Claire Danes

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And it's an episode we recorded a few weeks ago. And since then, so much has been happening in our country. And honestly, it felt strange not to address it. The intention of good hang has always been to bring levity and joy and laughs in these tough times. And we're going to keep doing that.

But before we start this episode, I just want to send much love to the best people in the world, also known as Minnesotans. What we are all witnessing is terrifying and enraging and illegal. But we are also seeing neighbors helping neighbors. And if you want to help, there is a directory of local organizations and mutual aid groups that you can check out at standwithminnesota.com. Minnesota, you're in our hearts.

Okay, on with the show. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. Very excited about our guest today. It is the incredible Claire Danes.

I cannot wait to talk to Claire today. She is such a pro. She's so good at so many things. And I know she's going to be a good hang. And we are going to get into it today.

We're going to talk about her big brain. We are going to talk about the lasting effect of my so-called life and how people still love it even to this day. We're going to talk about her stint on Law and Order and what that was like. And we're going to hear about how she met Boschiat in an elevator when she was a New York kid. So much to talk about before we do.

We always like to speak to somebody who knows our guest, who has a question for me to ask our guest. And we talk well behind their back. And we have a great one today. The incredible Mandy Patinkin. Mandy, actor, singer, activist, now podcaster.

You can check out his podcast. Don't listen to us out now with his wonderful wife, Catherine and his son Gideon and Mandy. Hi. Can you hear me? This episode is brought to you by Zoom.

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I'm eating something. Yeah. What are you eating? Murray's tuna. Perfect.

And vegetarian chopped liver. Ezekiel cinnamon raisin toast. Wow. That's a lot of flavors. Well, I love the cinnamon raisin.

And I eat that because my trainer tells me not to eat this other bread that this is the one he wants me to eat. I'm feeling good. And so I do what he says. You're a podcaster now. Yes, I'm a podcaster.

Do you want me to talk to podcasters? I can't stand talking to someone who doesn't have a podcast. Oh, trust me Amy, I know. Right. When you say something, what are you doing with your life?

It's unconscionable to even think of doing that. It's horrible. So I wouldn't even, even hearing you say it upsets me. That's not an option. You do a show with, um, don't listen to us with Catherine, your wife and your son Gideon.

Yes. And congratulations on that. And they don't listen to me. So it always, the title is always in operation. How has it been?

What have you been learning about yourself and in the process of being? Amy, it's just great being with your family 24 seven never break. How about working at, you know, be at home, work with them, you know, just like, you know, my son, you know, just can't get enough of his parents. It's just, it's just total joy 24 seven. It's just like being in paradise.

Before we get to Claire, just one more time. Cause I know Gideon will want me to get the log line. How would you describe the podcast? Oh, just in the podcast to describe the podcast is just a podcast. It's a describable, it's just extraordinary podcast.

It has my wife who I love. I've been with her for seven, 47 years. If I can stay with her for 47 years, you can tune in and stay with her for 47 minutes. And my son, my glorious son Gideon, he, it's all his. And then the one mistake is having me at the table as well.

I am such a humongous fan of your work, Mandy. It meant so much to me that I was talking to you today. And we're talking today to Claire Danes, who I know you absolutely love. I adore her. If I had a daughter, it would be Claire.

Oh, can you tell me where you two first met? We first met in the rehearsal room in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I believe that's where we met. I think that's where we were, where we had the first read through of Homeland. And I think that's where, I think that was the name of the town, where we shot the first three seasons.

Pretty sure it was Winston-Salem, but I could be wrong. I'm at that age. I don't just look at, it's the same thing inside of Ray. Just wiry, gray, white mess up there. And I'm pretty sure.

I know it was North Carolina. It's like, no, it was Charlotte, North Carolina. So that's interesting. So you met in rehearsal for the first time. And obviously, I'm familiar with each other's work.

What was your first impression of her? Well, I knew she was of the highest pedigree. And so I just was thrilled to be with her. And I knew that I wanted more than anything for her, both as Mandy and the character Saul. I wanted her to feel safe with me.

And I wanted her to feel protected by me. And I wanted her to trust me. And I knew that was a tall order. But we sat down with our director to just have our first read through. And she finished the first scene.

And she said something that I never forgot, I just left. She said, well, that was some of the worst smacking I've ever done. And I never heard that word smacking. And I loved it. And I never heard her say it again, because I think she's brilliant.

I even thought she was brilliant when she thought she was smacking. And so she's as good as they come. In the arena, she's a thoroughbred, which leads me to my second thought that I had to offer you. Would you like that? Or do you want to run this?

No, I don't think with you and I that I'm ever going to run anything. I think Mandy, whenever you're going to be running it. I can shut up. I heard that you wrote down a bunch of questions for her, which I love because I too have so many questions for her. How many of you have on that page?

I have I wrote down a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Okay, great. No, no, eight. Perfect. I understand why you can buy these questions from me.

Just get on your website. I have as for sale. But I understand why you have all these questions for her, because she is to your point. A thoroughbred is a perfect word, like so incredibly gifted. And also your story tells me that she also does not take herself too seriously.

It's that combination that's incredible to be around. She was a kid actor, you know. And the thing is, as you've known from working with kids, the magic of them, it's literally magic. They sit there, they play, they play with the other kids, and then the director goes action and they're there with the believability that if you worked at this craft till the day you die, you would never get to be that good the way these kids are. And she's one of the rare ones that took it into adulthood.

And she has that. She just believes. She just believes in a way that is I'm transfixed. I had to do the least work in my life, because all I would do was just sit and listen to her. It can really feel the love between you two.

So let's get to those eight or nine questions. You got it. So the next one that I wrote down. Wait, what was the first one again? Oh, God.

It's gonna be a challenge. That's the first one. I have no idea what the first one was. What did I say? Okay, forget it.

Look at me. Well, yeah, Amy, you start in the middle. You don't even ask me my name anymore. Just please have a little, you know, that's a little bit of a... Okay.

In Yiddish, it's called rock monus. Have some rock monus for what you're dealing with here. Regarding her children. Very curious, because she's married to an exceptional young man, a young in my book, and young in everybody's book. I would like to know who is better in the family at setting boundaries for the children.

Ooh. Is it is a Claire or Hugh? Hugh or Claire, her great actor has been Hugh Nancy. Now I would like you to ask her something that only she would know. What is Mandy's father's favorite chewing gum?

That question seems like what you have to answer to get into an exclusive private club. You are right on the money, and how did she commemorate the answer to that gift to me? Excellent. Which was one of the great gifts that I've ever been given. Wow.

Oh, here's a good one. How often does she feel she pays, she needs to pee before every take or every scene? Love that. So it's not a downside, it gives everyone a chance to breathe. We all know that there's a rest period coming up.

It's everything. So is it okay? Okay. That was it. Okay, these are great.

These are great questions. And they all speak to what I'm learning about her. And I've known Claire over the years through friends and loved spending time with her. But what I've learned about her is she's a really considerate person. She's a very considerate person.

She really considers other people. I think it's what makes her a good actress. And human in the world. You know, the gift of one of the great gifts of the television series in my humble opinion is that you get to be there for a long time and you really get to know each other. And you get to know each other's strengths and also each other's fragilities.

And she learned mine. I sort of wear them on my sleeve, but she learned them quickly. And she just took care of me. She knew how to take care of me when I needed holding and when I needed, you know, and she knew how to leave me alone. When I needed to leave me alone time.

Beautiful. I know she's going to be so excited that we talked. I don't know if she knows. This might be a surprise to her. I didn't tell her.

I saw her recently at a political event for Mom Donnie, but she was thrilled that she was there. And but I did mention, I hadn't known about this at that point. Oh, that's great. I think she's going to be so happy that we talked. Please take my phone number.

I will. I'm going to take your phone number and I'm going to call you for advice on, basically on most things in life. And you're welcome. Well, I was sick. And you're just the dumbest fucking person on the phone.

Thanks, Mandy. Take care. Bye. Have fun. Bye.

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Ah! And you do talk about this being a number eight business a lot. Anyagram? Wait, you're pretending you don't know what the anyagram is? I know because of you.

Do you know what your number is? I did it last night. Yes! Tell me what it is I want to guess. I do.

You're an eight! An eight! I'm an eight. I screamed. Oh my god.

I yelled at wow. I'm freaking out. Yes. Claire Danes just walked in with a balloon. By the way, thank you.

These are beautiful. Yeah, you're welcome. I'm a beautiful eight balloon. I'm going to bring it into frame. Look at that.

A gorgeous eight balloon. In reference to the fact that we are the same anyagram number. Well, I didn't know that when I bought the balloon. I just knew that you were an eight girl. Could you talk about it?

Pretty much. Pretty much. I just didn't know that you were an eight girl. This is an intervention. And everyone's like, and now you've got the balloon.

Now shut up about it. It's an eight invention. Oh my god. But I, you're so welcome. But I was so excited that I got to be your twin eight sister.

Landon, if you're going to start with anyagram, we're going to go because I'm very pleased that you're an eight. Okay. That makes perfect sense to me. Does it? Yes.

I'm very new to this business. Did you learn about that? Did you read the descriptions of it and feel like it was you? Sure. But I also worry that I might just be a little impressionable.

Kind of absorb and accept and make it work. Interesting. Well, that's not very eight like it. It's not. But perhaps you've got a wing.

You know, you can get a wing. I just learned. I don't know what my wing is. I don't know what my wing is. I'd love to see what your pie chart looked like.

Okay. Like what you actually what were your big. I wish you had told me you were taking the test. Because I would have sent a text that said, send me your pie chart. Send me your.

Okay. I'm sure I can find it again. What's your sign? Virgo. Okay.

What are you? I'm Aries Virgo rising. Oh my god. Like Claire, run all of the things. Run all the things.

Do all the things. Be sure to all of the things. I mean, do you find yourself to be like a. I mean, we know each other. But we don't know each other.

And I've had the pleasure of being around you a lot. A lot. And humongous fan of your work. Of course. And thank you.

And we were very excited that you said yesterday. And do you think you're a organized person? Like are you an organized? I've gotten much more organized over time. But I do love the container store.

I love the container. So much. So much. A good container will change your life. Oh my laughing's hard.

My laughing's hard. But and what I love about when. I love the idea of figuring out what things. What do things mean to you? Yes.

Because they actually it's a paradox. Yeah. They don't mean anything. And they mean a lot. They can be really valuable tools.

And I think they do carry energy. Like I really do believe that. And they can transport you. They can be little tiny time machines. Yes.

But okay. Of course you're an organizer. Of course you're a go. Of course you're an Aries. Of course you're an eight.

Claire Danes is here. I mean, Claire. I mean, Claire if I do not love you already. I mean, the theme of I feel like the theme of today is. I've always felt like you and your work were ahead of its time.

That's very nice. That's very, very nice. You've always brought me as an artist into worlds that I didn't know I was ready for. You're an intellectually curious person who's interested in interesting things. And therefore you're drawn to those things.

Almost like the cartoon character when the pie is on the window sill. Like I feel that with you. You're drawn to interesting things. I am. That's true.

Thank you for saying that. That's actually very, very touching and meaningful that you say that really. Well, I can sense it from the choices you made as an artist. And it is my so-called life and homeland and temple grand end. And the beast and meat, all these projects and the way you're kind of leading us into some new territory always.

It feels like any territory for you too, which is very exciting. Of course you're an en-a- and be in your brain. Those are two very hard things to do. Oh my gosh. This is so nice.

This is so nice. This is so nice. It's hard to balance those two things, body and brain. And that's why I'm obsessed with the fact that you love to dance. I do love to dance.

I love to dance. Me too. And for me, it gets me out of my brain. Yeah. Yeah.

Jinx. Yes. And I don't dance as much as I don't dance enough anymore. I had a good wiggle the other night all by myself in my bathroom. I really needed it.

Yeah. And that's where I've seen you probably the most is on the dance floor. Yeah. Well, where our friend Rashida is a pretty great dancer. She's had some parties and we've danced in our pajamas together.

Yes. And I feel like there's been some award shows where we've been on the floor. Yeah. Like we're dancing regulates. What does it do for you?

How does it do for your body? Um, how does it feel funny? Well, because it's my son's birthday today. My eldest son, he's turned 13. And it's like a superpower I have.

I just like a little tiny wiggle in public. He will cross the street. Oh, yeah. It's just, but I can mortify him within a millisecond. And even worse is she's talking about, I'm a good dancer.

People think I'm a good dancer. And they're like, mom, please. Mom, mom, everyone's watching dance. Mom, mom. But what does it do for me?

Well, I mean, the best is when you enter that like flow state. Mm-hmm. When you, yeah, when it's, when it's, there's no thought and you're just totally synchronized with whatever sound is coming into, you know, through your ears. I love watching toddlers dance. You know, when they jump, they do that thing.

They do the bouncing thing. So true. Yeah. Let's say we all do it. And then, Shari, my baby, she has, she's very kind of in her head and dreamy.

And sometimes she'll do this kind of dance. And then, come back with that. Anyway, how old is she? She's two and a half. Yeah.

I heard something that's amazing, which is that kids from three, like from three to four, three to five are considered them like on mushrooms. Like hallucinogenic mushrooms because they're like, the floor is lava and like, I'm feeling the music. And they're like, why do we die? They're like, whoa, you're tripping. And it's so true.

Thank you. Very, very, she's really fun. You are a real dancer. Well, but never, not like a formally trained one. I had this amazing teacher here in the city, a woman named Ellen Robbins.

And she was great. And like from the age of four on, I worked with her. I say that like intentionally. It sounds ridiculous because I was a tiny human. But she really took every kid very seriously.

And over the course of the year, you would work towards choreographing your own piece. And you would choose the theme and the music. And I was a moth to flame one year. Yes, I was. It was a lot of it.

A lot of it. A lot of it. I'm opening up and opening again, finding your life. Yeah. Little Claire in Dance Class at four.

You are a New York kid. I'm really always interested in kids who grew up in New York. What was your version of Little Kid in New York's funky? Yeah. And you know, a little rough.

I was born in 79. My parents were artists. They moved to the Bowery in the late 60s. And my dad's mom, Claire, named after, died when he was a kid. And then I guess he kind of had this money finally.

And they bought a loft building with another couple to the still own on Crosby Street where I was growing up. So it was, you know, we had a swing. We had a trapeze. I would roller skate. It was kind of how we pictured.

It was like our kids living. I had some shame about it too. And I had cousins who lived in the suburbs. And all I wanted was to be in a cul-sac and have a basement and carpet on the floor. We can get that when we're little.

We don't want to be different. Interesting. No. We want to be exactly the same. But it was also very cool.

And you know, Basquiat lived in our building. And you know, like, yes. Like, I remember him. I remember being really little. And you know, he was very sweet.

Like he was very charming. And kind of tender. That's what I remember. I remember the elevator. Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow. That's what he's hearing was just around. And yeah, but there was also violent and the mafia still existed.

So we were on Crosby and Prince. So just on the other side of Lafayette, that was the different world and felt quite active. And did you become a vigilant? Are you a vigilant person or a vigilant kid because of the... Kind of street.

No, in life. Yeah. Was there some hyper-vigilance that was created because of that? Yes. Because of New York.

And also I have very like funky groovy artists parents. Totally. So I, there was a rigidity that developed. Yes. And speaking my language.

And like a hyper-observance, yes. For sure. And so you go and speaking of vigilance and hyper-observance, you were on law and order as a young person. How old were you? I was 12.

Can you tell me about it? Sure. I played it on the monitor. But yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing.

And I played a teenage murderer. Yeah. My mom was a prostitute like high-end. And her like, him was grooming me to basically do the same thing. But he was presenting himself as a modeling agent.

And he was, you know, and I took these photos of me. Typical law and order like... And my mom found out about it. And she, you know, intercepted. And I was furious.

And I took the scissors from the dark room and stabbed him. I think that's what it was. God, it would have killed to have been. That was what I wanted to do so badly. Really?

Law and order. Yeah, I'm not. I then dated a boy. Another guy, a kid, another kid actor. We met an audition who also had been a teen murderer on the monitor.

That was like our cute story. And now he was on the monitor. I know. Which is wild. I know.

And we have so much good gear, like swag, law and order swag. We have a giant button that goes, done, done, done, that the kids really, really like. And we do have to hide sometimes. But that show is, first of all, I just employed so many actors. And still to us.

It's a total initiative. I was also very sure the day after it aired. There was like a screening party. It was just like it was going to be a problem for me to ride this up way. Like, because I was going to be so famous.

And it was fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It was fine. Yeah. No, it was pretty comfortable still for me.

No, you got myself called life. When, how old were you when you auditioned for that? I was 13 when I did the pilot. And then it didn't get picked up. Yeah.

And I had gone to public school my whole life, but then I had made money from these acting jobs. And I could afford to send myself to private school. So I went to Dalton. But yeah, then the very start of my freshman year, we got this call saying, oh, no, they are going to pick it up. So I was only physically there for a semester.

And then we were off to LA. And was kind of tutored from that point on. Now, I mean, I know you've talked, Ad nauseam about the experience you had making that show. And it is still so zeitgeisty that show. It's really, it was a very special thing.

When you were making it, it felt like a special spark. Yeah, I remember reading the pilot, I guess before the audition. And just having a very profound, experience. And it was really powerful to have some woman, some writer person, so perfectly articulate my internal life. And I was waiting until it's been a convention.

Yeah, I was waiting until it's been a whole who still a dear, dear friend and just wildly inspired, hilarious love. People should know like it wrote Wicked. Yes. Just this little indie called Wicked. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Which is basically about like teenage girls, you know? And they're their intimacies and their friendships. Yeah.

She's divine. And when he was the creator of the show. Yeah, she was the creator of the show. And we were both working so hard. We barely saw each other, but we were in this very deep relationship in our imaginations.

Yeah. Did you chemistry read with Jared Lettoff for? No. No, no, no. He just got hired and you guys had to kind of find the chemistry there.

He was like in the Nokazima commercial. That was very exciting. Yeah. He was so hot. Oh my god.

He was ridiculous. He was a setting. Jordan Calano was like, because also one of those names, it's always the full name. Yeah. Jordan Calano.

There was also a character in the show called Tino that you never saw. Anyway. There were so many. But do you have a theory because you know now with perspective? Like what do you think resonates still with Angela's like?

Well, it's still radical. Yes. It's kind of a time. And it remains ahead of this time. Yes.

Why? It shouldn't have been made. It almost wasn't made many times. And it just willed itself into existence. I don't know.

It's not very often that we spend that much time, intimate time with a teenage girl. Yeah. Not really. Yeah. Not really.

We're seeing the world from inside of her. And really through her vantage point when she's and she's so earnestly wrestling with big stuff. Yeah. And it's just so well balanced. And it's so of her.

There's some zingers. There's some really well crafted blinds. You know, I was rewatching that moment, the beautiful moment where that is played over and over again on TikTok every day of my life. Because it's on my FIP. But of when Jordan comes over to Angela and says, can we go somewhere and you say, sure.

And he walks off of him and he takes your hand in front of everybody. And that feeling of being chosen publicly is a big major. Major for a young woman and young man. But why the show I think separates itself from others is also, editorially, we know what all the other characters are feeling in the moment. Like we cut to everyone else's feeling about not being chosen or the wrong person being chosen.

Like everyone's feeling like, yeah, we're feeling everybody's pain, psychic pain or joy in that moment. Oh, that's a very well stated. Yeah, it's well analyzed scene. I've watched it for the time. I've forgotten that time.

No, it was, yes, it was, I feel wildly fortunate that that was my entry point. This episode is brought to you by Apple Watch. Your heart tells the story of your health. And with the new Apple Watch Series 12, you can understand it better than ever. It's got this new readiness score, which based on your activity, vitals and sleep basically tells you whether it's a let's go or do less stay.

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I feel like kids are doing that all the time, anyway. Every kid. Okay, no, I think this is... I don't know. Also, I remember people, I never felt like a kid, and now that I am a parent and I have actual children, I'm like, yeah, no, I for sure was a kid.

There's no way. Do you think you were gonna... I sometimes like, I never felt like a kid either. When I was about eight or nine, I was like, I'm in charge of you. I did, I was like, these people were like, I just remember being like, no, I'm okay.

My first memory, I don't know if it's real or not, obviously no idea, but was pre-verbal. I remember where I was, by my windows on our loft on Crosby, I was looking off that street, and I had been handed to some other adult that I didn't know very well, and they didn't know how to hold a baby. And I remember having, I was like, okay, this is one of those grown-ups who don't know how to do this, they're uncomfortable. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm just gonna have to wait it out.

Yeah, and then I remember... Yeah, my second memory was being on the kitchen island, and I was just about, I just was starting to have some language, but not quite enough, and I was kind of playing straight with my mom, and I wanted to get to the counter, like the other side of the kitchen, and she was really frustrated, and I felt such empathy for both of us. And I was like, this cannot continue. Like, I really, really need to crack this language thing, because I mean, poor us. This is too hard.

Amazing. So yeah, it was like that always, and people would say like how, you know, it's so remarkable that you can deliver performances at such a young age. I was like, what are you talking about? I feel like I've been here for this. It's been an eternity, like 11 years is so many years.

And it felt very rich. I was like, I've got enough material for four lifetimes. It makes total sense to me, because when you're in little women and you're dying, I was like, she's been here before. I had to reshoot that scene. I can't. I can't.

Just my side. Oh. Because apparently, I got too excited about the death rattle, because of course I read like five stages of dying. I like and really studied whatever illness Beth had. Sure.

And I kind of look here anyway. I told this story to Matthew Reese, and he calls me death rattle danes, but Julian Anderson, the director lied to me. I only learned this like last year. Oh, less. Literally, then that coke had spilled on the negatives of the film, and that we needed to reshoot.

Well, that's a nice thing. It was really because she needed to like calm the death rattle down a little bit. I got that. Yes. Yes.

So that's a factoid. By the time you were 20, you were already in 13 movies. That's a few. That's a lot. And you went to school and went to Yale.

What did you study there? I thought I was going to be a psychology major, and then it ended up being like a lot of lab work involved with that. That's not what I meant. Eventually, I think I would have been, I didn't complete my time, which is what I meant. I didn't want it to be.

The science part was less interesting to me than character studies. Do you have a bit of a slide of doors fantasy that you would be a therapist in another life? Well, my best friend in the whole wide world from the age of nine on is a therapist. Congrats. Thank you.

I did pretty well. Best friend of the day. I chose well at nine. And actually, it's really fun. We do kind of play Barbies together with my characters.

Like if I'm starting a project, we'll think about it in those kind of formal terms, and she'll diagnose her. It is actually very handy. And occasionally at lunch, I'll see her shift from Ariel into, and she'll ask. She'll say, is it okay if I go into actual formal therapy mode with you now? Yes, please.

I mean, so I'd wanted to be an actor from the age of five onwards. And then people would tell me, most actors actually don't make that much money. It's a fairly insecure or rare choice. And I had a practical side. And I thought, okay, all right, fine.

I'm going to be a therapist, and I'm going to live in the suburbs. I was going to live next door to Ariel. We were going to share a pool, and we would have two slides in our respective yards that would go into the same pool. I would be a therapist and do acting workshops. Yes, to nourish the soul.

And that was my plan for a good year. And I made an actual announcement one night at the dinner table. And I said, look, guys, who am I kidding? There is no plan B. I am an actor, money or no money.

This is my calling. And my parents are like, uh-huh, sure. And I'm so serious. It's ridiculous. I love that person.

Yeah. That person's making a declaration. Yeah, and I really meant it. And I went to, you know, I took Saturday acting classes at Least Drawsburg, which is in my neighborhood, and I pass them all every day, and it's a total trip. But yeah, anyway, so yes.

But actually my favorite class was a graphic design class. Ooh. My very favorite class. And then I thought, oh, maybe if I weren't an actor, I would be a that kind of person. I can see all these things.

What I love about your work is that it feels, and again, it just feels like when you're watching you work, that there's just real life that exists in your life. Like you have a real life, you're a real person. Same real person. And then so then when we're watching you play people, when you're, they feel like real people. There's just a little bit, you just kind of can't explain it.

People have it or they don't or they feel like they've actually existed on the earth and had a real life. And people that are kind of in a just a different sphere of, I don't know. And there's something that feels like you have taken care of other parts of your life. It was good for me to do that. I really needed a time out.

I needed to not have so much responsibility. And I needed to like fuck around a little bit and like get stoned and play Mario Kart. Right. That's me to go away. That doesn't need to go away.

That's as important as, you know, the work I was doing in class, which was also really, really wonderful. And I also felt like validated as a thinking person. I feel like you've spoken about the kind of wonderful things about perspective and getting older. What's the best thing about being the age you are? That's perfectly okay to have the same breakfast every morning to exercise for 45 minutes to an hour.

How's your bone density? I don't know and I should know and I don't lift enough weights. No, we have to lift so many weights. I like lifting my own body weight. I really like yoga these days, but it's not enough.

Apparently I have to lift natural iron. And you run. You're a big runner. I used to run more. The third pregnancy really kind of, but then.

People don't know. You had a pregnancy a few years ago. Yeah. Kind of a surprise. Oh, wow.

Out of the blue. That, wow. Did you burst into tears like, oh no, I have to pregnant again? Totally. I called my OBGYN in convulsive tears.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, it was a pure, like it was all meltdown. Oh no.

Because you had what, like a 12 year old or like a 10 year old or something? Yes. Yes. I mean, he must have been around 11, 12. Yeah.

They're five years apart each kid. None of this was by design. But yeah, I didn't know it was physically possible. I was 44. And actually, Rowan was very hard earned.

I had to do two rounds of IVF. Like it just was so unlikely. So this is a funny story that I'm going to share about my best friend. OK. So this is Ariel.

This is Ariel. OK. Ariel. She gets named yet a lot of these things. Well, she is your therapist.

And she's other people's therapist too. Oh god. I just ruined her career. And I could be mine. But yeah.

So we had this like spa day scheduled. And I admitted to her. And I wasn't coping very well with the heat. I kept it. I was like, I'm so I'm such a pussy.

I got to get out of here. Anyway, and so I wasn't going to say anything. And finally, I admitted. I was like, you know, I totally lost my mind last night and just decided that I was pregnant. I went down this crazy rabbit hole.

And finally, like looked up one of the odds of naturally conceiving at 44. And they're like less than 1%. And I was like, so that obviously is ridiculous. And she said, whoa. That's really weird.

Because I had this dream last week. She said it was really vivid. And I told people about it. And I didn't say it was you. But I had this dream where I was pregnant.

And I looked down and I saw my distended belly. And I said, oh, wait. But this isn't my torso. This is a long torso. This is Claire's torso.

You have a great torso. I thank you. But yeah. And she was in. She had this dream where she looked down and saw that she was pregnant.

But she wasn't pregnant. She was in my pregnant body. And then the, you know, I had two strong cocktails. And we had dinner. And then first thing morning hit the CVS.

And it was just like bold. It was like tap blocks, you know. Yeah. Bragnet. And like, for me, the thing would just be like, you know what you know now.

You know what you're now. Well, that was that was deeply humbling. Yeah. Because I realized, oh, I am not authoring this thing. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. OK. Yeah. OK.

Yeah. This is really, this is the illusion that I am driving this thing. Yes. So you had to surrender. I really did.

Yeah. And then this beautiful girl emerged. And she's the best. And none of it was up to me. And I'm just delighted.

Yeah. But she was disruptive. We had to move. It was a bit. It was lower.

Well, I mean, it's a little lower. It's a little lower. Like her origin story will be, I bet, will just like naturally be like, you really wanted to be here. She did. And she's like, she's all about it.

She's having a great time. Yeah. And then, quickly, like into this living business. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it is that's the thing about, I think about the best and worst thing about late 40s, for me at mid 50s, is you kind of know the deal. So it's like, OK, that's going to be this. Uh-huh. And OK, this one's going to hurt.

Yeah. Or, you know, there's still stuff to discover, certainly. But there is a sense of- It's amazing to have so much of your life, like, established. And, you know, yeah. Realized, like, and set.

Yes. Well, you've experienced- It's basically you've come through things, and you've made it through something. Yeah. And there's a lot of, I don't know, power in that, and joy in that. And it's also sad.

I know. Because I'm really, really aware of time now. Me too. It's really like the thing I crave. I crave.

Time is my time as a thief. Yeah. And it's actually, and I'm sure you're this way too, more and more with work or with any project. It's the thing I care about the most. How much- And, you know, it makes me think about your work on Homeland, which was a 10-year commitment.

Yeah. Yeah. A lot of time. A lot of time. Hard work.

Yeah, it was. Hard work. And we were all over the planet. Like, we were in so many different countries. And I had two kids.

Yes. And I was like fighting terrorists while deeply pregnant. It was weird. Did you have a thing like you liked to do on that show? When you saw on the call, she was like, oh, today I get to do this.

You know, because like, it was like, today- Oh, maybe it was like, today I get to- It was cool that after a while, like, you know, a few seasons in, people knew Carrie Mathison. And every- It's like we would reimagine ourselves every year. But, you know, so a new set of actors, you know, I'd walk into a room and they would like, get quiet and be chasing. And I had this power that, you know, I had earned overseas. And, you know, that was pretty fun.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, and never have I ever had that experience in my life, nor will I ever again, even in a fictional realm, you know? But that was like, amazing to have that kind of swagger. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. And what was hard to shoot? Like, was it like, I mean, just like balancing life, I'm sure, and traveling all over. Because it shot everywhere.

It shot forever. Especially when Brody died. Spoiler alert. That's the spoiler alert. Claire.

I remember. So we, it was also like, really rough, just really graphic. Like they really went there. So old. Like, come on.

Intense. It was so intense. But like, he dies on a crane. I know. But then the crane, when we were filming, broke.

Oh no. So like, we really hung off by that. Oh no. But, I don't know. It was like landing in a new, because that was in, where did we shoot that?

That was in Morocco. But yeah, so the first three seasons, we were mostly in Charlotte and Carolina, which was standing in for DC. And then we would make these jags. Like, shoot a month in Israel or in Morocco or something. But then when we had to really redefine the show in a more macro way, we then became this traveling, you know, enterprise.

So we were shooting in Cape Town for half a year, which was standing in for Palestine and Afghanistan. The next year, we were, there was a year in Berlin. Then a year in New York, which, yeah, that was kind of, that was actually very strange to be home. And it would be stressful. Because people expected me to go to dinner.

Like, you're here. Let's hang out. And I'm working. So I have to get a tie up and beat up to my... And I can't do this and live my life.

There was something nice about being on location and just being allowed to like give myself entirely to it, because I didn't have any energy to spare. Yeah. That was actually weird. That was the weird, almost the hardest season, because I kept like, you know, there was this illusion that I was living my life and I couldn't. Yes.

And then where were we? Then we were... I don't even... Then it was a full year in Morocco. Wow.

What was with Morocco? Like, never been great. I was nervous about spending so much time there. And I grew to really love it. Cyrus went to school in all these places too.

So he still can't eat couscous, because he ate it at every meal every day for six months in this school. That must be very cool for him to have his memories of traveling around. Yeah, I wonder what he... What he can consciously recall. I think that he was like five or six.

So that's exactly what he could. Yeah. He also... His first school that he went to was in Berlin. And he was around three.

And he started to have temper tantrums like half in German. And he was like, nine! Nine! And he'd be like, Whoa! Suddenly this is a lot scarier.

In this language. And he would, around that time, like when we would come home and we'd be at the playground at Washten Square Park, you know, he would toddle over to other tiny people and say, Hi, my name is Cyrus. I speak English, because it was like not a given. All of a disease. Do you speak another language?

Nine. If I could, you know, put a chip in my brain and be able to speak in different languages. Oh, same. That and fly. Yeah, fly.

I mean, yeah. But the link almost feels like it has the same thrill level. And you know what I love about speaking other languages? Is you have to do like a version, like a funny... You almost have to move your body and your face in a version that feels insulting.

It feels stereotypical, but you have to get the language right. Well, there is that kind of... Oh, shit. Yes, you do. And you have, or if you're Italian, you have to just circulate, or like there's all these different things, like there's a reason why people move the way they did, getting back to movement.

Yes, yes. I love learning dialects for this reason. Mm-hmm. Look, I think humans are humans and you know, it is mostly a universally shared experience, whatever that is. But it's also true.

Yeah. That there are real differences. And we go, we do like see the world through these slightly different filters. And it does shape us and inform us. And that is also kind of amazing.

Well, we're really into those kinds of differences, again, without appropriating them or getting them wrong. But because we are in a monoculture now, everything is the same now. So now it's like, whoa, the way you express the saying or the way you like language still feels sometimes like a way of getting into some new little world. Yes. And it's okay.

Like it's, I delight in the ways that we're not the same. And yes. Because everything is the same. Every fucking store is in the same city and in the same city. And it's also kind of sad that we're not...

I mean, that is what we do, you and I do. And I think a lot of people... I don't do. I don't do. Well, you do.

You totally do. You imagine yourself as being a different person. True. But dialects are their own real. I mean, that's a real.

That's real acting. No, look, Claire. No, I can't just, I can't just riff though. Like I'm this ooh-wee person. If I have a good coach all about it.

Do you like to improvise when you act or... I don't have many opportunities to. Interesting. I don't... I guess more dramatic stuff is hard to do, right?

They don't like you. They have a very strict about it. Because they're on the crane. They're like, he's up on the crane. You can't.

And you're like, just give me a riff. Oh, yeah. Crane working is pretty strict. But no, I don't know. I would be really intimidated by that, actually.

I think you'd be so good. I feel you. That's scary. I mean, I did one episode of Portlandia. And they did give me pages and then they disappeared.

I don't look at those. Yeah. And I was like, wait, I learned them. And they were like, oh, sorry. I just don't know.

Yeah. And they're like, you know what? We're just going to do it as we want to do it in the moment. And I wanted to vomit. I have no...

I worked at SNL and it's where I realized like, oh, preparation is this thing that people do. No. It's this thing. It's this thing that when people bring it to the process and someone says, and also, let's try this, it's hard to not feel like, wait, wait, what are we doing? Yeah.

It is a learned skill to just assume that things aren't wrong if we are not doing what we prepare. Yes. I mean, I am, I mean, I'm ridiculous. I mean, I'll go to the writer and say, is it okay if I put the comma here rather than there? And I'm like, don't come to me with this.

Like, I'm sorry. But I think actually because I started as such a young age, my socks are still up to my knees a little bit. You know, like, there's still that like little girl who's just wanting to do a good job. I don't know if that's because I was actually a little, like a literal little girl. Say that by chance.

When I began, or maybe that's just in me. Yeah. And then if I started at 30, but I don't know. Yeah. You do such a good job.

Thank you. You're so good at your job. You are so good at your job. Thank you. And I love listening to your show.

I listen to it a lot. Thanks. Because you love podcasts. I love podcasts. Me too.

But you have one of the very best ones. Oh my God, thanks. And it's, it's, it's, it's really wonderful. It's clear. Really?

Speaking of wonderful. Okay. We do a thing on this podcast where we talk to someone who knows our guest. Okay. We talked to Mandy Buttinkin.

Mandy. Mandy, who I saw the other night, I hadn't seen him for a long time. He's so excited. You guys were celebrating on together. He was celebrating on together.

He was celebrating on Dany. I mean, he is his, I mean, you could tell in the show, but I also loved knowing that outside of the show the relationship you two had. Yeah. It felt very paternal, very respectful. Yeah.

There's a lot of love there. I love him madly, truly deeply. And also he's just an amazing person to act with. Mm. And how come?

Okay. He's very musical. Mm. But this was a weird thing. In the first read-through, we barely met each other.

And it just like, the music worked. My cadence and his cadence were in really good harmony with each other. And nobody can take credit for that. That was just really good fortune. And I played this manic person.

I'm almost like getting into it now that you're saying I'm thinking about it. So she's like a stone skipping on the water. And he has this low pulse rate that I saw and is so steady and is so ballast at this counterpoint. Yeah. Yeah.

Well he adores you. He calls you a thoroughbred. Oh, well thanks. He's just a really, really good performer. Yeah.

You know quite no how he does what he does, but it was also always fun to see him at the gym, the hotel gym or whatever weird apartment complex or living in. Like singing his Yiddish songs prepping for his tour. Like on a stairmaster. Right. It's just it's.

Oh, I just love a big man. Yes. I love a big man. Sometimes I love feeling small. Like in relationship, do you know the idea of like big and small?

No. Which is basically like, sometimes you want to feel big and sometimes you want to feel small. So sometimes you want to be like, I'm going to take a skittest of the airport. I'm in charge of whatever I'm being today. And other times you're like, I want to be small today.

And it's like being taken care of, but also can just kind of feel physical. Like sometimes when you're like at, you know, I know you're bossing it up all day, work, you want to come home and feel small and vice versa. And being able to have someone kind of do that with you. It's like CEOs who go to the doms. Exactly.

It's a sub dom thing. So those are all a man. He's a question. No. So Manny wants to know or use no.

Okay. So we had 10 questions for us. That's a lot of it. We're not going to. We can't get to the lot of questions.

This is Manny had 10 questions. Yeah. He really over prepared. He's very nice. But also we couldn't get on the Zoom.

And he was eating when he was on the Zoom too. So it was like mixed messages. But he was eating the lockers that he had made it. He was eating it delicious. The mayor too.

Cinnamon raised in bagel, I believe, with other stuff on it. Okay. And it looked delicious. Okay. He likes being a butter on an apple too.

Oh, that's a great time. That's a great sense. Yeah. Okay. So you had a couple of questions.

Okay. Who is better at setting boundaries for the kids? You are cute. Oh, goes back and forth. Okay.

That's good. Um, so Cyrus wants to wear shorts. He's like a gaffer all the time. There's a whole thing. You're not on TikTok.

I'm short. No. Oh, congratulations. But there's a whole thing about middle school kids. Always wearing shorts.

It makes me so upset. Let go. I'm here to tell you, my boys are older. Let them freeze their butter knees off. Don't say one thing.

Don't mention a coat. Okay. So I said 50 or below you have to wear shorts. Hugh is more too bad. I'm going to put him in the.

Really? Get him below. You have to wear pants. Yeah. Sorry.

Yeah. Sorry. Thank you. And now he was kind of being more permissive. And that number went down to 40.

Yeah. There's literally a whole scientific thing about middle school kids waiting for the bus. And boy, scientific. I mean, it's on TikTok. Yeah.

About kids waiting for the bus with shorts. They boys love shorts in middle school. It's a whole thing. Yeah. Whatever.

And they run hot. And they're not going to get cold from the cold. You know that. And just let them do it. Okay.

They will grow out of it. I promise. Then they'll become obsessed with like sweats and sleeping and being warm. And they'll always be freezing. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Just a warm period. I got that. My family, thanks you.

Okay. But I actually think that Hugh and I are pretty. We're very lucky. Like we're well-matched humans. And I think our parenting styles are pretty level and equal as well.

Love that. It's good. You guys are a really, really special couple. Thank you. He's a well-dude.

Yeah. You can tell. You can tell. You can tell. Like a lot of love and a lot of like for each other.

Both those things are important. We do. And so many children now. Yeah. So many.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Mandy's next question.

And now Mandy's referring to himself in the third person. What is Mandy's father's favorite, shewing though? Oh. It's the Black licorice. Oh.

I embroidered something for him. That's what he was asking. How did you commemorate? Because he would chew it as saw. I might say.

Because I think he mentioned at one point that I'm forgetting the name of the band. Did it come again to 10? Blackjack. Blackjack. Blackjack was the gum.

It was the kind of gum. And you embroidered something. I went hard on the embroidery for a while. Let's talk about this embroidery. You embroidered?

Do you? I don't really- It was a point when I embroidered everything around me. I embroidered an umbrella. That was weird. So my mom taught me and it started because in my 30s I was away from my friends and we were at that everybody was having babies.

And I was really missing them. And so I embroidered onesies for my friends' babies that embroidered the name and then an image that related to the name somehow. But it was really more about just communing with them. Embroidery by hand. Yes.

Okay. And we started with the onesies and then it just then it went haywire. It's a great on-site activity. Yes. And I did it a lot more before I had children.

Mm-hm. And I also found the contrast amusing and enjoyable. Like that I would be fighting terrorists as scary. And then I would go back to my seat and embroider. Knitting or crocheting.

I went on a knitting jag too. Then that didn't take. So I embroidered onesies for, of course, all of my kids. And I have one for Shay. This is her child.

She's not, she doesn't wear onesies anymore. I miss that chance. It's okay. I'm confessing. I'm actually confessing.

You know, I mean it's bottom of my bed. But I'm always supposed to do it. I've done it all. Okay. No more.

No more. You got to start giving us. I don't know. I don't know. That's what I tell every woman.

And then I want to talk about the beast in me. Okay. Because I love the fact that you are producing on this. And I want to know what that experience has been like producing. I loved it.

It was just really fun. Yeah. Like, you know, hire people who I admired and trusted. And you have a, I mean, you've, like you said, you've been producing, probably you've been producing without credit for a long time. And you've been producing and seeing, you've been on sets for a long time.

Yeah. And you're realizing like, oh, I want to, I want to bring my system here. Yeah. And that first week I was just, I was like, I was like, I like, everybody here. And I'm like, all right.

Because, you know, I asked them to the dinner party, right? Yeah. And yeah. Right. And it was so nice to like, I don't know, not be surprised by the home that suddenly I was discovering on the first day of filming.

Like I got to have a say. And what that house would actually be. Yeah. I, I really enjoyed it. And it was just like a lot of Zoom calls.

And that's okay. Yeah. But there were conversations I wanted to have and be a part of. And yeah. So it's on this next gig.

I'm more of an actor for hire. So you're playing a restaurant and can we talk about the pit? Sure. Because you love it. I do love it.

But you love it. Well, no, a while. I mean, no, a while. Okay. Did you watch ER when it was on?

No. But I would think it was a little too little. Yeah. It was not maybe while I was shooting myself. I thought life is that right.

I don't know. Maybe I'm getting that time wrong. But yeah, I was aware of it. But I didn't want to. But no, he feels so credible.

But and I really think all those hours he put in as a TV doctor. Yes. Have a crude. So he has a kind of gravitational, you know, gravity now. Yeah, he does this.

He feels like he's doing, he's doing his blocking without thinking. I am so convinced. Totally. And no, and I just think it's, it's also like feels a little throwback. Yes.

Like it's so nice to watch. Excellent TV. Love, love. You've made excellent TV. Thank you.

But I enjoy watching excellent TV. It's my favorite thing to watch TV or better than movies. Sorry. TV is better than movies. I love movies too.

Very special. I'm a little worried about movies. I really am a little bit worried about movies. Well, they got to get their shit together. No, I love movies.

I love movies. I love movies. Is there anything that you want? I know you are a big podcast. Is there anything you watch like just for like kind of brain checkouts?

Yes. And what? OK. I know you ask this sometimes. So I had a prepared answer.

There is. The only person that's ever prepared. I want you to know this. Of course, Claire. But is it OK?

Tim Robinson. Yes. So he has this. There's this one sketch. Yeah.

From the show. A focus group. Incredible. Look, you just got to. Oh.

You just got to. Oh. For now. Let's watch it. We watch this all the time in our family.

Now do your kids watch it? Well, so all the kids are allowed to watch this. So Cyrus is, so we talk a little guy's in. And then we have like special mature viewing hour. And it started with like the Simpsons.

And then it was. Oh, this is all we gave me. Yeah. Only murders in the building. Oh.

Omid, which is basically Scooby-Doo for grownups. And it's great. And then he would be English husband introduced him to Monty Python stuff. He got really into that. Yes.

But now we've been watching mostly because of this focus group. His latest show, which is The Chair Company. Yeah, which there was a. So. So.

Safe work moment. Yes. And that show. I mean, the whole genius of the show is that it takes you very quickly to places that you are not prepared for. Totally.

We're all like cuddling in bed. And then there is this giant erectiveness. And he says close your eyes. Everybody close your eyes. Because of the eyes.

Everybody close your eyes. Yeah. It was intense. We're still recovering. It wasn't.

Yeah, but it was great. So we do love that show. I think that like what Claire, what I understand why you would like this because number one, I think you are like, I've known you to be a very fun, funny and like comedy. You love comedy. I do.

Yeah. And you get taste. Thanks. And there's a tiny bit of a disruptor in you that I imagine is fun to watch. Yes.

I think you're right. Speak. And the other thing that we've been watching is the latest South Park. Oh yeah. Which talk about what they're just saying the thing.

Just a chicken and a hen house. Oh. No, it's a fox and a hen house. You didn't get that right. That makes you go a hen house.

Thank you. Well, thank you. This was amazing. This was so nice. This was really nice.

This is so fun. Birthday present to me. No one's ever brought me a balloon. Thank you for bringing a balloon. And again, for people that are sick of me talking about the Enneagram, I don't know what to say.

But let me just read you this as we wrap up and see if any of these land. These are things that annoy an Enneagram 8. Are you ready? Sure. People who talk just to talk.

That's very annoying. That is deeply annoying. And I have a pie. But yes. People who talk just to talk.

Fake people. Oh. Jeant. I mean, I literally, if someone's like, I'm a piece of shit or whatever, I'm like, I'm a fake. Fake?

No, I'm not. People who aren't on time. I have to have some tolerance for that because I am not the. Same I was late today. Yeah.

Jeant is always the most punctual person. And then this one really scratches an itch for me. Others asserting power in a situation where they have none. So I went through a period in junior high where I became like a vigilante. And I would like, rough, I would like, confront the bullies.

For a tape, bullies. Yeah. Really. And I went to the principal's office one time because I like, I hit a bully. I hit a bully.

And it's exciting. And we've talked through it. The bully and I. And actually we made some progress. And then he was so differential to me.

And he would open doors like he was really new. But I had to stop that because it was like going on my record. But yes. I mean, so I think that makes sense that there would be an agency. I have to see that I stand up to bullies and everybody sees it.

That's my embarrassing fantasy that I stick up for people in public. So there was a bully in elementary school. And I admitted to my mother at one point that myself soothing fantasy, there'd be a circle of people. And this boy and I were at the center of it. And I was just beating the shit up.

And I was like, is that okay? To have that advantage? She was like, your thoughts are your own. Enjoy them. I wanted to be an answer.

Which was a nice bit of mother in there. A nice bit of mother in there. Really? A really comfortable circle. That's an art.

That's the environment. It did help. It was nice. Yeah. I could talk to you forever, Claire.

I could too. Thank you. Thank you so much. It was so fun. Thank you so much, Claire Danes.

That was so fun. I could have talked to you forever. And you're so interesting and smart and funny. So thanks so much for that time. And for the Polar Plunge today, I guess I just want to remind everybody how good law and order is, especially the first 10 seasons.

Okay. Just go back and watch Fine Claire as the young, you know, child maniac and just go back. And here's a little tip. Whoever you recognize, they did it. So it's a young actor just starting out.

They're the murderer. So take that tip with you and go check out a little show called Law and Order. I can't get enough of it. And you know, it's these kind of new things that I'm going to fill you in on when you take the time to listen to the Polar Plunge. So thanks so much for listening and see you soon.

Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for the show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weismann and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by the Ringer and Paper Kite. For the Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Elia Zenerys.

For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weismann. Original Music by Amy Miles. Feel like you know enough to start your own sports podcast? We got it. Feel like you don't know enough to start investing yet?

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