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Claire Danes

Acting

Born April 12, 1979 · Manhattan, New York, USA

Also known as Claire Catherine Danes

Biography

Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. Danes gained early recognition as Angela Chase in the 1994 teen drama series My So-Called Life. The role won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She made her film debut the same year in Little Women (1994). Her other films include Home for the Holidays (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), Les Misérables (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), the 1999 English dub of Princess Mononoke (1997), The Hours (2002), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Shopgirl (2005), Stardust (2007), and A Kid Like Jake (2018). From 1998 to 2000, Danes attended Yale University before dropping out to return to acting. She appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues in 2000 and made her Broadway debut playing Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 revival of Pygmalion. In 2010, she portrayed Temple Grandin in the highly acclaimed HBO television film Temple Grandin, which won her a second Golden Globe and her first Primetime Emmy Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. From 2011 to 2020, she starred as Carrie Mathison in the Showtime drama series Homeland, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.

Awards & recognition

  • Satellite AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 2015
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 2013
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series · 2013
  • Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series · 2013
  • Critics' Choice Television AwardBest Drama Actress · 2012
Show all 22 awards →
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 2012
  • Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year · 2012
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series · 2012
  • Satellite AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 2012
  • TCA AwardIndividual Achievement in Drama · 2012
  • Satellite AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 2011
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress – Miniseries or Television Film · 2010
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie · 2010
  • Satellite AwardBest Actress – Miniseries or Television Film · 2010
  • Screen Actors Guild AwardOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie · 2010
  • MTV Movie AwardBest Female Performance · 1997
  • London Film Critics Circle AwardActress of the Year · 1996
  • Young Artist Awards · 1996
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress – Television Series Drama · 1994
  • Young Artist Awards · 1994
  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Supporting Actress in a Limited Series/Anthology or Motion Picture Made for Television · 2023 · nominated

Filmography49 titles

In Vogue: The 90s

2024as Self

Temple Grandin

2010as Temple Grandin

Homeland

2011as Carrie Mathison

My So-Called Life

1994as Angela Chase

Master of None

2015as Nina

Stardust

2007as Yvaine

The Hours

2002as Julia Vaughan

Little Women

1994as Beth March

Law & Order

1990as Tracy Brandt

The Beast in Me

2025as Agatha 'Aggie' Wiggs

Fleishman Is in Trouble

2022as Rachel Fleishman

Conan

2010as Self

Les Misérables

1998as Cosette

Brigsby Bear

2017as Emily

The Rainmaker

1997as Kelly Riker

Portlandia

2011as Joan

The Colbert Report

2005

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self - Host

Romeo + Juliet

1996as Juliet

Biography

1987as Self

The Essex Serpent

2022as Cora Seaborne

Stage Beauty

2004as Maria

Igby Goes Down

2002as Sookie

U Turn

1997as Jenny

Full Circle

2023as Sam Browne

Me and Orson Welles

2008as Sonja Jones

Brokedown Palace

1999as Alice Marano

The Daily Show

1996as Self

How to Make an American Quilt

1995as Young Glady Joe

The Family Stone

2005as Julie Morton

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

2003as Kate Brewster

Home for the Holidays

1995as Kitt Larson

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015as Self

A Kid Like Jake

2018as Alex Wheeler

The City

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

2014as Self - Guest

As Cool as I Am

2013as Lainee Diamond

Evening

2007as Ann Grant

Shopgirl

2005as Mirabelle

The American Revolution

2025as Abigail Adams (voice)

The Flock

2007as Allison Lowry

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

2003as Self

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday

1996as Rachel Lewis

art21

as Herself - Host

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014as Self - Guest

I Love You, I Love You Not

1996as Daisy / Young Nana

The Mod Squad

1999as Julie Barnes

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

2014as Self

Georgia O'Keeffe: The Brightness of Light

2024as Georgia O'Keeffe (voice)