The dramatic movie Evening explores the romantic past and emotional present of Ann Grant and her daughters, Constance (Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Colette), as Ann is about to die. Claire Danes plays the younger Ann during the 1950s. In love with life, she's also caught between two loves, that of her good friend Buddy (Hugh Dancy) and a new acquaintance, Harris, (Patrick Wilson). Danes was eager to talk about her movie, her upcoming role in Stardust, and her career in general.

Was this a really different type of role for you?
“Well, it's certainly rare, that's true. So, yes, it's really not so often that I have a chance to play somebody that's this dynamic, layered and relatable. She's so alive. Anyway, I was very privileged, and I couldn't have been in finer company.”

What was it like to work on the really intense scenes such as the rain scene with Patrick Wilson?
“They were so exquisitely written that I didn't have to work too hard to analyze them or refine them. We read them a couple of times in rehearsal, and it just worked. I think it was so clear of what it was asking of us, that we had very little resistance, so we were fortunate. I love that scene, and with Mamie [in bed]. It was so exciting to play because they have so many shifts and turns that they have a great rhythm and integrity.”

Your scenes with Hugh Dancy were great. What's he like to work with?
“He's such a good actor. I mean, everybody in this film is remarkably kind of embarrassingly talented.

I wasn't all that familiar with his work, and was just so surprised by how carefully judged his performance was, and how sensitive it was. It's hard to play drunk. It's like it should be avoided at all costs (laughing). So, it's challenging to play it persuasively. You can overdo it.”

Having to sing on film must have been challenging. You hadn't done that before, had you?
“No, I hadn't, and I wasn't TEAMING with confidence. But I had a great teacher, Deborah Lapidus teaches at Julliard and she gave a quick but thorough lesson on how to go about doing it. I didn't realize what a physical undertaking it was, and I was surprised by the volume I was able to produce. 'We can really make big noises,' kind of spooky. I still take lessons from her now because I enjoy it so much.”

Do you hope to use your dancing skills in more of your films?
“That would be wonderful. I love dancing and I think my dancing served me and my singing because I have a sense of rhythm and timing. But as I said before, singing is really physical because I could organize it better thinking in those terms. ‘I'm singing out of the back of my head and using my lower abdomen, so bring it on.’”

Can you talk about the underlying message of choosing a mate and passing over your true love to go with someone else?
“This still happens today. But, it's easy for Ann to romanticize that affair because it was never fully realized, so it was always perfect in her mind. I'm not fully confident that it would have lasted. They might not be true life partners, but it served a purpose for her that she enjoyed escaping into.”

Did you have an opportunity to talk with Vanessa Redgrave about her being you in later years?
“We had a conversation that didn't last very long that digressed into other things. I think it was really obvious after a certain point that we were afforded a lot of liberties in forming our characters. But because the gap in our ages was so massive, it was impossible to carefully design that arc. And because that character was so sick, and weaving in and out of consciousness and behaving uncharacteristically, it was pretty freeing.”

You and Patrick Wilson are doing another project. Is that because of Evening?
"No, no, totally unrelated. It was really coincidental. The people, they just asked us independently, and had no idea that we had just made a film together. So it worked out pretty well."

Was novelist Neil Gaiman involved with your upcoming new film, Stardust?
”Yes, he was very much involved. And yes, I read the novel.”

Can you describe your role in Stardust?
“I play the star, a celestial being - literally a star - who crashes to earth and finds herself in a huge crater. I'm kidnapped by a young naive guy, played by Charlie Cox. Initially, I'm very resentful, and then we end up liking each other a little bit.”

Did you use the novel as a resource while filming?
“I mean, I think as usually is the case, it's a great resource. But you know, the screenplay has to be an adaptation and there's a lot of translation involved. So, it's totally fair to just stick to the text. But, you know, it's a boon.”

Did you have to do research for Stardust or your other movies?
“It really depends on the role. Sometimes there's a skill that I have to develop, and in this case for Evening, I had to learn how to sing. So, I did that. But in both Evening and Stardust, I didn't have to do too much research. Actually, it was all really apparent in the script. It was all there. Everything I needed to know.”

Do you ever get used to fame and the paparazzi?
”Well, I mean, the media has become so much more voracious in the last 10 years. I think the proliferation of the tabloids has changed actors' lives pretty profoundly.”

With things like people taking pictures of you with their cell phone?
“Yeah, it's a different game. And I'm followed by paparazzi almost every day, and I'm not even somebody. I mean, I'm not that big of a deal (laughing). I don't know how people who are a real story actually cope, because it's become so intense.”

Do you ever want to throw things at the photographers?
“Sure (laughing). Look, it's gotten very invasive. Recently though, I've just decided to really retreat from all of that. I have to actually find real discipline and just not engage with it. I do not read those stories and try and find out where those pictures find themselves, because it all just makes me feel really paranoid.”