The actress Claire Danes He does not usually spend too much time on film and television, since he chooses the projects in which he participates very well.
In that sense, his last great role was in the series homeland in the role of cArrie Mathinsona CIA agent with bipolar disorder specializing in conflicts in the Middle East.
Now, the creator of homeland, Howard Gordonreunites with Claire Danes for a new series that lands on Netflix on November 12 titled The beast in me.
In it, Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, a memoirist who is going through deep grief after the death of his young son and who, after the collapse of his marriage, faces financial difficulties and increasing isolation in a home he can no longer afford.
The arrival of a new neighbor, Nile Jarvis (played by Matthew Rhys), a real estate magnate suspected of having murdered to his first wife, triggers a complex and dangerous relationship between both characters.
The dynamic between Aggie and Jarvis, described by Netflix as a game of “cat and mouse,” is, in the words of Danes to Guardianrather a confrontation between “snake and mongoose”where both challenge and fascinate each other, without sex being part of the equation.
The series explores Aggie’s creative block, as she tries to advance a book about the friendship between US Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. However, the protagonist finds herself trapped in a obsession to discover the truth about the disappearance of Jarvis’s wife, in a hostile environment and marked by its own limitations.
The relationship between the protagonists is characterized by a power struggle and a genuine connection, without presence of sex in its dynamics. Danes has stood out in Guardian that “they’re really excited about each other, fighting for power, but also genuinely enjoying each other’s company. They’re like soulmates and adversaries at the same time, and sex isn’t involved. That was interesting. I’d never played anything like that, and I hadn’t seen it before.”
The actress has acknowledged that playing a lesbian woman It did not make him nervous, although he has admitted that perhaps he should have felt it, at a time when there is debate about the appropriateness of heterosexual people assuming LGTBIQ+ roles.
The experience of giving life to Aggie has been liberating for Danes, who explained that, for the first time in his career, he did not feel the pressure to result attractive for a male character. “I felt like I was back to being my 11-year-old self, before I had to present myself in a certain way, and that was really nice, quite liberating,” the actress shared.
The figure of Aggie Wiggs presents certain parallels with Carrie Mathison, the CIA agent which Danes played for eight seasons on homeland. They are both brilliant, dangerous and deeply isolatedalthough, according to the actress, Carrie resorted more to her “feminine arts.”
Danes has remembered with appreciation the stage of homelandunderlining the series commitment when reflecting contemporary political events. “I don’t know if any other series was as committed to reflecting the political moment as it was happening as it was. homelandand that was really exciting,” he stated in statements collected by Guardian.
The actress has recalled the intense days of preparation with intelligence experts before each season, an experience that he considered a privilege, allowing him to analyze current political events through fiction. About the possibility that a series like homeland could be made today, Danes has pointed out: “If you decide to do a series like that, you will do it. I don’t think that homeland “It was done because the weather allowed it, but because Howard (Gordon) and Alex (Gansa) wanted to do it.”
The development of The beast in me has been the first project that Danes has promoted from the beginning as producer. She herself contacted Howard Gordon to move the series forward after years of stagnation, after Jodie Foster sent him the script during the pandemic and, at first, he was scheduled to direct the series. “That’s the good thing about getting older. I made friends along the way and I can turn to them to create something together,” Danes said.
The actress has recalled the influence of Jodie Foster, who directed her when she was a teenager (in the film Home for vacation) and taught him the importance of defending his interests and relaxing at work. Danes has also highlighted the support of his parents, who always took care of his well-being and education during filming, and the decision to pause his career to study psychology at Yale at the height of his film fame.
Danes’ first steps in the industry were taken in his childhood, in Manhattan, within an artistic family. Her rise to fame came at the age of 14, when she played Angela Chase in It’s my life (1994), where he shared romantic scenes with Jared Letoseven years older.
The actress has evoked that time as a time of learning and confusion, although she has highlighted the protection she received from responsible adults on filming. “I was lucky. Not all environments are like that.” Danes has valued the incorporation of intimacy coordinators in current productions, although it is striking to work with them for the first time at the age of forty-five.
The premiere of The beast in me marks the return of Claire Danes to the screen and the reaffirmation of her passion for acting, as well as her desire to continue exploring new stories. The actress has expressed her hope that the public connects with her work and has expressed her confidence in being able to start new projects in the future.
