Claire Dan is a well-known actress recognized for her roles in my so-called life Homeland and as Juliet and Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio over more than 25 years in the industry she has shown her versatility and talent making a smooth transition from a young actress to a leading lady while staying grounded recognized as one of her generation's great talents she continues to shine in the entertainment World here are 10 things you probably didn't know about Claire Danes [Music] dance was her first Passion CLA Dan initially didn't plan to become an actress her first Passion was dance specifically modern dance which she started doing as a young girl she performed in some dance shows on the Lower East Side of New York which sparked her interest in performing more broadly at 11: she began studying acting at the Lee Strasburg theater Institute and later switched to a performing arts school to escape an elementary school she didn't like this Chang led her to discover a new passion for acting a much older Jared Leo taught her how to kiss on my so-called life on my so-called life most of the teenage characters were played by actors who were 18 or 19 years old except for 15-year-old Devon gersa who played Brian krackow and D's herself this meant that D was much younger than her co-star Jared Leto who played her on screen Crush Jordan Catalano she mentioned that Leto was like a brother to her but romantic scenes could be awkward due to her lack of experience erience with kissing and the significant age difference she was only 14 and had kissed a boy maybe once or twice so she found directions like Angela kisses Jordan's face confusing and challenging the seven-year age Gap made Leo seem much older to her at the time she took a break from acting to attend college CL Dan took a break from her acting career to attend college wanting to explore other interests and manage her life more independently after turning 18 she chose Yale University where she studied art Psych ology and political science during her time in college she even considered quitting acting for good however after 2 years she realized she missed acting too much and decided to leave college she had hoped to balance both her education and acting career but found it too challenging she told the guardian I thought I could act and go to school simultaneously but that was overly ambitious of me it would have been nice to have absolute closure on my being you know an educated person but it's okay she turned down the role of Rose in Titanic the 1997 film Titanic could have starred Claire Dan's as Rose a role that eventually went to Kate Winslet James Cameron the director considered D's for the part and also thought about casting Jared Leo her co-star from my so-called life as Jack however Leto didn't want to audition and D's decided not to take the role after Leonardo DiCaprio was cast because she had already done a romantic epic with him in Romeo and Juliet and didn't want to be typ cast by working with him again so soon she has no regrets about turning it down saying I wasn't conflicted I was feeling eager to have different creative experiences and that felt like a repeat and it was going to propel me towards something that I knew I didn't have the resources to cope with she narrated the Audi book for the handmaid's tale Claire Danes narrated the Audi book for the handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood which took about 21 hours to record the handmaid's tale is a distopian novel about the Republic of Gilead a totalitarian state that arises in the United States during a fer crisis the story is told from the perspective of offred a handmade who must bear children for the ruling commanders D narrated the audiobook version of this story shortly before a TV show adaptation premiered on Hulu starring Elizabeth Moss and others she was declared persona non grata after insulting the city of Manila in the late '90s CLA Dan is not as popular in the Philippines due to comments she made about Manila the country's capital after filming the movie broke down palace there in 1999 her negative remarks about the city describing it as dirty and poor upset many in the Philippines especially because tourism is important for the country the Manila city council declared her an unwelcome person Persona nrata and banned her films until she apologized Dan did Apologize stating she didn't mean to offend anyone but Filipino officials didn't believe the apology was genuine and didn't lift the ban being selective about rules kept her out of work for 2 years Claire Dan has been very selective I about the role she chooses aiming for Meaningful projects set align with her career goals this approach led her to a challenging period where she didn't work for 2 years after her role in Temple grandon in 2010 as she didn't want to return to playing simplistic or secondary characters she told Marie CLA it was a nightmare I was in such Agony I had been so stimulated and energized and I felt really robust and capable and eager but I couldn't go back to the ingenu role or The Limited secretary type roles I wanted to play someone who would move the story forward her patience paid off when she was cast as Carrie mat in Homeland a role that reignited her excitement for acting a lot of research goes into her performances Claire Danes puts in a lot of effort and Research into her roles to ensure authentic performances for her role as Temple grandon an educator and autism Advocate DNE spent weeks listening to recordings of grandon and even met with her and read her books to understand her unique perspective without merely imitating her similarly for her role as Carrie mat in Homeland she faced the challenge of portraying a character with bipolar disorder she turned to the internet for research particularly YouTube where she watched videos of people documenting their experiences with mania this research helped her deliver a Nuance portrayal of her characters marriage wasn't always something CLA Dan craved CLA Dan met her husband Hugh Dany while filming evening in 2007 and they got married in 2009 in France although Danes admitted to blackbook that marriage wasn't something she envisioned for herself she said I've always wanted to be in a partnership I've always wanted to have that kind of intimacy and collaborate with someone in such a deep way she feels that being with Dancy has brought ease and security to her life allowing her to focus her energies elsewhere since she no longer has to search for the one she added I can apply myself in other ways now I have more time and energy to get done she learned a harsh lesson about love and fame from her relationship with Billy crudup Claire Dan's preferred to keep her marriage with Hugh dcy private partly because of past experiences with public relationships specifically she faced significant tabloid attention when Billy crudup left his then pregnant partner Mary Louise Parker for Dan's after they met on the set of stage Beauty in 2004 reflecting on that period danne said that was a choice I made to fall in love it's unpleasant to be cast in such an unflattering role but I just had to remain steadfast with the same kind of Integrity that I had always lived with she acknowledges that challenge celebrities face in ignoring public opinion and accepts that criticism is part of being in the spotlight now Danes has moved past that chapter and focuses on maintaining her privacy