"Carlos" leading man Edgar Ramirez has already contended for SAG and Golden Globe awards for his audacious portrayal of the notorious fugitive Carlos the Jackal. Now, as the focus of the Emmy campaign by Sundance Channel, he is a frontrunner for Best TV Movie/Mini Actor.

Among his competition: Idris Elba ("Luther"), Laurence Fishburne ("Thurgood"), William Hurt ("Too Big To Fail"), and Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones ("The Sunset Limited").

Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, the five-and-a-half hour biopic has earned rave reviews and both the LA and NY film critics named it Best Foreign-Language film last December. Last October, "Carlos" aired as a three-part miniseries on producing partner Sundance (thus qualifying for the Emmys) and this January it won the Golden Globe for Best TV Movie/Mini.

Ramirez chatted with Gold Derby senior editor Rob Licuria from the Canary Islands where he is currently shooting "Wrath of the Titans," the sequel to the hit 2010 blockbuster "Clash of the Titans." He revealed how overwhelmed he had been by all the positive feedback for "Carlos."

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Recalling his experience as a nominee at the Golden Globes he said, "it was really touching to have people that I have admired my whole life [tell me] the most amazing things about my work" and admitted it was, "a humbling experience ... to be nominated in the same category as Al Pacino ... right there and then, I was already a winner!"