Actress Claire Danes first made headlines as a teenager when she took the starring role in the TV show My So-Called Life. Since then she’s done a variety of films, playing everything from Juliet Capulet to a fallen star. She was recently in London to talk about her latest film, Me and Orson Welles, and took the time to chat about reading her own reviews, how she’s changed since she first started acting and dancing with Zac Efron.

You play a different sort of character, compared to the rest of the cast, because you sort of hover on the outside, you don't get involved with the production, you're organising things.
Claire Danes (CD): Yes. Organising things or creating chaos in the life of one young man.

You're a heartbreaker.
CD: Yes. But that was never intentional. I play Orson's Girl Friday and Sonja's very ambitious and very forthright about that, unapologetically so.

What was it like to flirt with Zac Efron?
CD: Tough going. [laughter] No, it was amazing. First of all, the dialogue was very special, it's very rare to find writing of this quality. It's very witty and engaging and I had a lot of fun with those kind of flirty slang words and goofy vernacular. “Mincing around” on stage, all that. And the scenes were very tender. And Zac's, you know, amazing. I was really delighted to discover how fine an actor he is. And he can move very well. We took some dancing lessons for a brief scene in a dance hall and that was very humbling. Zac was a much quicker study than I was, my God. Very co-ordinated guy.

How was it filming in the Isle of Man?
CD: I went on walks, but it was February and very wet and cold, but I was determined to enjoy the nature there.

Zac has to do an audition in the street in the film. What's the worst audition you've ever done?
CD: Well, I have to say, I did an audition for [director Richard Linklater's] Dazed and Confused when I was 12 and I did a bike tour around the five boroughs of New York that day. I biked 60 miles and was beet red by the time I got to the audition and exhausted. I mean, I showered, but I don't think I was at my best.

How do you think you would have coped with being directed by someone like Orson? A mercurial genius...
CD: Ah. Well, I was reminded when I saw the movie a few days ago of what a good director Orson must have been. I mean, he's brazen and a little insensitive but he's also incredibly specific about what he wants and perceptive about the actors that are playing the roles. So any direction that's that astute is very helpful, so I imagine – I'd like to think I would have responded well, but who knows.

Do you think you would have got your own way against someone like Orson Welles?
CD: Oh, I don't ever feel combative with my directors. I love working with directors – I need them. I get really anxious when a director is not really making himself available. You know, some are more involved than others and I prefer the former.

In the film we see Orson Welles being very sensitive to critical reaction. How much notice do you take of your own reviews and how do you feel when you get a bad review?
CD: Awesome [laughs]. I think it's generally a good idea not to, because they're not crits, you know, they're not written for you, for your benefit as the artist, so it's just not very useful. And you get the general vibe, whether you read reviews or not – it seeps through.

How have you changed since you started acting and which of your own films are you most and least proud of?
CD: How have I changed? I'm not sure. Hmmm. I think I probably feel more comfortable asking for things that I need on a project. I feel able to assert myself. I used to worry that that was a sign of arrogance and now I know it's a sign of responsibility and maturity, so I have a sense of what I need and I know it's okay to ask for those needs. And the best work, I don't know, it's hard – I mean it's funny, like the things that people appreciate over time tend to be the things I'm reminded of and kind of return to and settle on as being good. It's like public opinion does sort of like inform without even my being aware of it, my own personal opinion of the things that I've done. So I think that the things that have excited people the most are My So-Called Life and Romeo + Juliet and Shopgirl. So I guess those are the things that were the most successful because they resonated the loudest and the longest.

But I don't know, I had a lot of fun doing (Oliver Stone's) U-Turn, I had a little part in that and I kind of catch it occasionally and go, “Wow, that was really weird and kind of cool, what I was doing there.” So I don't know, it varies. But I often gauge the success of a performance too by how expanded I became through it, so I did a play, on Broadway, I did Pygmalion, which was, you know, the opinions were sort of polarised, some people really liked it, other people didn't, but I learned an enormous amount and also learned that I really enjoy working in theatre as well. But I'm babbling, I don't know. My hair is longer now [laughter].