Claire Danes says she struggled to find work before 'Homeland'

Hollywood has heaped accolades on Claire Danes for her role as a bipolar CIA agent in Showtime's "Homeland." But in a new interview with Vogue, the 34-year-old actress said there was a time when she thought she'd leave the business.

"I was stuck," Danes said of a dark period after her award-winning turn in HBO's "Temple Grandin."

It was confusing. I got a lot of plaudits, and it didn't translate into more work. I was really, really struggling during that time. It was grim. I was very hurt. Two years of not working was brutal. And a point came where I thought, I really like interior design. Someone suggested, 'Maybe your real success is in your personal life.'"

When work finally started rolling in, Danes had to choose between playing Carrie Mathison opposite the relatively unknown Damian Lewis or as J. Edgar Hoover's secretary opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

With plenty of awards under her belt now, Danes described the difficulties of being a new mom during awards season -- she has a 7-month-old baby boy, Cyrus, with husband Hugh Dancy.

"I went on the red carpet, went upstairs, fed Cyrus. Went into the ceremony, got the award, went back to feed Cyrus, went out again," she said of this year's Golden Globes.

Then it was 'Now you meet the president.' I had these new boobs; I'm wearing a big Jessica Rabbit dress, and I'd been living in sweat pants for so long. ... It was strange. It was dreamy, surrounded by my parents and my husband. It was one of the best nights of my life because of this perfect mash-up.