Danes: I appreciate the ugly

Claire Danes has always been fond of the “ugly and macabre”.

The 35-year-old actress first became interested in performing for a living after being introduced to dance.

And somehow moving her form in strange ways piqued Claire’s interest in dark art.

“It was modern dance, so already a little raw. And I always had an appreciation for the macabre,” she revealed during an interview in the October issue of Britain’s Harper’s Bazaar magazine. “We would do these improvisations and I remember one time, I was maybe 11 or 12, I was into grotesque movement, and I decided to do a dance where I was just doing a diagonal across stage, doing these weird movements and I landed and I just spat on the floor, like totally pretentious performance art. But it was great. I liked the ugly even as a kid, and I think that has stayed with me now.”

Claire has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as Carrie Mathison in Showtime TV series Homeland since signing on to the political thriller in 2011.

The actress is aware of how addictive the show can be, as the night she gave birth to her son Cyrus, Claire recalls her parents acting incredibly strange.

“Cyrus was born [at the end of] the second season,” she shared. “I went to the hospital at 10 o’clock, literally as the finale was airing, and I think my parents, who were in New York with me, were conflicted about what they were more excited for. Honest to God. It goes beyond parental pride, they’re really into the show.”

Claire and her husband of five years Hugh Dancy welcomed baby Cyrus on December 17, 2012. The little boy is their first and only child.