When it came to Jeff Daniels’ win for best drama actor in HBO’s “Newsroom,” shocked would be an understatement — for both journos backstage, and the the star himself, who began his acceptance speech with, “Well, crap.”
Daniels, who lives outside Ann Arbor, plays Will McAvoy on the Aaron Sorkin-created drama and was largely not favored to win, with “Breaking Bad’s” Bryan Cranston and “House of Cards’” Kevin Spacey considered front-runners for the trophy.
AJ Marechal of Variety quotes Daniels as saying:
“I’ve been neutral about this whole thing. I’ve been nominated a bunch of times — Google it — enough to not lean towards it, or hope too much,” Daniels said. “There were six of us nominated, and there easily could have been 10 other guys where we were. It’s a really crowded time to be in television, and a great time to be in television. I felt the work [on ‘Newsroom’] stood up to what the other guys were doing, but we’re all doing different things. It’s anybody’s win. I was happy to win, but surprised because it could have been anyone.”
Daniels broke up the press conference when he discussed his next project.
“Tomorrow I’m going to get on a plane and start shooting ‘Dumb and Dumber Two,’” he said, the room erupting with laughter. “The intellectual free fall from Will McAvoy . . "
