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Musician and comedian Jimmy Fallon left "Saturday Night Live," his dream job, for what turned out to be a mediocre movie career. But he has landed in the hot seat, replacing Conan O'Brien in March as the host of NBC's "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon." He previewed some of his comic bits and his angst on the Web, which proved very popular with younger viewers. He recently won the Webby Person of the Year award for his creative use of the Internet. Fallon, 34, married producer Nancy Juvonen two years ago, and the couple live in New York City.
Congratulations on your Webby.
Yeah, thank you so much. I was pretty excited. I was flipping out. I didn't think it was gonna happen. It's a big thing. You know, when we first started the Web shows at latenightwithjimmyfallon.com, it was [producer] Lorne [Michaels'] idea. We actually found out [we were doing it] after he told the press or something like that. I was doing stand-up, and I would use my laptop Webcam and I had a flip video camera and a home video camera, and that's all I would use. I would edit it on iMovie.
Was the feedback constructive from your prep-isodes?
Oh, totally, yeah. I actually learned a lot from doing those Web-isodes, we try to name them different things, Internet-isodes. We didn't know what to call them. Basically the more honest you are the more your fans go, "OK, he's not fooling around." It's almost like a thing where it's not showbizzy. They'd rather see a kind of an odyssey than a scripted piece. It was interesting.
So, Jimmy, they wanted reality TV via the Web-isodes?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, it is reality TV. People want to see real. That's what they want to see the most. They want to know if you're not being fake and phony and what you are really going through.
You're being innovative with the Internet, but your stage set for the "Late Show" is kind of old school.
Our studio has a lot of history in it. The studio used to be Johnny Carson's for 10 years when he was in New York, before he went off to L.A. We didn't want to change [a lot]. He has that weird step up. You have to step up to his desk, which is kind of awkward, but there's something fun about that. ... It was actually a blessing in disguise that we got our studio. We were going to take Conan O'Brien's studio, but to take that we would have had to wait for him to say goodbye and take his set down and build our set up and then have five test shows. I would not have been on until May. (The first show aired March 2.)
How much do you wing it with the guests?
It's a good question because sometimes people like it when you wing it. Sometimes they really don't. I am trying to think of an example, but I don't want to talk out of school. They may want you to ask them about their camping trip. So I might say, "Do you sleep in a sleeping bag?" Like, something like that will just come into my head. They will go, "Oh, my God, you've got to hear the story of the sleeping bag." It's a great story they never would have told.
Do you find the more famous the guest the harder it is to get a natural conversation going because they have certain restrictions?
Yes, I think sometimes you can get prepped too much and you get too nervous. This should be the fun part. I mean, you've done your work. The work was your show or your music or your movie or whatever got you here. This is all gravy, this is all fun. Kind of like, "Chill, we like you." I'm not a crazy investigative reporter. I'm a comedian turned talk show host. I barely know what I'm doing. I just want to make sure you have a good time and come back.
When other kids were trading baseball cards, you were focused on "SNL." Did you feel like movies were the next step after "SNL," since so many other alumni went that route?
I set all my sights on "Saturday Night Live." I mean, every single thing -- blowing out birthday candles, throwing a coin in the fountain. I read everything, every single book about "Saturday Night Live" and Second City and Groundlings. I did my homework. When I was leaving the show, I was more loose. I thought, I'll try movies. I didn't know what type of movies, of course, at that time I think I wanted to try dramas. You know everyone wants to do what they're not good at.
Well, now you have your own show. You can laugh whenever you want to, but you've taken grief for breaking character with laughter during your "SNL" years.
[Laughing.] I am an easy laugh, I really am. I think it all kind of came from the "Best of Will Ferrell" DVD. That's when it all started, when Will left. It just so happens that in the "Best of Will Ferrell," in five of the sketches I'm laughing. He is a brilliantly funny guy. So he would do something, but then he'd switch it up on air. He would surprise me with stuff. Like in "Cow Bell," we would do it in dress rehearsal, but then on air he'd come out in a shorter shirt and every time he'd lift his arms up his gut would come out of his shirt. ... The crowd was just roaring, if you were there, it was vibrating from how much people were laughing. ... I just couldn't control it. I don't regret it. If you want, you can show the dress rehearsal where I'm not laughing, but it's probably not as funny.
So you are married now and back in the spotlight. Is your wife OK with all the women chasing you?
[Laughs.] It's not that bad at all. I am very lucky my wife is super duper and super fun. Actually what I find is girls come up and they actually know my wife. They say, "Oh, my God, you're so nice and you're so pretty." She talks to people for a long time. She's a talker. Like I said, I super lucked out. Right now things can't be going better for me. I just want to say a quick shout out to Primanti Brothers sandwiches. I don't like mayonnaise, but they didn't tell me you can't ask for special things on that sandwich. I said, "Can I have a salami sandwich with no coleslaw?" The guy just stared at me. Then I got the almost famous chili. Greatest bread, greatest sandwich. They make the best sandwiches.
