THE BEAST IN ME is a new Netflix series where Claire Danes plays a lesbian author. Yes, finally, My So-called Life‘s Angela Chase grew up to be queer. We always knew she would. Plus, the actual plot of the series is absolutely phenomenal.
Yes, Claire Danes is the star of THE BEAST IN ME on Netflix, and she’s a lesbian. It’s not a huge thing in the plot, it simply is. And it is glorious. At long last, Angela Chase (Claire Danes’ iconic angsty teen character from My So-Called Life) grew up to be a queer adult.
That’s hardly a surprise for any LGBTQ+ person who grew up watching the show. Sure, Angela Chase was all about Jordan Catalano, who was portrayed by Jared Leto. So was I, for a while. I mean, that man was so pretty, he might as well have been a cute lesbian.
Also, we saw Wilson Cruz portray Rickie Vasquez, a gay teenager, as one of Angela’s best friends. The other was Rayanne Graff, portrayed by A.J. Langer, and the relationship between Angela and Rayanne was always an emotional rollercoaster.
As are most teen relationships. Particularly between girls, I suppose.
Want to see Claire Danes play gay?!
My point, and I do have one, is that I always felt Angela Chase was a queer character, and have been dreaming of seeing Claire Danes play gay. Now, with The Beast in Me, we have arrived at this destination, and I am one happy queer camper.
Especially as the Netflix series is absolutely brilliant.
She even stars across from Matthew Rhys (who famously played a gay character in Brothers & Sisters), and the two deliver delicious powerhouse performances. It’s the classic straight man meets a lesbian and is fascinated that she isn’t immediately taken in by his charm. Also, he might be a serial killer. That’s a big part of the plot.
In any case, the result is that he respects Aggie and enjoys her company, because she couldn’t care less about impressing him. And he knows she doesn’t want him – it’s like Emma Thompson famously described her working relationship with Hugh Grant.
In fact, if anything, Aggie’s more interested in his wife, who does also seem quite… inviting?!
So many queer (or LGBTQ-adjacent) cast members
Of course, the wife of Matthew Rhys’ character is also portrayed by Brittany Snow, who recently delivered a deliciously queer portrayal in The Hunting Wives across from Malin Åkerman. And was famously (or should I say: infamously) one half of the super-queerbaiting non-couple in the Pitch Perfect franchise.
Disclaimer: I feel confident that both Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow would gladly have made “Bechloe” a real thing. There’s even a blooper showing them kissing each other instead of their respective male love interest.
Incidentally, several cast members from Pitch Perfect have also come out as queer in recent years. Most notably, Rebel Wilson, who now has a wife and child. And most recently, Anna Camp, who is happily in love with a woman.
Also, Brittany Snow has kissed women on screen before. Including kissing Sophia Bush in John Tucker Must Die (2006), and now Sophia Bush is also in a relationship with a woman in real life. Yes, I do realize this piece is turning into a “six degrees of queer separation”.
And I love it!
Getting back to Claire Danes in The Beast in Me, I should also mention that Aggie’s ex-wife in The Beast in Me is portrayed by Natalie Morales. She is an actor who has played queer characters in several productions, including Santa Clarita Diet, Dead to Me, and, most recently (and sadly), in Grey’s Anatomy.
Also, Natalie Morales is an out queer person in real life.
DO BRITTANY SNOW AND NATALIE MORALES KISS IN THE BEAST IN ME?
Fair warning, and tiny spoiler here, despite rumors of a kiss, I can reveal that Brittany Snow and Natalie Morales do not kiss in The Beast in Me. So, don’t get hyped up for that and be disappointed.
This is a great Netflix series, but it does not give us a kiss between Brittany and Natalie. Nor would it make much sense in the setting of its plot.
Claire Danes is married…
For the record, Claire Danes has been married to Hugh Dancy in real life since 2009, and they have three children. Hugh Dancy is a British actor who has not shied away from taking on queer roles himself.
Not least in Hannibal, where he starred and had a very homoerotic (and deeply troubling) relationship with Mads Mikkelsen’s title character.
Fun fact: Hettienne Park co-stars in The Beast in Me as an FBI agent. She is straight in this Netflix series, but she did play a possibly gay lady (it wasn’t made canon) in Hannibal.
Bottom line: Do not miss out on The Beast in Me on Netflix. Claire Danes is brilliant as the lesbian author, Aggie Wiggs, who is as flawed as she is unapologetically gay.
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