Claire Danes On Controversial Ex Billy Crudup: 'I Was Just In Love With Him'

Crudup left his pregnant girlfriend at the time to be with Danes.
John Shearer via Getty Images

Claire Danes is known to the public as Carrie Mathison on "Homeland," but in the early 2000s, she was better known as a "homewrecker." The actress sat down with shock jock Howard Stern on Oct. 5 to talk about the experience.

Danes started dating ex-boyfriend Billy Crudup in 2003, after he left his pregnant girlfriend of eight years, Mary-Louise Parker, for her. The two met while filming "Stage Beauty" together.

"I was just in love with him," said Danes. "I needed to explore that and I was 24. I didn't quite know what those consequences would be. But it's OK. I went through it."

The actress then told Stern that it was tough to handle the public backlash against her.

"That was a scary thing," she said. "That was really hard."

Mary-Louise Parker rarely spoke about the breakup.

"I've never commented on the situation and I won't because it's not fair to my son," said Parker in More magazine. "Who wins? No child can benefit in that situation. Your love for your child should eclipse any other feelings you have for another person.

Danes and Crudup later split in 2006. She married actor Hugh Dancy in 2009 and the two have one son together, Cyrus Michael Christopher Dancy.

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