Paul Giamatti as John Adams in John Adams (2008)
This massive, $100 million miniseries depicts the major events of the future president’s political and professional career, beginning in court when a 35-year-old Adams is asked to defend the Redcoats, perpetrators of the 1770 Boston Massacre. Giamatti carries the rest of the series through early American history: the founding of the United States, the Revolutionary War, and his term as the second President of the United States. For his performance, Giamatti won the Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award.
