You may think Claire Danes' decision to go make-up free and emotional for her role as Carrie in 'Homeland' is a recent idea, but check out this tingling scene in 'Romeo + Juliet' from way back in 1996, and you'll see that she's never been one for an airbrush.
There is literally nothing not to love about this scene - Romeo + Juliet + a fish tank
In fact, Claire's porcelain features, barely beautiful face with just a faint blush and wide open gaze are just some of the factors that make her glimpse of Romeo, a cherubic Leonardo DiCaprio, through a fish tank, still one of the most thrilling romantic encounters on screen ever. (We think.)
Remind yourself of this bashful pair's awesomeness in the clip above...
Finding this clip got us thinking, too. Claire Danes has been around for a deceptively long time, for an actress still only 35. She's been famous since her 1994 breakout TV role in 'My So-Called Life', but even before that, she sneaked in alongside Winona Ryder, playing Jo March's sister Beth in 'Little Women'.
The curse of child stardom is well documented, with youthful good looks, energy and charisma not necessarily equating a robust framework of values, friends and ability to resist temptation and tolerate the scrutiny that comes with stardom.
But Claire is among an increasing number of actors both on TV and film who seem to have found the resources to take all this in their stride, and emerge... dare we say it... normal.
If you don't believe us, here is a list of 33(!) child actors who've had to grow up in front of the world's spotlight, and somehow kept both their star power, and positive images, intact along the way.
'Romeo+Juliet' airs tonight at 9pm on Sony TV, a channel available on Virgin Media. Virgin Media provides access to up to 260+ channels including Sony TV, Freeview Channels, Fox TV, Virgin Movies, Sky Movies and Netflix.
