Golden Globes 2012: Kelsey Grammer Takes Best Actor for ‘Boss,’ ‘Most Fun I’ve Ever Had’

Continuing in the vein of the critically acclaimed, yet low rated, Starz freshman series, Boss, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave its star, Kelsey Grammer, this year’s best performance by an actor in a drama series award.

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“Playing him has been the most fun I’ve ever had,” Grammer said of his role as the manipulative mayor of Chicago on Starz’s Boss said backstage.

The actor, whose Globe win marks his first victory in the drama category noted he hopes the victory helps attract an audience for the series, which has struggled to lure viewers to the premium cable network despite picking up a second-season renewal before the premiere aired.

“I hope more and more people will have a chance to see it,” he said. “I imagine we’ll now garner quite an audience share. It’s a compelling story and it’s fun to watch people find him.”

For the role, which Grammer helped shape with showrunner Farhad Safinia, the former Frasier star said his approach was the same for Boss as it was for a comedy.

“It’s really the same thing; comedy you have to have a more skilled third eye, but this role, I never watched dailies, I just allowed it to happen,” he said. “In some ways it’s much easier. Sometimes you want to make people laugh, sometimes you want to make people cry, sometimes you want to make people think and ask questions. It’s just a fun way to play a game.”

He beat out Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Jeremy Irons (The Borgias), and Damian Lewis (Homeland) for the award.

During his acceptance speech, the actor thanked Starz Enterrtainment President Chris Albrecht for taking a chance on the series. He didn’t mention the network’s decision to renew it for a second season before its first episode aired – a decision Albrecht defended earlier this week at the TCA press tour in Pasadena.

“If we think the work is good and if the team in place has the capacity to continue to do that work, then we’re going to stand behind a [show],” Albrecht said, later explaining that it was the kind of show that reinforced Starz’s brand.

Before Sunday’s win, Grammer won two Globes for Frasier.