[INTRO] Random roomate dorm pairings can be funny. Like you can show up at Yale one sunny September and find out you're sharing digs with...Claire Danes. "She wasn't fazed," Claire said about her roomie. "She was like, 'Wow--should I be concerned? Should I be excited? In awe?'"

No less in awe than we are. She wanted to be an actress from age five, and when she was 13, her family relocated from New York to Los Angeles so she could play Angela Chase in the all-to-short-lived drama series My So-Called Life. Claire, who turned 20 in April, has managed to make more than a dozen movies, be called "the next Meryl Streep," have a healthy relationship (with Aussie rocker Ben Lee) and go to college. Oh, and win a Golden Globe for My So-Called Life. And date Matt Damon before he became Winona's beau. But Claire's biggest challenge of all--and it's one she's met head-on--is remaining completely down-to-earth.

So, Claire Danes, college student. What's that like?

So great. I'm studying psycology. It's a nice mixture of science and art--it's really about human nature, which is what acting is all about as well. And after doing nothing but acting for a long time, I wanted to be with kids my own age and talk to them about ideas.

Let's see. You've made 14 movies and you've already signed on for four more. Talk about your hot commodity--is this where you imagined you'd be at 20?

I'm very satisfied. I feel like I've reached a kind on plateau. I'd been so curious about moviemaking, so attracted to it, and I've lost myself in this world for quite a while now. I understand how it works. It's completely compelling and thrilling, but I've sacrificed a lot of my life for it.

Like your youth?

Yes. And I was going to school at the same time so there was really no room for anything extracurricular. Not that I've had the space to breathe a little bit as a normal human being, I've realized how important it is to maintain a proper balance. But I'm extremely grateful for what the buisness has given me. I've traveled, I've made a home for myself, I've fallen in love. I'm doing tremendously well.

Is it true that Jodie Foster--who was your director on Home For the Holidays--encouraged you to go back to school?

Before I went to Yale, I was very nervous, and she'd call and hassle me about it: "You're still going, right? I'm going to drag you there myself, pull you by your hair." She went to Yale and loved it and it was great for her, and I believe her.

So where does this leave your acting career?

I'll be at school for most of the year, but I'll use my four months off to make movies. So, I'm completely contradicting myself here! I've just said that I wanted to spend more time with my life and not be so ambitious, and of coarse I can always go back to school. I might do half of it now and half of it later, but I want to have a normal college experience.

When did you know you wanted to act?

I wanted to be an actress from the moment I saw Madonna on TV. I thought I could be Madonna, but I didn't want to be a rock star. So, I started dancing and did some arty stage work as a kid. I played a duck. Then I was told that actors don't earn much money, so I thought I'd be a psycholgist instead and take acting workshops on the side.

What changed your mind?

After doing some theater in New York, I loved it so much that I thought, "Money or no money, I must be true to my acting!" I told my parents. They let me go on auditions.

Lets go back a bit. How was it working with a pre-Titanic Leo DiCaprio on Romeo + Juliet?

He's crazy, out of his gourd--and he'd be the first to admit that, so I'm allowed to say so! But, he's extremely talented, charismatic and very instinctive. He relies on his intuiton completely. He looks like a cat and he makes a lot of very crude jokes. He would make prosthetic boogers with stuff from the makeup trailer and look really gross. He's lovely.

What do you think of Leonardo's success?

I was in Manila filming Brokedown Palace when the whole Titanic thing hit, so I had no idea what a huge megastar he's become. When I got back, he invited me to the Man In the Iron Mask premiere, and the scene was not to be believed. So many cameras, so many wailing girls, like it was this plague, like everybody had caught this fever. It was really kind of scary for me. He seemed very grounded, he handeled it magnificently. I'm in the awe. I'd be a wreck if I got that much attention.

If you ever get a spare moment, what do you do?

I like to go out and dance. And I love listining to music and going to rock shows. I love music of any kind. I'm not discriminating.

Hmm...and your boyfriend's a musician? Coincidence?

[Laughs] I knew Ben's music from before I met him. I was obsessed with his first album. Winona (Ryder) gave it to me and introduced us. We talked on the phone, and then he faxed me, "If you want to go out for coffee, I'm in L.A. doing my second album."

Is Ben a rocker with tattoos and stuff?

No, he tried a fake tattoo next to his nipple, a little heart, for a day. But he felt too rebellious.

How about you? Any singing?

No, I have a vile singing voice. Ben says I can sing, but he hasn't heard me. I wont let him.

Has he taken you home to Austrailia?

Yes--it's so beautiful there. I crashed his lectures at university of Sydney.

You met on your 18th Birthday. How did you celebrate your anniversary?

We went to dinner with twenty of our friends. Then we went raving at the Cave, a cheesy club. And we stayed up all night. It was the first time I'd done that properly. And then we went up on our roof to see the sunrise. We're a very romantic duo. And we were gazing at the sun and after a while, we were going, "Isn't it suppose to get bigger as time passes?" Finally we realized it was a street light with a beautiful bulb.

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