Claire Danes: Agent Provocateur

As the complex Carrie Mathison in cult show Homeland, Claire Danes has become one of the hottest spies to hit our TV screens. Here, she talks challenging roles, taking time out and why she’s got a craving for comedy

- Kimberly Cutter

Claire Danes loves a lot of things about starring in Homeland, but the thing she loves most is the week she gets to spend at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, each year, geeking out with real-life spies. ‘It’s so wild, you have no idea,’ she says, her eyes glowing. ‘They curate a group of people who have good stories for us – experts in social media, counter terrorism and drug trafficking – and it’s just fascinating. It’s my favourite thing about the job.’

We’re sitting at Cafe Clover in New York’s West Village on a warm winter afternoon and, at the moment, Danes couldn’t look less like a spy. Dressed in a yellow cotton blouse, Acne skinny jeans and Chloé snakeskin flats, she fits right in with the rest of the stylish downtown crowd – most of whom happen to be staring at her. At 37, Danes is even prettier in person than she is on camera, with pale, luminous skin, fine features and a friendly, curious manner.

It’s easy to imagine her photo bombing her old friend Lena Dunham at the 2013 Emmys, or running around New York’s SoHo with husband Hugh Dancy and their four-year-old son, Cyrus. But get her talking about Homeland – the addictive security thriller currently in its sixth season – and flashes of her alter ego, bipolar super-spy Carrie Mathison, start to surface. Danes’ eyes widen and her head tilts quizzically to one side like a praying mantis. She’s an interesting combination of calm and alert. ‘We’re block-shooting two episodes at once right now, which is intense,’ says Danes, who rises at 4.30am to get her six-mile run in and is on set 12-15 hours a day, five days a week, during production.