Claire Danes’ versatility is showcased in the psychological thriller,  “The Beast in Me,” streaming Thursday on Netflix.

Danes, 46, is Aggie Wiggs, a famous best-selling author who’s been unable to write since her young son’s death years earlier.

Solitary and reclusive in her mansion, she is appalled by her new neighbor Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys), a notorious millionaire with a questionable reputation since his wife disappeared years earlier. Her body has never been found.

Jarvis sparks to the idea that Aggie could benefit by collaborating with him on a book. Aggie has her own reasons to actually consider the proposal.

For Danes, “Beast” was irresistible because, “I had never played a character who was an introvert before. Someone so intensely cerebral and controlled,” she said in a virtual interview with Rhys. “I mean, there’s a lot that’s churning inside of her.

“I just thought that paradox was fun — and a little intimidating. I didn’t quite know how to do it. And I was curious to figure that out.”

“What I love about this piece is that there are challenges as to what good or dark is,” Rhys, 51, said. “The conflict of saying, ‘I did this for the right reasons’ — that’s where the interest lies in those debates.”

“There’s a lot of justification going on in both of these characters,” Danes said.

To create the unceasing, necessarily intense psychological tension between the two, “We began with a week’s worth of rehearsal, and I think we actually used that time pretty well,” Danes said.

“We didn’t only eat bagels. We explored what we needed to. But establishing the thing is always the scariest, most challenging part of the process.

“It’s always awkward and mildly terrifying. First, finding it and then launching it. But we survived it and discovered it.”

Both characters’ very specific body language helps express their inner lives.

Rhys found inspiration in Anthony Hopkins’ “Silence of the Lambs” Hannibal Lecter.

“The only thing I tried to do is ‘be’ — which was just to be contained physically. Hopkins said he did it because he’d been in a cell his entire life. I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to steal that, because it worked for him.”

For Danes, “Aggie had a particular walk. She had a little bit of a waddle, which I really enjoyed. I had to learn how to assume a kind of femininity.

“It took some effort and focus. I went back to my 11-year-old self to find Aggie’s physicality and had a great time with it.”

Wardrobe was also key.  “My clothes were so excellent. I stole a lot of them,” Danes admitted. “I was bummed to change out of my wardrobe into my actual clothes ’cause Aggie is pretty chic.”

“The Beast in Me” streams on Netflix Nov. 13 

Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs and Matthew Rhys as Nile Jarvis in “The Beast in Me.” (Photo Courtesy of Netflix)