Jeff Daniels was shocked to win the Emmy for his portrayal of news anchor Will McAvoy on HBO's The Newsroom, beating out the likes of Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston and Mad Men's Jon Hamm.
His first words out of his mouth when he went onstage to accept his award: "Well, crap!"
Moments later, a reporter mentioned that he looked surprised: "Did I?" he asked when he got to the microphone.
Daniels, who had never been nominated for an Emmy before this year, didn't have high expectations.
"I've been neutral about this whole thing," he admitted. "I've been nominated a bunch of times -- Google it -- enough to kind of not lean toward it, not to hope too much. You're glad to be invited to the party. There are six of us nominated, there easily could've been 10 other guys who could've been where we are. It's a really crowded time in television. It's a great time to be in television. I felt the work stood up to what the other guys were doing, but we're all doing different things. It's anybody's game. I was happy to win but surprised because it could have been anyone."
On Sept. 3, Daniels tweeted about The Newsroom returning for a third season, though there has yet to be official word from HBO.
"We're going to come back. We just don't know when yet," Daniels said, noting that it's all dependent on Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin's busy schedule.
During his acceptance speech, Daniel made mention of a Golden Barcalounger Award — one of the few awards he's gotten over his career — that he had received from AARP. Well, the AARP was in the house, which amounted to one of the funnier exchanges of the evening.
"I flew out special for that award because I don't get anything," Daniels reminisced. "I use it to hold my meds. I meant it to Kathleen, my wife; we're going to have to make room for [the Emmy]."
Daniels relayed a remark his father had made to him years prior: "You know, you're going to grow into your face. … He was right, I grew into my face."
While Daniels said the party won't stop "til dawn," he is ready to start work on the sequel to Dumb and Dumber in Atlanta, which he will do the following day.
One tease he did have on offer: "There are things we're going to do in Dumb and Dumber 2 that make the toilet scene [seem] lame. … I can't divulge what, just that they've topped it."
