Conan O’Brien is not a cynic — at least not when it comes to the Oscars, which he is hosting for the first time on Sunday. The Emmy-winning comedian, podcaster, traveler and movie buff is genuinely excited — “I get to do this!” he enthused — but also thoroughly worried.
“It’s the thing I wake up and think about at night: What’s the best way to tackle this? How? In a way that makes me creatively happy?” he said.
Since he accepted the job late last year, O’Brien, 61, has had an emotionally taxing few months. In December, his parents, who were in their 90s, died three days apart, in his childhood home in Massachusetts. Not long after the double funeral, just as he was settling back in Los Angeles to work on the Oscars, the fires started there, and his home was evacuated. When his wife called to ask what to save, his only thought was of a 1980 letter from the author and essayist E.B. White. O’Brien had written to him, as a teenage fan, “and he wrote me back a really sweet letter,” O’Brien said. “So I said, just grab that. And if the rest goes, it goes.”
He is still living in a hotel, where he has hung the letter on a wall, he said in a video interview from his office on Monday. The conversation was discursive — pensive and funny. Though he hosted the Emmys twice (most recently in 2006), he has never attended the Oscars. “This was the only way I could get invited,” he joked.
His preparation has included bringing in 10 of his own writers to work with Oscar-night stalwarts, running jokes by the crew, and dropping in at clubs in Los Angeles to try out material. “I started seriously writing comedy around the time I was 18,” he said, “and it’s what I think about all the time.” Yet even for him, there is no formula. “It’s frustrating, but it’s not math. You can’t prove it. The only way to find out is to try it on people.”
Still, with only days to go before the show, O’Brien had few confirmed plans: Would he do a musical number? An opening montage? “Nothing’s in stone,” he said. “I’m leaving every possibility on the table. I have choices right now, and we’ll see what happens.”
Given the churning news cycle, the risk of creating until the last minute felt both necessary and worth it. “There will be things that don’t go the way I want them to go,” he said. “But stay open to the possibility that that’s a gift, and you can make something out of it.”
Beyond that, he has a secret for staying grounded. “I’m just going to read a lot of very dreary Russian novels,” he said. “‘Crime and Punishment’; ‘Brothers Karamazov’; ‘Notes From Underground.’ I’m going to finish reading them live onstage — aloud. This is an Oscars you don’t want to miss!”
Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Hosting this show is tricky — notoriously kind of a thankless task, that a lot of people say no to. Why did you agree?
I need the money. And when I say that, keep in mind, it pays very little.
I said yes because I am nostalgic, particularly now, about my childhood. The biggest thrill I’ve had in my career is meeting the celebrities that were on my television when I was a little boy. So when I met Don Knotts, I lost my mind. When I met Tom Cruise, I was happy and he was very lovely to me. But it couldn’t have the same impact [as Don Knotts]. And I remember watching Johnny Carson host the Oscars, and that being a big deal.
And I intellectually understand — the entertainment landscape has changed a lot. I told Billy Crystal: “You hit a note that I think you can’t hit anymore.” Because when people tuned in to his Oscars, everyone had seen the movies he was parodying. It’s not the communal campfire that it maybe once was.
But I still think the Oscars has meaning. Really good cinema — especially when it’s from different countries, different points of view — has an incredible amount of resonance and importance right now, and this is the night that celebrates that. To be a part of it is meaningful to me. I don’t think of it as a thankless task — even if I just do it once, and no one’s interested in me doing it again, it will have been a meaningful experience for me. My parents aren’t here to see it, but I know it would have been a huge deal to them.
I was able to tell my father, and he was impressed. [Chuckles]. He probably wondered, couldn’t they find someone else?
This has been such an intense few months for you, personally.
It’s a lot. And it just might be an Irish Catholic thing, but we’re so good at pushing things down to push forward. It’s a strength and a weakness. My one goal with the Oscars is, I would like to have fun onstage that night. I would like to enjoy it. Because I’m at a stage in my career where I don’t know if one thing leads to another anymore.
And I’m not saying that in a morbid or sad way. I’m content; I’ve been blessed. I’ve really enjoyed all the things that I’ve been able to make and the crazy adventures I’ve had, the highs and lows. I wouldn’t change a thing, And if I’m having fun, I won’t say everybody else will be having fun — because that’s not how the internet works — but if I’m having a good time, I think that will translate.
Did you get advice from other veteran hosts, like Billy Crystal or Jimmy Kimmel?
Billy lost his house in the fire, and I didn’t want to bother him because I can only imagine. Then I saw him at the “S.N.L.” 50th, and we had a long talk, so I think I’m going to be texting him to maybe say, “here are some jokes,” things like that.
I got more into the weeds with Jimmy and Molly [Kimmel and McNearney, his head writer/producer who is also his wife]. We went out to dinner, and they have such an encyclopedic knowledge — things you wouldn’t even think about. Like, if you’re doing a bit about somebody in Act I, make sure they’re in their seat, because sometimes five minutes into the monologue they’re still loading people in. Jimmy said, just make sure you sit down when you can, in between acts, because you are standing the whole three hours and it does start to wear away at you. So I’ve had a pair of metal legs made that I’m going to paint a flesh color.
You said, on your podcast, that you hate when critics single out something relatively minor in a movie. What did you love, among the nominees?
We live in the era of nit-picking. Making a great film is next to impossible. I think it’s kind of a miracle — every year I think of the thousands of films that are made and how they’ve been being made for 100 years. And still the truly great, perfect movies are very few and far between. So to me, it’s a celebration of the effort.
[In “A Complete Unknown”], there is a scene where Timothée Chalamet, as Bob Dylan, is trying to write a song — you see him struggling. I thought it was a great depiction of the creative process, which is usually misrepresented in film. I was blown away by Mikey Madison in “Anora.” I loved “Conclave.” I’d watch Ralph Fiennes read from an electrical manual. I think I’ve seen all the movies and I saw real merit in a lot of them. And then I’ll be quiet about the ones that I wasn’t as crazy about, because who cares?
It’s a celebration of all these people working really hard to attain something that’s almost impossible. That’s the part I get excited about. I’m excited for the A-listers when they win. But when I see these people that have come from, you know, Latvia, get up onstage, if they get up for [the animated film] “Flow,” that’s thrilling to me. You’re seeing someone have the greatest moment of their life. It can be transformative.
How will you thread the needle of hosting in an era of political upheaval?
It is all about threading the needle. I’m there, really, to talk about these films, to talk about the industry. And yes, there’s going to be political jokes here and there; there have to be. But if it’s a screed, I’m doing a disservice to everybody. I’m actually doing a disservice to the people who might agree with the screed, in my opinion. However anyone voted should not be a prerequisite for whether you enjoy the show. I feel very strongly about that.
Is there an aspect of the show that you’re most nervous about?
Getting the tone right. The tone has been shifting a lot in Los Angeles. And people love to project their agenda onto a big show. The thing I think about the most is how the ground can shift between when I’m talking to you and when the show happens. Moods can change, currents can change. I want to make sure that I have my antenna up for everything. And I’m going to be doing that right up until they tap me on the shoulder to go out. So I just hope that I’m able to ride it like a wave, because there’s so much about it that I can’t manifest now. It’s just going to happen.
It sounds like that’s what excites you about it.
It’s what excites me and worries me. And that is, in a nutshell, my life. I am drawn to the things that scare me. They excite me and they scare me. I love them and I dread them, and it just keeps flipping. And they haven’t made a medication yet that will fix it.
I think if I solely loved it, I wouldn’t be me. And if I was solely terrified by it, you’d never have heard my name.
I’m old enough to tell young people now, that doesn’t change. I got some bad news for you: There’s always just got to be both. And hopefully more of that joy — which I think I’ve had.
Is there anything else you can share about what’s in store?
I’m going to look amazing. That’s what you can look forward to.
I’m in shape. I’m going to be wearing an incredible array of tuxedos. I’ve had various surgeries to look my best. Unfortunately, I waited till kind of late, so I’m still healing. I hope they use a soft lens.
I think the surprise for America is, people are going to look at this and say, that’s one of the most attractive men alive. There’ll be a whole AI controversy, because they’ll say Conan looked a little too good.
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