Jeff Daniels credits his iconic The Newsroom speech with saving his career

The Hollywood Reporter

In a GQ video reflecting on his most famous roles, Daniels recalled that his Newsroom speech -- in which anchor Will McAvoy declares “America is not the greatest country in the world” -- wasn't originally in Aaron Sorkin's script. “That was the speech I had been waiting 35 years to do,” said Daniels, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “You have to hit a home run with it. It was shot on day three of an 18-day shoot for the pilot. There was no guarantee we had a series. People bigger than Aaron Sorkin had gotten turned down by HBO. This was a key day because not only are we going to find out do we have a Will McAvoy but do we have a show. Because this is placed in the first five minutes of the first episode when America is still sitting there with the remote deciding whether they want to stay with this or not. So we have to throw a knockout punch to them in the first five to 10 minutes.”