VIDEO: Jeff Daniels Talks TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, AMERICAN RUST, and More on CBS SUNDAY MORNING

In a new segment on CBS Sunday Morning, which aired this weekend, Jeff Daniels talked with correspondent Tracy Smith about the direction of his career.

Daniels touches on his new series "American Rust", his inspiration behind his portrayal of Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird", the joy of being a grandfather, and more.

"I knew Atticus before I played Atticus," Daniels said of his role in the Broadway play. "I grew up with him - that knee-deep in decency, and treating people with respect, all those basics: that was Dad. Whoo, I miss him."

When asked what he misses about his dad, Daniels responds, "I don't know if I can get through it..."

"I wish he'd seen Atticus. It was weird because I had run it for a year. And here comes Father's Day. So, you do the Sunday matinee, and you're thinking, 'Maybe you know, maybe he'll be watching,' and all that," he said. "And you get to the end of the show, and you hope to see him at the back of the house, you know, in some angelic holy light. And you don't, 'cause he's not there."

Watch the full segment below!

Jeff Daniels is an American actor, musician, and playwright whose career includes roles in films, stage productions, and television, for which he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards and received several Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Tony Award nominations. He made his film debut in Ragtime (1981), and amassed such additional credits as Terms of Endearment (1983), Arachnophobia (1990), Gettysburg (1993), Speed (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Fly Away Home (1996), Pleasantville (1998), The Hours (2002), Gods and Generals (2003), The Squid and the Whale (2005), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Infamous (2006), The Lookout (2007), Looper (2012), Steve Jobs (2015), and The Martian (2015).

From 2012 to 2014, Daniels starred as Will McAvoy in the HBO political drama series The Newsroom, for which he won the 2013 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He won a second Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 for his supporting performance in the Netflix miniseries Godless (2017) and an additional nomination that year for his leading performance as John P. O'Neill in the Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower (2018). Daniels has also received a number of award nominations for his work on stage, including Tony Award nominations for Best Actor for his roles in the plays God of Carnage, Blackbird and To Kill A Mockingbird. He is the founder and current executive director of the Chelsea, Michigan-based Purple Rose Theatre Company.