The secret side of Claire Danes

Emmy-winning actress Claire Danes, 32, admits she “was a little resistant” to the idea of starring in the thriller TV series Homeland (Sundays, 10 p.m. ET, Showtime). After all, it has been 17 years since she worked a regular gig on the acclaimed TV drama My So-Called Life.

“But [Homeland] is so annoyingly good I couldn’t ignore it,” Danes says. The actress plays a bipolar CIA officer suspicious of a recently rescued American POW. We asked her more:

Kicking butt (on TV):

“I can fake it. I think it’s best that I’m not actually protecting the country. I’m just barely appropriate to play that on television.”

Shopping for midcentury furniture on eBay:

“I tend to see what they’re offering up in that area. I leave feedback.”

Just hanging out:

“I’m not dissimilar to most people. I like to eat good food, take hikes, go to art galleries and see movies.”

IPad playing:

Words with Friends. “I’m a convert.”

Watching TV on DVD:

Breaking Bad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bored to Death

Reading:

Books on the CIA or bipolar disorder, like her Homeland character has: A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World [Susanne Antonetta]; The Company We Keep: A Husband-and-Wife True-Life Spy Story [Robert Baer and Dayna Baer]

Traveling:

Her new show is filmed in Charlotte, North Carolina. She brings her dog, a Schnoodle, a Schnauzer Poodle mix, to make it feel like home.