Claire Danes’ acting chops have been on full display since her star teenage turn in My So-Called Life. Now that she is 46 and starring in a new Netflix show, The Beast in Me—no spoilers; don't worry, I have two episodes to go myself—her ability to showcase subtle, complex, and rapidly shifting emotions remains impressive. Why is this surprising or noteworthy, you may ask? She is an actor, after all. When so many female actors her age and younger have turned to fillers and surgery to maintain a youthful look, and when make-up companies literally market skin care to 4-year-olds (I wish I were exaggerating), I never take for granted the rare female on screen who basically looks their age—with much gratitude to the late great Diane Keaton. It has become the norm in Hollywood and beyond for younger and younger women to respond to the ongoing pressure to maintain timeless youth and beauty by artificially reconfiguring their faces [I have written on the perils of youth-beauty culture time and again].

Danes’ character in The Beast in Me “reads” as a 40-something complex and compelling person whose face not only provides a beacon for aging naturally but remains a versatile canvas on which to display a host of emotional experiences such as empathy,

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