My So-Called Life Cast, Creator Reflect on 'Radical' Show 30 Years Later: 'There Would've Been No Dawson's Creek' (Exclusive) 

When Claire Danes took the lead My so-called life at the age of 14, it didn’t take long for her to settle into the role of introspective lovelorn teenager Angela Chase.

“I don’t think I’ve ever read a more accurate account of the experience I had in that moment,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I was so delighted that my inner life was articulated for me. It is simply an amazing text… It was very intuitive. I didn’t have to go far.”

Like the Danes, viewers quickly identified My so-called life cast of angsty high school teenagers, the coming-of-age series has achieved cult status — despite only running for one season, debuting 30 years ago on August 25, 1994.

“We knew it was such a good show and everyone loved it and appreciated it so much, but I don’t really know if the network understood what they had,” says Devon Odessa, 50, who played Angela’s ex-best friend, “a good girl ” Sharon Cherski.

Now, in honor of the show’s 30th anniversary, the stars and creator are reflecting on its impact and legacy.

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‘My So-Called Life’ stars Devon Gummersall, Jared Leto, Devon Odessa, Claire Danes, Lisa Wilhoit, AJ Langer, Tom Irwin and Bess Armstrong.

Mark Seliger/Disney General Entertainment via Getty

“It’s a really radical play,” says Danes, praising writer Winnie Holzman. “She created a television genre that did not exist before. Her work is so enjoyable, but also very deep and daring in these surprising ways.”

The drama centered on Angela, her family and friends as they attended high school in a fictional suburb of Pittsburgh. Episodes tackled challenging topics including teenage sex, guns at school, and drug and alcohol use with rare honesty.

“I think it was so surprising to really enter the world of a teenage girl who was so honest and so curious and thoughtful and sensitive,” says Danes, whose character narrated most of the episodes.

There were also no openly gay teenagers on prime time TV. Wilson Cruz made history playing the generous Rickie Vasquez, who endured abuse, homophobia and homelessness throughout the seasons. Rickie was best friends with Angela and the rebellious Rayanne Graff (AJ Langer).

Inspired by the “reverence” with which the character of Barbra Streisand in 1973 What we were wrote, her own adolescent memories and visits to high schools in Los Angeles, Holzman, 70, aimed to create characters that transcended their stereotypes.

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Claire Danes and Jared Leto on ‘My So-Called Life’.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

“In high school, there’s a very common feeling that you’ve been labeled,” Holzman says. “And what I was playing with and exploring was the idea that people are a stereotype — but they are, too so much more.”

“All the characters struggled to break out of their stereotypical label,” she continues. “That was the most important thing to me, so that even if people watched the show and didn’t consciously see it, they saw … that people are a lot more than what you think they are on the surface.”

Take for example Angela’s crush, Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), a brooding musician who secretly struggled with dyslexia.

“[Jared] did something really specific and textured and real and actually quite moving away from that character, which we’ve kind of overlooked because he’s so absurdly beautiful,” says Danes, 45. “But it’s a really beautiful, nuanced performance.”

Leto was also very patient with an actress seven years younger. “Poor Jared had to educate me,” she says with a laugh as she recalls being “very confused” by the kissing scene.

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Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz and AJ Langer in ‘My So-Called Life’.

Walt Disney Television via Getty

Despite critical acclaim, low ratings caused the show to be canceled by ABC My so-called life after 19 episodes.

“It was the first time a high school show took these young people and their lives seriously,” says Cruz, 50, who still “gets stopped by fans every day” for his role as Rickie.

“I haven’t forgotten how much [Rickie] means to people, especially queer people of color, because in many ways it gave us permission to just own our awesomeness,” he says.

When fans stop Langer, 50, who became a countess and later moved to England, they say the show helped them make tough decisions. (She now prioritizes time with her teenage children — Joscelyn Skye and Jack Haydon Langer — “before they go out into the world” and works to empower women in the social enterprise space.)

“A lot of people say, ‘I couldn’t even talk to my kids about these things, but we sat and watched the series together, and then we could talk about how to start,'” she says. “It’s great for me that it meant so much to so many people, because it definitely meant so much to me.”

Danes, who won a Golden Globe for her role in 1995, also hears from moms her age who watch the series (which is airing now) with their teenage daughters.

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Claire Danes and Winnie Holzman.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

“I’m so grateful for its resilience and that it can be shared from one generation to the next,” says Danes, who is beginning to see adolescence in a new light. “It’s a really rich and painful phase of life that we all go through. My oldest son is 11 and a half years old and I’m just being brave. We’re on the brink of that and I’m a little worried.”

Three decades later, the cast remains close. Danes was a maid of honor at Odessa’s wedding to Jeffrey Balldinger — Holzman officiated the ceremony — while Odessa was also a maid of honor at Danes’ wedding to Hugh Dancy. Devon Gummersall, meanwhile, wants to see Odessa and go mountain biking with Balldinger; Cruz and Langer still check in on each other frequently via text.

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“These are forever friends,” Odessa explains. “We connected in such a way that it shaped who I am. They are part of my heart.”

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” adds Holzman.

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Devon Gummersall and Claire Danes in ‘My So-Called Life’.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty

When Danes reflects on the show’s legacy, he recalls the quote, “It’s not who does it first, it’s who does it second.” I think My so-called life he was the first and I think that’s why he had such a limited lifespan. It was so new that I don’t think people immediately knew how to register it.”

More broadly, Cruz argues that the teen drama irrevocably changed the television landscape – and the ripples are still being felt today.

“It changed the television landscape in terms of young people and the way they were portrayed,” he says, adding: “It wouldn’t have been Dawson’s Creek or Freaks and nerds or any of those shows without My so-called life setting the stage for the audience to embrace the drama about teenagers.”

“You can change [the characters’] apparel. You can change the music,” Cruz continues. “You could put some phones in their hands at some point or put them in poodles in the fifties, and they could use exactly the same language, because the experience of being an adolescent and figuring out who you are is universal.”

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Looking back now, Holzman is pleased with how her work is remembered and appreciated.

“It shouldn’t have been more than 19 episodes to have an impact on people,” she says. “It was what it was. And in his own small way, he made this positive impact. That’s enough for me.”

All 19 episodes My so-called life are available to stream on Hulu.

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Source: HIS Education