Once upon a time, back in 1995, Claire Danes was only 15-years-old and was known primarily for My So-Called Life and Little Women. In this '95 Q&A with Interview, you get a reminder of what Claire was like as a young woman. Here are some of the best excerpts (and amazing accompanying photos) from that piece:
When you're a teenager it's hard not to empathize with that. But Angela is a really hard role because she talks about ideas that I myself haven't yet sorted out. So it's sort of...like picking at this open sore. That sounds a little dark, but it's true.
I had to do a serious switching of gears from this '90s grunge chick, whatever that means, to this homey, saintly character. It was fun to finally dip my feet into some new waters because I had worked so long on My So-Called Life...
At every stage in life you think about death. But teenagers especially are sort of invincible. They're not supposed to be thinking about dying yet, or else they'd be too afraid to live.
People have asked me if I would hang out with Angela is she were real, and I don't know if I would, yet I find solace in her, and we've gotten close in a lot of ways. It can be so lonely when I work. There aren't many kids my age, besides the people on the show, that I hang around with. I'm close to them, but sometimes it doesn't cut it as a social life. So Angela does become my friend, you know?
It's an exciting time. But I also think people are afraid somehow. This sort of a scary time—with AIDS and all this technology, and the media and everything.