Over the years there have been major mini-series events that have gone down in history as the cream of the crop. Roots, Shogun, Lonesome Dove, The Winds of War, North and South, and Band of Brothers have all captured the hearts of TV viewers. Now HBO's John Adams can be added to the list. Winning a record 13 Emmys, John Adams took home the honor of Outstanding Mini-series thanks to actor Paul Giamatti's amazing performance as the historical title character.

Backstage at the Emmys after winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-series, Paul Giamatti stopped for the post win press conference to answer a few questions from journalists about playing John Adams, how the times have changes, and how he endured the most challenging aspects of the production.

You seemed very surprised and genuinely moved tonight.

PAUL GIAMATTI: Yeah. Surprised? Definitely. No, I was not expecting to win a thing. It was moving. I mean it was a tough job, so it’s nice people are acknowledging it the way they are.

What made it such a tough job?

GIAMATTI: It was long, hard and I never shut up in it. It just never felt like it was going to end. [laughs] It was just a lot to do, you know. It was like five movies in six months. I’ve never done TV like that before, it was amazing.

Tonight John Adams set the new Emmy record for wins by a movie or mini-series. It won 13 this year, which tops the record Angels in America set in 2004. As the star of this show, what do you have to say about this historic...

GIAMATTI: I’m astounded and I’m glad to hear it. I mean, Angels in America was amazing. So if this is judged as being equally amazing or more, I couldn’t be happier. I beat it by two. I’m glad people took to the show, I really am. Thank you.

When people talk about the John Adams mini-series, they either talk very reverentially about our founding fathers or they cynically say, "Gee, not a lot has changed." Where are you on that?

GIAMATTI: Not a lot has changed. [laughs] I don’t think a whole lot has changed, actually. I think it might’ve been worse in some ways then. In some ways I think they were nastier than they even are now. As bad as it gets now, I think they were worse in some ways. So we’ve come a long way.

Maybe they were worse because they weren’t quite as accountable?

GIAMATTI: They weren’t. They could hire guys to do their dirty work for them, which is what they do now, but they weren’t as out front as the other guys were.

What was the most difficult part for you aside from the dialogue and the wigs?

GIAMATTI: Well, you know the wig was hot. The whole thing was difficult for me, frankly. I mean, it was an endurance test. Basically it was a physical endurance thing, you know, and I had to do everything. I got to do everything in it, which was amazing, run the emotional gambit and be on a horse and all of that stuff. It was just an endurance test in general, really, and I’m amazed I made it through it.