The two ‘Best Picture’-winning movies Claire Danes turned down: “I didn’t have it in me”
Most actors, Hollywood or otherwise, have a couple of regrets, especially when it comes to rejected roles that went on to become incredibly successful. For Claire Danes, however, turning down roles often comes with a very good reason.
In fact, Danes’ reasons often feel similar to the many reasons why Jodie Foster often turns away from opportunities both big and small: because they’re just “bad” or simply not for her. For Danes, however, a lot of this also comes down to timing, as well as specific needs around certain roles that would help her deliver her best performance.
One of Danes’ best and most popular roles was her performance as one-half of the famed Shakespearean star-crossed lovers, Juliet, in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. Luhrmann had originally considered Natalie Portman for the role, but instead chose Danes upon realising the age gap between her and Leonardo DiCaprio would be a little questionable (with Portman being 13 and DiCaprio being 21).
While Portman was closer to Juliet’s actual age in the original story, Danes, 17 at the time, ended up transforming the role into something undeniable iconic, highlighting the character’s simple innocence and all-consuming infatuation with the long-haired, dreamboat from the opposing family. Despite reports that the pair failed to get on on set, Danes was just as enamoured with her co-star as many audience members remain to this day.
As she once reflected, “I couldn’t really have a crush on the guy I was professionally having a crush on.” She went on, “Quite a few gay men have talked to me about the fact that when they were kids watching Romeo and Juliet, they were confused about who they wanted to kiss. It was all about Leo! And I completely understand.”
In fact, in an alternate universe, Danes would have starred alongside her on-screen lover more than once had she not turned down another major opportunity. After Romeo and Juliet, Danes was also offered the coveted role of Rose DeWitt Bukater in James Cameron’s 1997 epic Titanic, but it eventually went to Kate Winslet after Danes felt too wrung out to give it a go.
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast a few years back, Danes admitted, “I think I did [get offered the role] I’m not entirely clear on that. Honestly I had just made this romantic epic with Leo [DiCaprio] in Mexico City, which is where they were going to shoot Titanic and I just didn’t have it in me.” She also said that both actors knew it would be a major opportunity, one that shot DiCaprio into the “stratosphere”, and that frightened her.
Danes also turned down an opportunity to appear in Schindler’s List, mainly because she would have had to relocate to Poland, and the team weren’t willing to give her “any schooling in Poland”. Evidently, however, Danes’ rejections didn’t chip her career or legacy all that much, and often instead set her on a different path of self-discovery that led to new pathways.
In fact, since Danes had already been in Los Angeles, she was available to meet with My So-Called Life creator Winnie Holzman. Not only did she appear in all episodes of the show, she also won a Golden Globe, after walking into the room the meet Holzman, and it being like “the part [walking] in the door”. Danes also wasn’t unique in turning away from the Steven Spielberg epic, but her choice certainly felt the most fated considering the opportunities that landed in her lap after the fact.
