Claire Danes has reflected on the staying power of My So-Called Life, the cult classic teen drama that launched her career, in a new interview.
The Emmy-winning actor, 46, opened up on Tuesday’s episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler about her “profound experience” starring as Angela Chase on the short-lived ABC series, which was canceled after just one season.
“It’s still radical!” Danes exclaimed in response to Poehler asking what still resonates with audiences today about her angsty teenaged character. “It remains ahead of this time.”
The Beast In Me star continued: “It shouldn’t have been made. It almost wasn’t made many times, and it just wills itself into experience. It’s not very often that we spend that much time, intimate time, with a teenage girl.”
My So-Called Life, created by Wicked playwright Winnie Holzman, followed Angela and her friends through her sophomore year of high school. The series was narrated by Angela, who laid bare her adolescent feelings and struggles with social issues.
“I remember reading the pilot before the audition and just having a very profound experience. It was really powerful to have some woman, some writer person, so perfectly articulate my internal life,” Danes recalled to Poehler, who praised the show as “zeitgeisty.”
The series, which aired from August 1994 to January 1995, also famously starred Jared Leto as Danes’ love interest, Jordan Catalano. The main cast, who gathered for a reunion on Zoom in 2020, also included actors Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, Devon Odessa, and Tom Irwin.
Although the show was canceled due to low ratings against its competition from sitcoms like Friends and Home Improvement, its 19 episodes were critically acclaimed for its realistic portrayal of turbulent teenage years. The show went on to be remembered as one of the best teen dramas of all time, and one of the first to recognize issues like homophobia, alcoholism, and homelessness.
“We’re seeing the world from inside of her and really through her vantage point,” Danes told Poehler. “And she’s so earnestly wrestling with big stuff. It’s just so well-balanced and it’s so of her.”
“There’s some zingers, there are some really well-crafted lines,” she said, praising the show’s writing. “I feel wildly fortunate that that was my entry point.”
Danes, who was 13 when she filmed the pilot, won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV drama in 1995 for her performance in the show, which also earned her an Emmy nomination. She went on to win her first Emmy Award for Temple Grandin in 2010, and two Emmys for Homeland in 2012 and 2013.
