Jimmy Fallon's Late-Night Gig
There's a brand new face on NBC's late-night lineup. After 16 years, Conan O'Brien has passed the Late Night torch to Jimmy Fallon! The comedian won over fans and critics alike during his six years on Saturday Night Live, where he co-hosted Weekend Update with Tina Fey. Following in the footsteps of Conan and David Letterman, Jimmy's the third person to ever sit behind the Late Night desk. How's he handling the new job? Jimmy's opening up about Robert DeNiro, his nerves and who he's dying to have on the show.
Q: Congratulations to you! How's it going?
A: It's going great! We're getting ready for the show now. ... [We're having] all sorts of meetings about topical news, what's going on. ... It's a lot to get used to. It's tough doing a show. It's a grind!
Q: How did you get Robert DeNiro to be your first guest? He doesn't do interviews!
A: He's tough. He's so hard to talk to—because he doesn't talk! But he gave me what I asked for. I figured if I can get anything out of him, that'd be great...but I didn't. I got nothing. But he was very nice.
Q: What's scarier to do, your first show on Saturday Night Live or your first show on Late Night?
A: [Late Night] is probably the most pressure and the most sweaty for me. I sweat a lot during DeNiro's interview. A lot of flop sweat was coming through my pores. ... It wasn't just my upper lip. Flop sweat was pouring down my face. It's like, I couldn't even see at one point! I was the greasiest looking thing—I looked like a Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum figure of myself.
Q: How did you feel afterward?
A: It was great. My family was all there—my mom and dad, my sister and my aunt and uncle. It was the first show, so they wanted to be there. And also people sent me flowers and balloons—my office looked like I got my appendix taken out. ... And then my parents wanted to celebrate after, but I was like, "I have to do this tomorrow, and the next day and the next day."
Q: Isn't that the thing though? It doesn't matter how great your show is, you still have the next day.
A: It totally is. And at the same time, as bad as your show is, tomorrow you have another show to do. I'm still trying to figure out what my comedy style is right now, what the monologue is going to be. Should we do longer monologues [or] shorter? More political? More pop?
Q: Who are the people you brought with you? Did you bring people from Saturday Night Live? You have to get a real group going.
A: Michael Shoemaker from Saturday Night Live, I worked with him when I was on the show for six years. I brought him over. And Lorne Michaels is my executive producer, and he's the producer of Saturday Night Live. So he's watching me every step of the way.
Q: Who do you really want now? You start off with Bobby DeNiro, that's big. Who do you really want now that you're trying to get?
A: I want to Skype the Queen of England. So, Oprah, if you have her e-mail or anything...she doesn't even have to leave the palace!
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