Trivia

Had he not gone into acting, he would likely be working in his hometown of Chelsea, Michigan, with his siblings at the Chelsea Lumber Company, owned by the Daniels' family. The Chelsea Lumber Co. provided all the building materials for the construction of his Purple Rose Theater.

In the 2013 Hollywood Reporter Drama Actor Emmy Roundtable, Jeff Daniels was asked to tell a story about his worst audition moment ever. He recounted his first meeting with famed casting agent Juliet Taylor; he had been told to lie on his resume and say that he had studied with the acting teacher Sandy Meisner, so when Taylor asked Daniels about studying with Meisner, Daniels said "yeah, she was great." Sanford "Sandy" Meisner was a man.

Daniels has been married to his high school sweetheart, Kathleen Rosemary Treado, since 1979. They have three children: Benjamin (born 1984), Lucas (born 1987), and Nellie (born 1990). A baseball fan and an avid Detroit Tigers fan, he married his wife on Friday the 13th because he wore the number 13 on his baseball uniform.

He won his Leading Actor Emmy Award for The Newsroom (2012) the night before principal photography of Dumb & Dumber De (2014) began.

Founder of the Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, Michigan, named after Woody Allen's La rose pourpre du Caire (1985) in which he starred.

Played the father of Anna Paquin in L'envolée sauvage (1996) and then her romantic partner in Les Berkman se séparent (2005) nine years later.

Was considered for the role of Joey Gladstone on La fête à la maison (1987).

Attended Central Michigan University before dropping out to pursue acting.

Sings a very ironic song about celebrity turned singers called "If William Shatner Can, I Can Too".

Nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance for a Leading Actor in a Play for "God of Carnage".

Daniels, a Michigan native and Civil War buff who played the role of Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals," wrote the foreword to Richard Bak's award-winning book, "A Distant Thunder: Michigan in the Civil War".

Was inducted into the Michigan Walk of Fame on May 25, 2006, in Lansing, Michigan.

His favorite role was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain from Gettysburg: la dernière bataille (1993) and its prequel Gods and Generals (2003).

Writing song diaries for over thirty years, he has focused on recording a number of songs that he has written throughout his life, apparently marking key moments. He has kept busy with frequent gigs and two full length albums, Grandfather's Hat and Jeff Daniels Live and Unplugged.

When he was in the original Broadway cast of Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning black comedy "God of Carnage" with James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis, Gandolfini told him that if he ever was going to do TV, he should do it on HBO.

As of 2016, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Tendres passions (1983), The Hours (2002), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and Seul sur Mars (2015). Of those, Tendres passions (1983) is a winner in the category.

Jeff Daniels grew up in Chelsea, Michigan.

Has worked with 8 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Milos Forman, James L. Brooks, Woody Allen, Mike Nichols, Jonathan Demme, Clint Eastwood, Sam Mendes, and Danny Boyle.

Has three children with his wife Kathleen: Sons Ben Daniels (b. 1984) and Lucas Daniels (b. 1987) and daughter Nellie Daniels (b. 1990).

Has played two American war heroes who later become popular elected officials. In The Crossing (2000), he played Gen. George Washington, who later became the first President of the United States. He later played Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Gettysburg: la dernière bataille (1993) and Gods and Generals (2003). In those films, he fights against Robert E. Lee, whose wife was Martha Washington's granddaughter, Mary Custis. Lee is played in the second film by Robert Duvall, a descendant of Lee. Daniels's character later went on to become Governor of Maine.

Has twice appeared as a character in a story-within-a-story - The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Pleasantville (1998). In each case the "fictional" character interacts with the story's "real" characters, and in each case he experiences a transition from a limited black-and-white existence to an existence filled with color and new sensations.

Appeared in a commercial for the "Michigan Economic Development Corporation" at MichiganAdvantage.org. (2010)

Is the proud owner of a Gulf Stream Tour Master he calls "The Bus". Occasionally when he pulls into his driveway after a tiresome journey, he'll sleep in the bus for the night. He doesn't believe that you can call yourself a true American until you've been behind the wheel of an RV.

He has English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry.

James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden and he were awarded the 2012 Back Stage Garland Award for Ensemble for "God of Carnage" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Plays a "Martin OM Jeff Daniels Custom Signature Edition" guitar when he goes on tour with son's "The Ben Daniels' Band".

On Broadway, playing Alan in "God of Carnage". (March 2009)

Nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category for his role as John O'Neill in The Looming Tower: aux origines du 11 septembre (2018), but lost to Darren Criss from American Crime Story (2016).

During his appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993), he revealed what happens to his character in Créance de sang (2002). (April 2006)

In the show "Off Camera" hosted by Sam Jones he said he isn't a big fan of the pretentious side of the film industry in LA and he tries to spend as little time as possible when visiting. In his own words: "Ain't buying what Hollywood's selling".

Currently playing in Turn of the Centuary at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Ilinois that is now extended through November 2nd. (October 2008)

He was in two movies that feature Chateau Margaux wine: Arachnophobie (1990) (1961 vintage) and Steve Jobs (2015) (1955 vintage).