The Series That Jeff Daniels Says Saved His Career

The role in question was that of outspoken, short-tempered anchorman Will McAvoy, in HBO's "The Newsroom," who, as Daniels revealed, was never going to drop that debut bombshell in the show's pilot episode. In the interview, Daniels explained that he was given two weeks to learn his now-iconic three-minute speech about America no longer being the best country in the world (via YouTube) during filming. As tough as it may have been, Daniels knew on the first read it was something special. "That was the speech that I've been waiting 35 years to do," said Daniels, thankfully. "And you gotta hit a home run with it."

Even earning the reassurance from Sorkin himself, he did just that, with Daniels recalling, "I hit it out of the park. I know that because Aaron walked over to me after take one and he goes, 'OK, you're pitching a no-hitter. I'm not going to talk to you.' And he walked away." 

The stars and Sorkin's electric script had aligned just right for Daniels to know he'd made the right choice with the role. As he puts it, "I pretty much — with Aaron's help — saved my career." Besides getting back on the radar in Hollywood with the role, Daniels also earned an Emmy win for his performance in the first season in 2013 and nominations for the two seasons that followed in 2014 and 2015. The rest as they say, is old news.