Claire Danes is on vacation with her boyfriend Hugh Dancy in Italy. Claire kept her nose buried in an open book much of the time.

Claire Danes and new love interest Hugh Dancy, 31, held hands as they strolled through New York’s SoHo district on Thursday.

The new couple spent the day snuggling over breakfast, walking through the city, and later stopping for lunch together.

The actress had been dating Billy Crudup since fall 2003, when he left longtime girlfriend, Mary-Louise Parker (who was 7 and a half months pregnant with his child) to take up with Danes.

According to the New York Daily News’ Gatecrasher, Crudup, 38, dumped Danes, 27, in December, a month after Danes allegedly started hooking up with Dancy, her co-star in the movie Evening.

Claire Danes and Billy Crudup took their dog for a walk in New York City on August 13th. How long will it be till he cheats on her, and the relationship falls apart? Remember how he left his pregnant girlfriend for Claire? Billy and Angelina Jolie would have made the perfect couple.

Background on William (Billy) Crudup:

From 1996 to November 2003, Crudup dated actress Mary-Louise Parker, with whom he had a son, William Atticus, born on January 7, 2004. He received negative publicity because they broke up while she was seven months pregnant. In 2004, Crudup and his Stage Beauty co-star Claire Danes confirmed that they were dating, but denied press reports that they were together at the time of Crudup’s split with Parker. (Just like Denise Richards and Richie Sambora)

Background on Claire Danes (Who is 11 years younger than Crudup):

For a number of years, she and Australian singer Ben Lee dated, but their relationship ended in 2003. She is now dating her Stage Beauty and Princess Mononoke co-star Billy Crudup.

P.S. Thanks to our informed reader chrmd4sure for helping us get our facts straight with this story.