MY SO-CALLED LIFE 30 years later

THE BELOVED DRAMA BROKE BARRIERS FOR ITS PORTRAYAL OF HIGH SCHOOL LIFE. NOW THE STARS AND CREATOR REFLECT ON THE ONE-SEASON WONDER

- JP MANGALINDAN

When Claire Danes landed the lead in My So-Called Life at age 14, it didn't take much to immerse herself in the role of introspective lovestruck teen Angela Chase. "I don't think I had ever read a more accurate account of the experience that I was having in that moment," she says of the pilot script. "I was just so thrilled to have my internal life articulated for me."

Like Danes, viewers quickly identified with My So-Called Life's cast of angsty high school adolescents, and the coming-of-age show achieved cult status-despite lasting only one season, which debuted Aug. 25, 1994. "We knew that it was such a good show, and everybody loved it and really appreciated it, but I don't know necessarily if the network understood what they had," says Devon Odessa, 50, who played Angela's ex-best friend, "good girl" Sharon Cherski. Now, to honor the show's 30th anniversary, the stars and creator reflect on its impact and legacy. "It is really a radical show," says Danes, praising writer Winnie Holzman. "She created a genre of television that didn't exist before."