Great Danes

Steven Spielberg called Claire Danes the most exciting new actress in a decade. That was in 1995, a year after the then-15-year-old defined teen angst in "My So-Called Life," the short-lived but long-beloved series that led to a Golden Globe win and an Emmy nomination.

But in the ensuing years, Danes has failed to live up to expectations. opting to play the love interest of robot killers ("Terminator 3"), white-haired businessmen ("Shopgirl") and mere mortals ("Stardust") instead of committing to more complex, challenging roles that don't rely so heavily on making goo-goo eyes at her co-stars. Since "Life," she has failed to be recognized by any major award organizations.

Now comes reason for renewed hope. "Temple Grandin," her first TV project since "Life," shackles her in Buffalo Bob Smith gear, gives her a halting voice that's a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Forrest Gump and drops her into the glamorous setting of cow pies. It's the best thing that's happened to her in 15 years.

Grandin may not be a household name among city folks, but she was both a pioneer in the animal-welfare movement and in bringing autism into mainstream society.

Grandin's ability to visualize words -- her database has more information than a spankin' new computer -- helped her relate to cattle and create more humane methods of treating them. Her designs are now used in half of the slaughterhouses in North America.

Even if that background does nothing for you except make you crave a cheeseburger, you will relate to her battle with autism, an often misunderstood neural development that can make social interaction a severe struggle.

Anyone who's felt like a social outcast will relate to her hypersensitivity. She'll only eat pudding and Jell-O, prefers to strap herself into a self-made "hug machine" rather than accept human contact, and is so disinterested in her physical appearance that all it takes is a trucker's cap and a few smudges of dirt on her face to pass herself off as a man.

They share a stubbornness

Many of us may have forgotten just how perfect Danes can be in this kind of three-dimensional role, but not director Mick Jackson, who does a splendid job of taking us into Grandin's weird, wonderful mind and encouraging his star to take bold, brash chances.

"I think it was about three nanoseconds into the casting that I thought Claire Danes would be the only person who can play that role," he said. One performance that won him over is one few have seen, a 2006 off-Broadway production of "Christina Olson: American Model," a one-woman show about a woman slowly succumbing to polio.

The play opened with a filmed segment of Danes dragging her dead legs along the sidewalk outside the theater and up the stairs.

"I thought someone who can do that and bring her professional skills to that degree of dedication is the person who should play Temple Grandin," Jackson said. "Claire is an actress who, in many ways, has some of Temple's own characteristics -- a directness, a determination, which she sometimes calls stubbornness or you can call it obsession, but certainly a determination to see something through in the right possible way and get it right."

Grandin, who still lectures and writes books about both autism and livestock-handling, lent Danes old videotapes of her TV appearances to show what she was like in her teenage years and early adulthood when her autism was more pronounced. Danes, a trained dancer, also used a choreographer to help her capture Grandin's stubborn stride. Most critically, she relied on audio of their one-on-one conversations to mimic Grandin's distinct drawl. She called that tool her "Rosetta Stone."

"They were on my iPod and I was constantly reviewing it," Danes said. "My poor driver in the morning must have gone crazy because every day on the way to work, I'd be listening and doing call and response."

Just what Danes, 30, will do after this revitalizing performance is uncertain. There is nothing on her production schedule, perhaps because she's still enjoying honeymoon time with actor Hugh Dancy, whom she married in September. Certainly, Danes would be wise to make herself available come Emmy time. When she does get back to acting, let's hope she hasn't shaken Grandin's willingness to go against the tide and leave the terminator hunts to lesser talent.