Claire 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.

Known For

Law & Order

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Daily Show

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Homeland

Saturday Night Live

Conan

All Movies (40)

• Everybody Wants to Be Gen X2025 · as Self
• Georgia O'Keeffe: The Brightness of Light2024 · as Georgia O'Keeffe (voice)
• Back from the Brink: Saved from Extinction2019 · as Self - Narrator (voice)
• A Kid Like Jake2018 · as Alex Wheeler
• Brigsby Bear2017 · as Emily
• As Cool as I Am2013 · as Lainee Diamond
• Ben Lee: Catch My Disease2012 · as Self
• A Child's Garden of Poetry2011 · as Self - Narrator (voice)
• Temple Grandin2010 · as Temple Grandin
• Me and Orson Welles2008 · as Sonja Jones
• Stardust2007 · as Yvaine
• The Flock2007 · as Allison Lowry
• Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'John Grisham's the Rainmaker'2007 · as Self
• Evening2007 · as Ann Grant
• The Family Stone2005 · as Julie Morton
• Shopgirl2005 · as Mirabelle
• Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast2005 · as Self - Presenter
• Seamless2005 · as Self
• Stage Beauty2004 · as Maria
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines2003 · as Kate Brewster
• The Rage in Placid Lake2003 · as Girl at Seminar
• It's All About Love2003 · as Elena
• The Hours2002 · as Julia Vaughan
• Igby Goes Down2002 · as Sookie
• Brokedown Palace1999 · as Alice Marano
• The Mod Squad1999 · as Julie Barnes
• Les Misérables1998 · as Cosette
• Polish Wedding1998 · as Hala
• The Rainmaker1997 · as Kelly Riker
• U Turn1997 · as Jenny
• Romeo + Juliet1996 · as Juliet
• To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday1996 · as Rachel Lewis
• I Love You, I Love You Not1996 · as Daisy / Young Nana
• Home for the Holidays1995 · as Kitt Larson
• How to Make an American Quilt1995 · as Young Glady Joe
• The Pesky Suitor1995 · as Lisa
• Little Women1994 · as Beth March
• Geoffrey Beene 301993
• Dreams of Love1992 · as Edith Lammers
• RSC Meets USA: Working Shakespeare— · as Self

All TV Shows (40)

• Skip Intro2026 · as Self - Guest
• Variety & CNN Actors on Actors2025 · as Self
• The American Revolution2025 · as Abigail Adams (voice)
• The Beast in Me2025 · as Agatha 'Aggie' Wiggs
• In Vogue: The 90s2024 · as Self
• Full Circle2023 · as Sam Browne
• Fleishman Is in Trouble2022 · as Rachel Fleishman
• The Essex Serpent2022 · as Cora Seaborne
• Master of None2015 · as Nina
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self
• The Late Late Show with James Corden2015 · as Self
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors2014 · as Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers2014 · as Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self - Guest
• Homeland2011 · as Carrie Mathison
• Portlandia2011 · as Joan
• Conan2010 · as Self
• The City2008
• The Colbert Report2005
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show2003 · as Self
• Working Shakespeare2003
• art212001 · as Herself - Host
• The Early Show1999 · as Self
• Teen Choice Awards1999 · as Self
• The Daily Show1996 · as Self
• The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA1995 · as Self
• My So-Called Life1994 · as Angela Chase
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien1993 · as Self - Guest
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien1993 · as Self
• Lifestories: Families in Crisis1992
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno1992 · as Self
• Law & Order1990 · as Tracy Brandt
• Biography1987 · as Self
• Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Host
• The Oscars1953 · as Self
• Today1952 · as Self
• The Emmy Awards1949 · as Self
• Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee / Presenter
• The Spot—
• Lovesick— · as Annika