SECRETS FROM THE SET OF MY SOCALLED LIFE
My so-called life Flashback
It was his breakthrough role, earning him legions of fans and launching a film career. But Jared Leto isn’t exactly proud of his turn as swoonworthy Jordan Catalano on the ’ 90s teen drama My SoCalled Life. “Let’s face it, I barely spoke!” the actor says, before clarifying that he still has “a lot of gratitude for starting there.”
A lot of people are grateful for his part in the short-lived series. The hot- and- heavy kissing scenes (in the boiler room and Jordan’s car, among other places) wouldn’t have been the same without Jared’s steamy chemistry with co-star Claire Danes, who played young heroine Angela Chase. Offscreen, though, their relationship was complicated — and now, for the first time, MSCL crew members are exclusively opening up about it to Life & Style. Angela’s first kiss? It was also Claire’s first kiss in real life. And the 14-year- old was thrilled and intensely nervous to share it with Jared. “Claire was very young,” My So- Called Life makeup artist Isabel Harkins tells Life & Style. “But I really think she had a super crush on Jared.”
THAT’S SO ANGELA
Claire’s feelings for Jared, who was seven years older, led to some uncomfortable situations. When Claire had to wear a prosthetic pimple for a scene with him, she nearly died of embarrassment. “The pimple was very obvious, and there was Jared,” Isabel recalls. “She just wanted to disappear.” Of course, that awkwardness worked perfectly for the scene. As it did when it was time for Angela to lock lips with the dreamy object of her affection for the first time. “We knew it was Claire’s first kiss, too,” co-producer Monica Wyatt tells Life & Style. “There was a lot of excitement and nervousness. Jared was so sexy and intense. It was a great first kiss.”
HEARTBREAK CITY
But the romance was strictly in the script for Jared, who was 21 at the time of filming. “He kind of kept to himself,” hairstylist Candy Walken tells Life & Style. “He felt like he was an adult and so he didn’t really hang out with the kids [on the set].” Not that Claire acted her age. “She had an old soul,” notes Monica. “She was always professional.”
As perfect as the show was (in our humble opinion, as Angela would say), ABC pulled the plug in 1995 after just 19 addictive episodes. Jared, 45, and Claire, 37, have both come a long way since then. Candy isn’t surprised. “Jared didn’t like being a pretty boy, so he developed his acting,” she says. “And Claire stood out from the start. From day one, I knew she was destined to be a star.”
“Jared had to tutor me a little bit.” — Claire, on her boiler room kissing scene with the hunk