Claire Danes: I Was Very Anxious About Returning To 'Homeland'
Exclusive! "I had all sorts of exaggerated fears," Danes says about leaving her "mommy bubble."
Claire Danes sure has come a long way from the angsty teenager she played in her breakout role on My So-Called Life.
She's now 34, a two-time Emmy winner for both Temple Grandin and Homeland, married to actor Hugh Dancy for nearly four years, and the mother of baby Cyrus, born last December. Her role on Homeland will become even more challenging in season three—premiering September 29 on Showtime—as her character Carrie deals with huge personal and career-derailing problems.
Fortunately her home life is just the opposite. "She's in a really dark place," Danes tells YourTango of her TV alter ego. "It's kind of exacting and fatiguing, but I have this beautiful little boy and that erases it all very quickly."
YourTango: Homeland is a difficult show and you're a new mom. How are you handling it all?
Claire Danes: I'm figuring it out as we go along. I was so in my cozy mommy bubble. I was very anxious about returning to work. I had all sorts of exaggerated fears—the biggest one being will I ever want to work again? But, in fact, I do and it's been great. But the material is very, very dark, and it's so nice to come home and be jarred out of that state by this buoyant butterball, this bundle of love.
YourTango: Do you take Cyrus to work?
Claire Danes: Yeah, he comes to work. Lesli Linka, our director, will hold him and direct, "Action!" It's very cool.
YourTango: With your busy schedules, how do you and Hugh work out the parenting?
Claire Danes: We work in tandem—he's making a movie in Toronto and I'll join him there. It'll be my turn to hold the fort. Basically, it's his turn, my turn.
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