Michaels turned back around then declared Daniels would be doing Leno.
And the two-time Emmy winner had to figure out how to pull that off with the clock ticking.
As the actor prepared, Daniels took note of Leno’s unique voice and mannerisms.
Jeff Daniels, Valerie Bertinelli, Jay Leno.Ilya S. Savenok/Getty; Dia Dipasupil/WireImage; Monica Schipper/Getty
And thenupit would go, scaling its way up into something resembling a falsetto, only with comic timing.
And then that high-pitched giggle.
Yes, there was a lot to work with there."
Try as he might, the versatile actor could not nail down Leno’s voice.
So he popped in that VHS and watched Leno interview his first guest, Valerie Bertinelli.
The host asked Bertinelli about her then- husbandEddie Van Halen, who had just celebrated a birthday.
Leno asked theOne Day at a Timeactress what she had gotten him: a Lamborghini.
An astonished Leno repeated the word “Lamborghini!”
in such a way that it gave Daniels the in he needed to perfect his Leno impression.
“There it was,” Daniels says.
With “Lamborghini!”
