\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time playing a lesbian\u2014my first lesbian!\u201d Danes exclaims in the middle of our conversation. Rhys laughs, spotting an opening: \u201cThe first of many, Claire.\u201d Danes smiles again, but she has a real point here: \u201cIt was like, Oh, right. I don\u2019t have to conform to these sets of expectations that I find myself having to normally as Claire. I exist happily in the margins.\u201d She had a new wardrobe to play with\u2014it\u2019s woodsy, it\u2019s queer, and it\u2019s highlighted by a killer pair of pinstripe pants\u2014and a well of dark, eccentric humor to draw from.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something so professional and so non-dramatic about it, and yet she summons these emotional states that are quite remarkable to observe,\u201d Gordon says. \u201cEspecially for one who\u2019s been famous for so long, she\u2019s, like, annoyingly normal.\u201d This turned out to be true of Rhys as well: \u201cThey\u2019re both family people. They seem to be in very good marriages, and they\u2019re very good parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
The whole production started leaning on their chemistry. At one point, Campos asked the pair to play Scrabble or chess together, to see what would come of it. \u201cI was like, There\u2019s no way on God\u2019s green earth I\u2019m playing Scrabble with Claire Danes,\u201d Rhys says. \u201cLook at the books behind her.\u201d (For the record, there are a lot of books in Danes\u2019s Zoom background.)<\/p>\n
But if you consider these two actors\u2019 TV r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, you realize they\u2019re both old pros in this particular game. Homeland<\/em> found magic in the forbidden chemistry between Danes\u2019s CIA agent and Damian Lewis<\/strong>\u2019s recruited terrorist, and was also written fast during production. Rhys spent six seasons on The Americans<\/em> fleshing out one of TV\u2019s most complex marriages ever with his eventual real-life partner, Keri Russell.<\/strong> The stars have built careers on brilliant chemistry.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is the major gift of having done this for a while. There\u2019s that shared history and language that comes with it\u2014and achy joints,\u201d Danes says. \u201cWe were both concealing quite a lot from each other and pretending otherwise [in The Beast in Me<\/em>]\u2014and that is something we have explored before in previous roles. We knew how to do that. I mean, it\u2019s a kick.\u201d<\/p>\n
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