Jeff Daniels shares the best acting tip he received from Meryl Streep.
Sixty-three-year-old actor Jeff Daniels used his time backstage at the Emmys press room to give a lesson on acting. The two-time Emmy winner scored an award for supporting actor in a limited series for his role as a scripture-spouting villain in Netflix’s western Godless. He was also nominated this year for lead actor in a limited series for Hulu’s The Looming Tower.
“You don’t want to get caught going for the joke in a comedy. In a drama, you look for the humor. It’s kind of basic,” he said. “Also Meryl [Streep] taught me this — I leave a lot to chance now … you just get the basic idea of what this guy is thinking and then jump off the cliff and start flapping your arms.”
With a career spanning over 40 years, Daniels shared his thoughts on the acting process. “You don’t just act stupid or be dumb, it’s got to be specific, you start thinking like them,” Daniels said. “And how soon can you forget about the camera. You learn all the mechanical techniques and then you put them in the back of your mind and try not to think about them.”
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