Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels began his stage career in New York, making his Broadway debut in 1977 in Albert Innaurato’s Gemini, where he appeared as the assistant stage manager and in multiple roles. He later appeared in Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July (1980), earning a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and starred opposite Stockard Channing in A. R. Gurney’s The Golden Age (1984). His early film career included his screen debut in Ragtime (1981) and a breakthrough role in Terms of Endearment (1983). He went on to appear in films including The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Something Wild (1986), Heartburn (1986), The House on Carroll Street (1988), Sweet Hearts Dance (1988), and Checking Out (1989).

In the 1990s, Daniels appeared in films such as Arachnophobia (1990), Love Hurts (1990), The Butcher’s Wife (1991), Timescape (1992), and Gettysburg (1993), in which he portrayed Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. He continued working on stage during this period, appearing in Redwood Curtain (1993) and Off-Broadway in Lanford Wilson’s Lemon Sky, and received an Obie Award for his performance in the Circle Repertory Company production of Johnny Got His Gun. His film work during the decade included Speed (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), Fly Away Home (1996), Trial and Error (1997), Pleasantville (1998), and My Favorite Martian (1999). He also appeared in television films including The Crossing, Cheaters, and Chasing Sleep. In the early 2000s, Daniels wrote, directed, and starred in the films Escanaba in da Moonlight and Super Sucker. Additional screen credits during this period included Blood Work (2002), The Hours (2002), Gods and Generals (2003), I Witness (2003), Imaginary Heroes (2004), and the television film The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004).

In 2005, Daniels starred in Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, and also appeared in Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) and Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). His later film credits include Infamous (2006), RV (2006), Mama’s Boy (2007), The Lookout (2007), and Traitor (2008). Daniels returned to Broadway in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage (2009), earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. That same year he appeared in the films State of Play, The Answer Man, Away We Go, and Paper Man, and later appeared in Howl (2010) and Looper (2012).

From 2012 to 2014, Daniels starred as Will McAvoy in the HBO drama series The Newsroom, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He later reprised his role as Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber To (2014) and appeared in films including Steve Jobs (2015) and The Martian (2015). Daniels returned to Broadway in the revival of David Harrower’s Blackbird (2016) and appeared in The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016). In 2017, he starred as Frank Griffin in the Netflix miniseries Godless, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series.

Daniels later appeared in the Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower (2018) as John O’Neill and returned to Broadway as Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird (2018–2019), earning another Tony Award nomination. His later television work includes narrating the History Channel miniseries Washington (2020) and portraying James Comey in the Showtime limited series The Comey Rule (2020). Daniels also starred in and executive produced the television drama American Rust (2021) and narrated the Apple TV+ documentary 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room (2021).