Jeff Daniels knew this scene had to hit hard. When Aaron Sorkin handed him the script, packed with sharp dialogue and high stakes, Daniels had just two weeks to lock it down. No pressure, right? But this wasn’t just any scene; it was a defining moment, the kind that could make or break a career.
Daniels threw himself into the challenge, proving once again why he’s one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors.
Jeff Daniels had two weeks to nail The Newsroom’s defining speech – and he delivered
Jeff Daniels had just two weeks to nail a speech that’d define The Newsroom, and his career. The now-iconic “America is not the greatest country” monologue wasn’t in Aaron Sorkin’s original pilot script. It came later, a last-minute addition that landed squarely on Daniels’ shoulders.
Sorkin handed him the speech two weeks before filming, making it clear: This was no backstory; it was the moment that’d set the show’s tone. Daniels, playing Will McAvoy, had to deliver a knockout in the first five minutes, before audiences even decided if they’d stick around. He told GQ,
That speech came later. Two weeks before we start shooting, Aaron said, ‘We need to see what happened at Northwestern [University] when Will went to speak. We can’t just talk about what happened in the past.’ So he wrote that speech and I had two weeks to learn it.
By day three of an 18-day shoot, it was game time. HBO execs showed up. Castmates gathered, knowing this scene could make or break their jobs. Daniels felt the weight. He worked relentlessly. Then, first take – home run.
Sorkin’s reaction? “You’re pitching a no-hitter,” he told Daniels, then walked away. That’s when the actor knew – he’d nailed it. He said during the same interview:
Sam [Waterston, who played Charlie Skinner] later said, ‘I just wanted to see if I was going to have a job or not.’ It was all on me. I worked my ass off on it. First take, 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. That was great. Then I knew I had a role, I pretty much — with Aaron’s help — saved my career and that everyone had a job.
The monologue didn’t just anchor the series. It saved Daniels’ career. He knew HBO wasn’t a sure bet, even for Sorkin. But this was it. If the scene worked, The Newsroom worked. And if The Newsroom worked, so did Daniels.
The series premiered on HBO in 2012 and ran for three seasons. But that opening speech? That was the moment. The punch that landed. The scene that made sure people kept watching.
Jeff Daniels kept the receipts – 200 critics got it wrong
Jeff Daniels still has receipts – 200 of them, to be exact. The Dumb and Dumber star kept a scrapbook filled with scathing reviews that trashed the 1994 comedy. Critics panned it, but audiences turned it into a box office juggernaut.
Daniels remembered watching an early screening, where the crowd roared with laughter. His father? Not so much. He said (via People),
I was sat next to my parents and when we got to the toilet scene, my father hung his head in his hands and said: ‘No, Jeffrey …’ Meanwhile 5,000 people fell out of their chairs laughing. The reviews were horrible though! I still have a scrapbook of 200 newspapers panning the movie and wishing it never existed. Then we were the box office No. 1 for six straight weeks. That’s when it hit me that we’d done the impossible.
Despite warnings that Jim Carrey might overshadow him, Jeff Daniels took the risk. And he made the right call.
The Newsroom is available to watch on Max & Prime Videos.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
