Claire Danes Says She Was Out Of Work For Two Years

Actress Claire Danes, formerly of dramedy My So-Called Life, is currently starring in the sleeper hit Homeland — but the celeb says that she, like many Americans, had a long period of unemployment with which to contend.

While Claire Danes has been working on the show for a while now, she still remembers struggling to find a job in the late 2000s.

Danes says that after Temple Grandin, she got a lot of kudos for her portrayal of the titular character. But compliments don’t pay the bills, and Danes laments:

“I was stuck… It was confusing. I got a lot of plaudits, and it didn’t translate into more work. I was really, really struggling during that time.”

If you’ve been unemployed like Danes is describing, you can probably relate to what the former teen star describes. Claire says that while she eventually did get the job on Homeland, she lost hope for a long time and felt like at the time like leaving showbiz altogether.

Danes adds:

It was grim. I was very hurt. Two years of not working was brutal… And a point came where I thought, ‘I really like interior design.'”

Danes says she turned to veteran actors to find some way to deal with her inactive IMDB page — asking Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon and Jodie Foster for advice or even a horizon to keep in sight.

And, ultimately, she got a good part and her career was back on track — and she even managed to learn something. Danes says that now she has a better outlook, commenting:

“You have to pick your battles on set. You have to come to work from a place of love. You have to stay hydrated when you have crying scenes. You have to go to college. And you have to ask for money because there’s always more money and they won’t give it to you because you’re a girl!”

Still, Claire Danes also admitted that despite her on and off again a-list status, she’s “just a big old nerd.”