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

Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz, A.J. Langer, Devon Odessa and creator Winnie Holzman share how the beloved one-season wonder broke barriers for its portrayal of high school life

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 Odessa, 50, who played Angela’s ex-best friend, “good girl” Sharon Cherski.

Now, to honor the show’s 30th anniversary, the stars and creator reflect on its impact and legacy.

Related: My So-Called Life Cast: Where Are They Now?

“It is really a radical show,” says Danes, praising writer Winnie Holzman. “She created a genre of television that didn’t exist before. Her work is so pleasure-inducing, but also very deep and daring in these surprising ways.”

The drama centered on Angela, her family and friends as they navigated high school in a fictional suburb of Pittsburgh. The episodes tackled challenging subjects including teen sex, guns in school and drug and alcohol use with rare frankness.

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

There also hadn’t been an openly gay teen on primetime TV. Wilson Cruz made history playing the bighearted Rickie Vasquez, who endured abuse, homophobia and homelessness throughout the seasons. Rickie was best friends with Angela and the rebellious Rayanne Graff (A.J. Langer).

Inspired by the “respect” with which Barbra Streisand’s character in 1973’s The Way We Were was written, her own adolescent memories and visits to Los Angeles high schools, Holzman, 70, aimed to create characters that transcended their stereotypes.

Related: Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz and 'My So-Called Life' Cast Have 'Heartfelt and Overdue' Virtual Reunion

“In high school, very often there’s that 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’re also so much more.”

“All the characters were struggling to burst out of their stereotypical label,” she continues. “That was uppermost in my mind, so that even if people watched the show and didn’t see that consciously, they saw … that people are so much more than what you think they are on the surface.”

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

“[Jared] made something really specific and textured and real and actually quite moving out of that character, which we somehow overlooked, because he’s so absurdly gorgeous,” says Danes, 45. “But it’s a really wonderful, nuanced performance.”

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

Related: Wilson Cruz Reflects on How 'My So-Called Life' Helped Heal His Relationship with His Father

Despite praise from critics, low ratings caused ABC to cancel My So-Called Life after 19 episodes.

“It was the first time really that a show about high school was taking these young people and their lives seriously,” says Cruz, 50, who still gets stopped “every day by fans” for his portrayal of Rickie.

“It’s not lost on me how much [Rickie] means to people, especially queer people of color, because in many ways, he gave us permission to just own our fabulousness,” he says.

When fans stop Langer, 50, who became a countess and later moved to England, they say the show helped them with difficult decisions. (She's now prioritizing time with her teen kids—Joscelyn Skye and Jack Haydon Langer— "before they head out into the world" and working 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 show together, and then we were able to have conversations on how to start,” she says. “It’s just cool to me that it meant that much to so many people, because it definitely meant that much to me.”

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

Related: Claire Danes Was a Total '90s Teen Icon and We Have 15 Photos to Prove It (That Hair! Those Outfits!)

“I’m so grateful for its resilience, and that it can be shared from one generation to another,” says Danes, who is beginning to view adolescence from a new perspective. “It’s a really rich and harrowing phase of life that we all go through. My eldest son is 11 and a half, and I’m just bracing myself. We’re on the edge of it, and I’m a little anxious.”

Three decades later, the cast remains close. Danes was a bridesmaid in Odessa’s wedding to Jeffrey Balldinger — a ceremony Holzman officiated — while Odessa also served as a bridesmaid in Danes’ wedding to Hugh Dancy. Devon Gummersall, meanwhile, makes it a point to see Odessa and go mountain biking with Balldinger; Cruz and Langer still frequently check in on each other through text.

For more on My So-Called Life, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here. 

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

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

Related: Cast Reunions, Social Distancing Style: See Your Favorite Stars Reunite by Computer

When Danes reflects on the show’s legacy, she recalls the quote, “It doesn’t matter who does it first, it matters who does it second.’ I think My So-Called Life was a first, and I think that’s why it had such a limited lifespan. It was so new I think people didn’t immediately know how to register it.”

On a larger scale, Cruz contends the teen drama irrevocably changed the TV landscape—and the ripples are still felt to this day.

“It changed the landscape of television in terms of young people and how they're depicted,” he says, adding, “There would’ve been no Dawson's Creek or Freaks and Geeks or any of those shows without My So-Called Life setting the stage for an audience to accept a drama about teenagers.”

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

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer??, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Looking back now, Holzman is content with how her work is remembered and cherished.

“It didn’t need to have more than 19 episodes to affect people,” she says. “It just was what it was. And in its own small way, it did make this positive effect. That’s plenty for me.”

All 19 episodes of My So-Called Life are available to stream on Hulu.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.