MILES PARKS, HOST:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Miles Parks. Anyone who's ever had writer's block knows how much it stinks, just waiting and waiting and waiting for those creative juices to start flowing. At the beginning of the Netflix show, "The Beast In Me," this is where we find writer Aggie Wiggs. Luckily, for her, though, she gets a new neighbor, played by Matthew Rhys, who the whole world thinks killed his wife. That could be a good book, as long as Aggie doesn't get herself in too deep.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BEAST IN ME")
CLAIRE DANES: (As Aggie) Maybe I am complicit.
(SOUNDBITE OF SIRENS)
DANES: (As Aggie) But I'm not a monster.
PARKS: Claire Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, and she was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. When we talked, I wanted to know why she thought Aggie was so drawn to Nile Jarvis, that creepy guy next door.
DANES: You know, he's a compelling figure, and he's also kind of brilliant and isolated and troubled. So there is a part of her that recognizes him and even relates in a surprising way, despite the fact that he presents as somebody very other, hostile and kind of repulsive. But there's a strange chemistry between them that neither of them fully understand, but neither of them can really deny either.
PARKS: Yeah. That's so interesting. I hadn't thought about the trauma bond aspect. It does feel like...
DANES: Yeah.
PARKS: ...Aggie's kind of craving somebody to be able to see this side of her, right?
DANES: Yeah. I mean, I thought - it's also kind of mythic. That's what I enjoyed about it - you know, this idea of the darkest part of yourself taking form, you know, becoming incarnate in another person. It's like your shadow self, who you are in actual relationship with. And, you know, what does that reveal (laughter) to you? And yeah, and he has a charisma, you know? There's also some kind of rubbernecking going on.
PARKS: At the beginning of the show, Aggie is sort of, you know, between projects. She doesn't know what her next book is going to be. But I was curious about - it did make me curious about, like, the parallels with this character and you and whether - have you ever felt that sort of restlessness between projects? Or do you feel more comfortable when you have something that you can kind of devote yourself to specifically versus the other times in your life?
DANES: Oh. Oh, totally. I mean, yes. I don't have to work - like, I don't have to spin something out of nothing. That really feels like magic to me, you know, and just wildly impressive - and so hard and lonely to work in that kind of isolation. So yeah, that particular version of, you know, panic, a creative panic and - I can't directly relate to, but I can certainly extrapolate. And yeah, it's funny. My parents are visual artists, and I do envy the fact that they can just go to their studio and make something. My job is so collaborative, which is a thing I love about it, but it also - you know, I'm dependent on all these other forces and all these other people. And, you know, if I'm in the mood, I can't necessarily just do it. Whereas writers theoretically can, unless they're, you know, paralyzed.
PARKS: Yeah. I'm gathering there's not, like, a Claire Danes novel coming...
DANES: No.
PARKS: ...Out soon then, or a memoir or anything. It sounds like a thing that you have no interest in endeavoring to try.
DANES: Oh, God. That just seems really intimidating and painful. Yeah. There is something that is relieved in me when I'm in practice. And there is no other, like, outlet for it. There's no substitute. And so it does start to kind of - yeah, there's, like, gunk, discharge that starts to, like, mount over time and - when I'm not in practice, you know?
PARKS: I've never thought of it like that. The internal buildup is such an interesting way to think about it.
DANES: Yeah.
PARKS: But it totally makes sense.
DANES: And it's true. It's very true.
PARKS: Yeah.
DANES: Yeah.
PARKS: Yeah. Well, so I imagine a lot of people are going to probably binge it over the holidays because it is a very bingeable show, but it did make me think about, like, if you have any recommendations for other shows or movies...
DANES: Sure.
PARKS: ...In terms of things that people should watch this holiday season.
DANES: Yeah. Well, I don't watch nearly as much as I would like to. I have three kids. I have a 13-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. So it's - and their tastes tend to dominate. So I watch a lot of "Bluey"...
PARKS: I was going to say...
DANES: ...These days.
PARKS: ...I have a 2-year-old, too. It's a lot of "Frozen" right now.
DANES: It's just so much "Frozen" and "Bluey."
PARKS: Yeah.
DANES: But actually, it's been kind of fun because my 13-year-old is starting to have - you know, he's maturing, and he's getting to a point where he can watch more adult content, right? So when I tuck the little guys in, we have, like, kind of privileged, you know, sophisticated viewing time with Cyrus. We like - we cuddle in bed, and we've been watching "The Chair Company," Tim Robinson...
PARKS: Yeah. Tim Robinson.
DANES: ...I think. Yeah. And we've been watching "South Park" with Cyrus in our privileged viewing...
PARKS: That's so cool.
DANES: ...Time.
PARKS: I love the - I mean, just being able to get - move into that moment where, like, he probably is starting to, like, say interesting things after he watches the movie...
DANES: Yeah.
PARKS: ...That you hadn't thought about, or, like...
DANES: Yes.
PARKS: ...I don't know.
DANES: That...
PARKS: Such a cool thing.
DANES: That's such a blast. You're in for a good time. And he, like, loves Wes Anderson movies. We watch a lot of Miyazaki movies, too. That's another great - like, it's - they're - everybody is happy watching a Miyazaki movie.
PARKS: Actress Claire Danes, she stars in the Netflix show, "The Beast In Me," which is out now. Thank you so much for talking with me.
DANES: Of course. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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