Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

Claire Danes and Richard Gadd both flirted with madness in high-profile acting duets this season. On "The Beast in Me," veteran actress Danes played writer and grieving mother Agatha Wiggs, whose journalistic instincts get tripped by her new, threatening neighbor (Matthew Rhys). And on "Half Man," writer-director-star Gadd's followup to the sensation "Baby Reindeer," it's Gadd who plays the threat as Ruben, a musclebound tough guy who haunts the life of his childhood acquaintance Niall (Jamie Bell) into adulthood. 

Many legends have graced the Actors on Actors set, but few Hollywood dynasties have collided like Mariska Hargitay's and Jamie Lee Curtis'. The former is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield, the '50s bombshell who died in an auto accident. Her rich and complicated legacy is the subject of Hargitay's acclaimed documentary, "My Mom Jayne," from HBO, which is in Emmy contention this year. More impressive is that Hargitay pulled the film together while playing the hard-driving detective Olivia Benson on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," a character who has only become more iconic over the show's 27 years. The latter is the Oscar-winning daughter of screen legends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Curtis has transformed over and over, from scream queen ("Halloween") to '80s comedy icon ("Trading Places")  to meme-worthy mom ("Freaky Friday" and FX's "The Bear" ).