Jeff Daniels is a Hollywood rarity. With nearly 50 films on his résumé, including two director's credits, the veteran actor has managed to maintain his career despite the industry's short attention span.
"It's great to have been around for a long time, because in Hollywood, careers are very short. To still be in the business after 26 years is great," Daniels said. "There should be an award for those of us who have been in the business 25 years or longer."
Daniels, a Central Michigan University alumnus and proud Michigan native, is a veteran of stage and screen.
His roles have ranged from art house favorites such as "Pleasantville" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo" to mainstream blockbusters such as "Dumb and Dumber" and "Speed."
He can currently be seen in "The Hours," which took top honors at this year's Golden Globe Awards and is considered a front-runner for major Academy Award nominations.
"It's always good to be in a movie that's considered for best picture come Oscar time because, as an actor, to be in it helps your career," he said. "It elevates you in the eyes of Hollywood and those who make casting decisions. If you're one of the people who is in 'The Hours,' then you're the topic of conversation again."
"The Hours" is not the actor's first brush with big awards. Daniels appeared in the Academy Award-winning "Terms of Endearment," and was nominated for Golden Globes for his work in "Something Wild" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo."
"Especially around Oscar time there's a longer period where people are talking about your movie and maybe even you," Daniels said. "As far as future jobs, it's a great thing."
Daniels can also be seen in the upcoming "Gods and Generals," a follow-up to the Civil War epic "Gettysburg," and "Super Sucker," which he also directed.
"Super Sucker," premiering tonight at Celebration Cinema, 200 E. Edgewood Blvd. in Lansing, is Daniels' second film produced through his company, Purple Rose Films.
The comedy, which focuses on a competition between two Michigan vacuum salesmen, took home the Audience Award at the 2002 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. It was shot on location in Michigan.
"It's great to be able to shoot a film in Michigan and then do a lot of the postproduction work in Michigan," Daniels said. "I really loved making it. We got to shoot it in Jackson. We did all the sound and music mixing at Harvest Music and Sound there in Lansing.
"It's fun to kind of look at places you grew up in and actually look at shooting a movie. Turning Jackson into a movie set for like a month, that was kind of fun."
The differences between large-scale productions such as "Gods and Generals" and independent films such as "Super Sucker" are massive, but Daniels said the biggest disparity is with time.
"More money buys you more time. You really have to use your time properly on an independent film," Daniels said.
"Gods and Generals" took five months to film, while "Super Sucker" only took 29 days, he said.
"Twenty-nine days is actually a lot of time for an indie," he said. "You just really have to make every minute count, not only as you're shooting it but in the preproduction period, the four weeks leading up to the first day of shooting. You really have to be organized so that you don't waste any time once you start shooting. Especially on an indie film set, time is money."
Along with a successful movie career, Daniels has devoted a lot of time to his Purple Rose Theater Company based out of Chelsea, Mich. Although Daniels himself submits works to be performed - "Escanaba in da Moonlight" was adapted from a play he penned - the theater is dedicated to exposing new local talent.
"We write and develop a lot of our own plays with Midwestern writers, actors, directors and designers," he said. "I really have an interest in new plays and I really enjoy finding playwrights, developing playwrights, especially plays about the Midwest and about us."
In fact, Daniels said, if all goes well he would like to continue to work on Michigan-based films and plays.
"If 'Super Sucker' does well, we're hoping to shoot a third film," he said. "We have some ideas for another comedy that we would shoot in Michigan, but we're still kicking that around."
