Jeff Daniels’ second time starring in Blackbird onstage has earned him his second Tony nomination.

The Hollywood Reporter
by Ashley Lee
May 10, 2016

Off Script: Jeff Daniels Explains His Strategy for “Sprinting a Marathon” in ‘Blackbird’ on Broadway.

With help from his guitar, the Detroit Tigers and co-star Michelle Williams, the Tony nominee aims “to successfully grab [the audience] by the lapels from the first minute on … then give them a gut-punch at the end.”

Jeff Daniels’ second time starring in Blackbird onstage has earned him his second Tony nomination. The actor first played the haunted Ray in Joe Mantello’s 2007 off-Broadway staging of David Harrower’s volatile two-hander. This season, the lead actor nominee revisits the role on Broadway opposite Michelle Williams, who also nabbed a Tony nom for lead actress. The Hollywood Reporter’s review said “the actor now brings a noticeably deepened middle-aged gravitas that adds fascinating layers to his character — of bitter defensiveness, corrosive dishonesty, subjugated desire and, ultimately, ice-cold fear.”

As two people who reunite years after an illicit relationship that scarred them both, Daniels and Williams goes toe-to-toe, eight times a week — but not without the help of healthy foods, hydration and “horizontal” days off. Daniels, 61, goes Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter to talk Broadway’s drama standards, pre-show phone apps and the Detroit Tigers item decorating his dressing room.

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