Claire Danes used internet videos to play bipolar sufferer

Claire Danes watched countless videos recorded by sufferers of bipolar disorder to help with her role in hit TV show Homeland.

In the popular drama, the actress plays Carrie Mathison, an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who suffers from the condition, which is characterised by mood swings from manic highs to depressive lows.

Danes reveals she researched her part endlessly and spent hours on YouTube.com watching videos recorded by real sufferers.

She tells National Public Radio, "I had to do a lot of research for this role. I found great material on YouTube. There was a lot of footage of people who recorded themselves when they were in manic states. I think they were probably up in the middle of the night and lonely and, you know, needed to talk. So they talked to the camera.

"So I gorged on sort of manic confessionals on YouTube... ( I was) watching the expressions and mannerisms and cadences... They talk at a very fast clip. But, you know, it's not a strictly unpleasant phenomenon. A lot of people are reluctant to treat themselves because they're so protective of those manic highs."