Jeff Daniels thinks that politicians are as hungry — if not more — for fame and the spotlight as any actor working in Hollywood.
“I think you see it with the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and the Matt Gaetzes now,” Daniels told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” Tuesday while promoting his new Netflix limited series “A Man in Full.”
“They’re intoxicated with their own stardom and their own fame on the internet and social media,” he said.
The conversation sparked while Daniels and Colbert discussed Charlie Croker — the character Daniels plays in “A Man in Full” — and how wealth and fame corrupt his morals. Colbert remarked that there is plenty of that in Hollywood and that Daniels did what he could to remove himself from it by moving to Michigan, but asked if there were times when he saw that corruption happening within him.
“Yeah, it’s everything they say it is,” Daniels said. “It’s just intoxicating.”
The two-time Emmy winner went on in the interview talking about the lengths he went to be as big as possible while playing Croker, a real estate mogul defending his empire from sudden bankruptcy in the Regina King-directed project. He said he was worried the Oscar-winning actress and “One Night in Miami” director — who’s behind three episodes of the show — was going to give him some less-is-more feedback.
“I’m big, I’m coming in big, which is not what they teach you in ‘star’ school,” Daniels said. “In star school they say, ‘Gary Cooper, less is more. Just think, count to 10 as you’re looking off at the Rocky Mountains and we’ll put the music under it.’ This is not that.”
He continued: “I’d finish takes and I’d go to the camera operator, ‘Did I break the lens?’ I kept waiting for Regina King — who’s got an Oscar — to come around the corner and say, ‘Really good, just brilliant. Let’s try one less. Let’s try one where we bring it down.’”
Turns out, she never did.
“A Man in Full” drops on Netflix on May 2. Daniels is joined by costars Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Bill Camp, Tom Pelphrey and William Jackson Harper.
