Claire Danes learned how not to be a ''freak'' when she went to university.

The 'Homeland' actress took a break from her acting career to attend the prestigious university in 1998 and she decided to do so because she was unable to relate to other people her age and worried it was becoming a ''problem''.

She said: ''I wanted to try and socialise myself because I was starting to feel a bit strange, a little on the fringe of my generation, my contemporaries. I was a problem.

''Did it work? Yeah. UI learned how to think in an analytical way, how to basically read and write and I wasn't a freak anymore. And I knew how to hang!''

The 36-year-old star loves playing Carrie Matheson on 'Homeland' but is also keen to take on a more ''human'' role, as well as turning to dance again.

She told Britain's Marie Claire magazine: ''I'm still exploring Carrie, but the architecture is there. Maybe I should do something on a slightly more human scale, where the takes aren't so very high and where I'm not actually saving the world.

''Actually, I would love to dance again but I'm going to be middle aged in, like, two seconds. But Juliette Binoche did a dance piece when she was in her forties, didn't she? If she could do it, maybe I could.''