votes, and in 1997, sh e shot u p to the fourt h spot with 57 , 790 votes. ShoWest Awards : I n 1997 , Clair e wo n ShoWest' s Femal e Sta r o f Tomorrow Award. Her frien d Winona Ryde r had receive d th e prize year s earlier , an d Claire' s Mo d Squad costa r Giovann i Ribisi wa s give n th e Mal e Sta r o f Tomorro w Award in 1999 . This prestigiou s priz e is handed ou t yearl y to newcomer s who have made a big impact o n the film industry. MTV Movie Awards: In 1997 , MTV bestowed Best Female Performance honors on Claire for her portrayal o f Juliet. Romeo + Juliet itself was nominated fo r a slew of awards. People magaiine's Top Ten Trendsetter's List: In 1998 , Claire came in a t number tw o on this list. Not bad at all. People liked the way she paired dressy short-sleeved sweater s with long, drapy skirts. People magaiine' s Mete r Poll : I n 1999 , th e publi c looke d ver y favorably upon Claire. In this particular poll , which employe d a scale of one to five, five being the highest, Clair e rated between four an d five in four categories : classic, role model, friend , an d
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talent. Sh e received th e lowes t scor e — a three — in th e sex symbol category, but that doesn't mea n people don't recognize her se x appeal — her othe r standou t qualitie s an d he r actin g abilities take precedence. Claire continues to be recognized in online polls, in the most-beautifu l and most-talente d feature s o f popula r magazines , and i n th e top one-hundred best-dresse d feature s of fashion magazines like Vogue. Because sh e i s so talented, s o level-headed, an d s o classy , she will probably continu e t o accumulat e suc h honors . A s Entertainment Weekly declared , in a 1998 cover story titled "The Greatest Actresses of the Coming Decade," Claire's "got the talent an d potential to be [a] Hollywood player for years to come. "
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Acknowledgments
The followin g folks helpe d m e greatl y in m y research efforts : I' m grateful t o Stev e Joyne r fo r al l th e informatio n h e gav e m e o n Operation Lif e Support , the campaig n to sav e My So-Called Life; t o Mike Glenn an d Wolfgan g "Digo" Hollin o f My So-Called Life, th e Web site, for providing me with the history of their site and for just keeping the whole thing up; to Lawrence Leung and all of his helpers a t th e M y So-Calle d Clair e Dane s homepag e fo r makin g m y search for articles and interviews much less time-consuming than it might hav e been; t o Ro b Owe n fo r sharin g hi s thought s o n M y So-Called Life wit h me ; t o tw o o f Claire' s forme r instructors , Ti m Martin Grous e an d Bo b Sloan , for makin g helpfu l comment s o n Claire's earl y acting skills ; and t o Winni e Holzma n fo r discovering Claire in the first place. I als o want t o than k m y agent provocateur, Matt Crenshaw , for helping me get this gig, and my parents, James and Helen Linderman , and m y grandparents , Be a and A l Dudeck , fo r encouragin g me . Thanks, as well, go to my Chicago friends for their support, especially Heidi, Berry , an d Jose ; t o al l m y friend s a t th e Logi n Publishers Consortium Group, especially Linda, Don, Martha, and Lourdes; to Wanda, my understanding manage r a t Barbara's ; and t o th e ban d Euphone fo r providin g perfec t writing music , especiall y th e son g "Wickedness." I appreciate you all.