Michael J. Fox, Mychael Danna among Canadian nominees for the Emmy Awards

TORONTO – Toronto composer Mychael Danna’s year just keeps getting better.

Just months after winning an Oscar for his work on Ang Lee’s 3D stunner “Life of Pi,” he now has an Emmy Award nomination for his music composition on the ReelzChannel historical miniseries “World Without End.”

“It is pretty thrilling,” Danna said Thursday in a telephone interview from his Toronto home just shortly after learning of his Emmy nod. “I will never get tired of this. It’s something that you don’t expect and you definitely don’t get used to this.”

Danna was among several Canadians who got Emmy love on Thursday.

Two-time Emmy winner Michael J. Fox of Edmonton is nominated for his guest role as a shrewd lawyer on CBS’ legal series “The Good Wife.”

Two-time Emmy winner Barry Julien, a former standup comedian from Montreal, is on “The Colbert Report” writing team that got a nod in the variety series category.

And twice-nominated Toronto composer Robert Duncan is in the running again, this time for his score to ABC’s “Last Resort.”

The list also includes Vancouver-raised Michelle MacLaren for best direction on the AMC drug drama “Breaking Bad”; Trevor Morris, a composer who hails from London, Ont, for his music composition on Showtime’s “The Borgias” papal drama series; and Thornhill, Ont.-born Keith Crofford for executive producing the satirical medical comedy “Childrens Hospital,” which is up for best short-format live-action program.

Danna said he crafted the music for the eight-part “World Without End,” a followup to the 2010 miniseries “The Pillars of the Earth,” last year in Toronto and Los Angeles.

Based on the Ken Follett novel, the drama is set in England in the 1300s as the Hundred Years’ War and Black Death pandemic are ramping up. Stars include Cynthia Nixon, Miranda Richardson and Ben Chaplin.

It’s an intense, rollicking story that’s “completely different” from the tone of “Life of Pi,” about a boy trapped on a boat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean, said Danna.

“That’s what really fun about my job is that I get to go from one world to another, from an Indian boy on the middle of the Pacific ocean to the Black Death,” he said with a laugh.
“Never a dull moment.”

Although “World Without End” is a historical drama, it features timeless characters and themes. As such, Danna said he wanted to incorporate sounds from that time period but also make them relevant to modern-day sensibilities.

“So we used a big orchestra but as well we used early music instruments like gamba and all kinds of fun things — sackbut, what a great name for an instrument,” he said, laughing. “And recorders and some medieval percussion.”

Danna said he was surprised when he received the Emmy nomination for his efforts. But then again, he’s always shocked by such accolades, which over the years have also included BAFTA Film Award, Genie and Gemini nominations.

“But 2013 has been a pretty amazing year for me in that regard,” he said. “Somewhere I guess there’s an astrological chart with my birthday on it that would explain all of this.

“In one year, it’s thrilling and it’s an honour.”

The Emmys, to be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air Sept. 22 on CBS.

Danna said he won’t get to attend the bash because it falls on the same weekend he’s scheduled to record music for his next project, Bennett Miller’s wrestling drama “Foxcatcher” starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo.

The composer’s other upcoming films include Atom Egoyan’s “Captive.”