CEETV’s Stanislav Kimchev met with Tim Daly, one of the stars in CBS’ current hit Madam Secretary in Dubrovnik. The US actor was also one of the stars in HBO’s The Sopranos which he still considers the best TV drama series ever.

CEETV: Mr. Daly, your latest role is portraying the husband of the Secretary of State on CBS drama Madam Secretary which has been renewed for a second season. Tell us more about your involvement in the series, how did you get the role and is it a challenge to play the role of the husband of allegedly the most-powerful female in the US?

TD: That’s a lot of questions! What attracted me to the show was less the political element and more the family on it and I think that is what audiences are responding to in the US cause there are a lot of political shows on TV. There is a lot of plot and a lot of intrigue but the fact that this show deals with a woman in power and her family life is very interesting to me. It has been said that the character of the Secretary of State is a role model for women and I think that is sort of an easy answer. I know the United States is behind in having women be our leaders, also countries like India, Korea and Israel, there have been a lot of women who have risen to the top but we have three women Secretaries of State.

I think that more interesting for me is the example my character sets for men. Here is a guy who is confident enough to allow his wife and to be beside her as she rises to power and not be threatened by it. That is a very good message for men because in the workplace, the social fabric is changing in a way because women are making inroads into all kinds of positions and power not only politically but also in the business world.

CEETV: CBS announced that Madam Secretary was the second most-watched new program on broadcast television last season. To what do you attribute the success of the series?

TD: Me (laughing). No, I think that there are two things: the political scene in the US is very frustrating for everyone right now , sort of gridlocked, not much is getting done and the political part of Madam Secretary is very satisfying because we solve a world crisis every week, it gets solved, it’s a fantasy but it is a nice relief for the audience. The other thing, as I said, the family life is very interesting to the people. They like Tea and me together and our relationship and the relationship to our children. Those are things that everybody can relate to, this is a family who changes job, they move, the kids have problems at school, these are things that people deal with no matter what walk of life there in.

CEETV: You are no stranger to politics yourself – you produced the documentary film Poliwood, directed by Barry Levinson and you are also involved with The Creative Coalition in which members of the entertainment community promote issues of public importance. Tell us more about this initiative and has it helped you with your role as the husband of a politician?

TD: Yes, I think it has helped me. The Creative Coalition initiative is primarily an arts advocacy organization so our mission is to promote and protect arts in the States and particularly arts education. We spend a lot of time in Washington, lobbying for the arts because unlike most countries in Europe, arts are horribly underfunded by the US government. We also choose issues that we think need to have their awareness raised. I have directed a public service announcement for an organization called Blue Star Families to raise awareness about the horrible rate of suicide among veterans. I have directed another public service announcement for the Girl Scouts to raise awareness about women in the media, especially young girls, what they focus on. It has helped me to spend time in Washington and realize how patient you have to be, how slow things go, even in the best of times and to realize that politicians are human beings, some of them are very smart, very impressive, others are very stupid and unimpressive. You have to look at each of them individually and find out who you are dealing with.

CEETV: Which is your favorite US series, both current and from the past?
Well, I will have to go with The Sopranos, I was on The Sopranos and that’s one of the greatest TV shows of all time. It sort of changed the landscape of television and I think it is almost like a long televised novel. That was a beautiful and interesting show.

You were nominated for an Emmy Award for your role in The Sopranos. Does The Sopranos have a worthy successor in modern TV? Game of Thrones which also comes from HBO and, is in fact, shot partly here in Dubrovnik maybe?

I think it’s impossible to compare Game of Thrones to The Sopranos. The Sopranos came along at a time when it sort of revolutionized what could be broadcast on TV and was the beginning of a movement where TV became the province of series entertainment, it kind of went away from the movies that became more about cartoons and superheroes and action. I’ve known David Chase for a long time and I’ve worked with him for The Sopranos and I like to tease him: it’s funny I’ve worked with you before you were a genius and after you were genius. I do think that this is one of the seminal TV shows in history. I don’t know if there is anything right now that can be compared to it.