Claire Danes says she initially “resents” extreme physical transformations for roles, even as she later finds the work freeing. In the same conversation, Richard Gadd describes gaining 90 pounds for his character Ruben in Half Man and breaks down the real weig
Claire Danes doesn’t pretend the physical transformation part of acting feels good at first.
At 47, the Homeland star spoke with fellow actor Richard Gadd during Variety and CNN’s Actors on Actors series, describing how she approaches the more extreme body changes some performers take on to “better embody a character.”
“I don’t know if it’s ever been necessary for me to transform in such an extreme way,” Danes said. “Some roles are more remote than others, and I do have to apply myself with a bit more rigor in putting them together. Those are the most rewarding, really — high risk, high-reward.”
Then comes the admission that lands with a kind of honesty that’s rare in this industry: she resents it at first.
She continued, “I resent them initially and then I’m so grateful and I find the most freedom within them. Sometimes it’s quite stressful to play somebody who is super familiar, who you overlap with.”
Gadd, 37, is in the middle of his own transformation for his role as Ruben in Half Man, the writer-director-actor’s followup to Netflix’s Baby Reindeer. He reportedly gained 90 pounds to embody the hyper-masculine and toxic character.
On Vanity Fair’s In Character series, Gadd said, “I like to try and change as much as I possibly can for a role,” adding that he “always wanted Ruben to be real” and “never wanted him to have a sort of Hollywood six-pack.”
The body work becomes more specific when Gadd compares the weight swings between his characters. While speaking with Danes. he revealed the difference between Ruben Pallister and his Baby Reindeer character. Donny Dunn: “Donny Dunn was like 68.8 kilograms [151 pounds]. Ruben at my heaviest was 110 [242 pounds]. I wanted it to be real. so a lot of it was putting a lot of fat on top of the muscles.”.
Gadd said that physical gap was also practical on set. “It’s quite helpful, because as the character, you feel physically imposing, and Jamie Bell’s very petite,” he explained. “When I was acting with him, I could almost ingest him, I was so much bigger than him. It helped in that respect. I like that because — I don’t know about you. I hate feeling like myself on set.”.
He went on to describe what it’s like when wardrobe and the mirror don’t immediately erase your own body. “They’ll put you in a shirt and you go to set and I’m like. ‘I still feel like myself.’ So how do I feel like a character in my body?. I like to feel different. I wouldn’t say it’s Method or anything. I just like to feel the physicality, whether it’s frail or big.”.
The conversation also turned briefly to craft—and to something Danes helped inspire. Gadd told Danes he learned the “guttural sob” for Baby Reindeer by revisiting her Romeo + Juliet performance. “I’ll tell you a little fact. Back at school. to get us to learn Shakespeare. we watched Romeo + Juliet. ” he said. adding that he remembered writing an essay about it. “I remember so clearly an amazing bit you do in that where you wake up and Romeo’s dead. and you do this amazing guttural sob. I remember writing paragraphs about that sob and how impactful it was.”.
Danes responded, “You saw my guttural sob, and you raised it. I remember that moment very distinctly. I was surprised by it. I remember the shock of the discovery and being startled by my response, which is what we hope for. It doesn’t always happen.”
Danes is also currently playing a grieving mother named Agatha Wiggs in the TV miniseries The Beast in Me. while Gadd is building out the world of Half Man. But the thread tying their careers together here is simple: when actors push their bodies toward someone else. it can feel uncomfortable at the start—until it becomes the difference-maker that lets them fully inhabit the role.
Claire Danes Richard Gadd Half Man Baby Reindeer Actors on Actors Variety CNN body transformation method acting Ruben Pallister Donny Dunn Jamie Bell The Beast in Me Agatha Wiggs Romeo + Juliet guttural sob
So basically acting is just starving yourself for roles now? lol
I didn’t get why she said she “resents” it at first, like… who made her? Then again Richard Gadd gained 90 pounds so maybe it’s not easy. But “freedom within them” sounds kinda opposite? idk.
Wait Richard Gadd gained 90 pounds for Half Man?? I thought that was like a fake CGI thing or something. Also Claire Danes is 47 so she’s acting circles around everyone, she probably feels different than a younger guy.
This headline makes it sound like she hates doing body changes, but then she’s “grateful” after?? Kinda sounds like PR wording. And “super familiar” like playing someone she knows personally? I’m confused. I feel like Hollywood always turns it into some empowerment speech after the fact.