‘My So-Called Life’ Cast, Creator Reflect on Show 30 Years Later (Exclusive) [Video]

When Claire Danes landed the lead in My So-Called Life at age 14, it didn’t take much to immerse herself in the role of introspective love-struck teen Angela Chase.

“I don’t think I had ever read a more accurate account of the experience that I was having in that moment,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I was just so thrilled to have my internal life articulated for me. It’s just an astonishing piece of writing … It was very intuitive. I didn’t have to reach very far.”

Like Danes, viewers quickly identified with My So-Called Life’s cast of angsty high school adolescents, and the coming-of-age show achieved cult status — despite lasting only one season, which debuted 30 years ago on Aug. 25, 1994.

“We knew that it was such a good show, and everybody loved it and really appreciated it, but I don’t know necessarily if the network understood what they had,” says Devon …