Stephen Colbert on how he will reveal true self on "Late Show"
Stephen Colbert has said before that he will drop his "Colbert Report" persona when he takes the helm at the "Late Show," and now, the funnyman explained to Time exactly how he will do that.
Colbert said finally being able to break out of his "Colbert Report" character is a huge relief. He revealed that on "The Colbert Report," he and his colleagues had to edit out every single time he made a mistake.
"He was absolutely always on point," he said of his "Colbert" character. "Win. Get over. Stay sharp. That was his attitude all the time, and we had to reflect that in the production of the show. None of that is necessary anymore. Now I can be a comedian."
So how does he plan to introduce viewers to the real Stephen Colbert? He will air a series called "Who Am Me," during which both viewers and Colbert will explore the comedian's true persona.
"The unexamined life can be extremely enjoyable, and who knows if I do know who I am," he said. "We're going to see whether I do. I'll have my own suppositions as to what these answers might be from people and see if their memory of me is the same or whether the police investigator we hired to investigate me finds out."
Colbert is most excited to talk to his favorite teacher from elementary school.
"I had such a crush on her," he explained. "I'm going to talk to her. I haven't seen her since 1974 but I can't believe that they found her."
Don't expect the "Late Show" to be perfect, though -- Colbert said he is comfortable with occasionally bombing.
"That's a tough thing to do with an audience -- go out there and constantly go, 'Love me, love me, love me,'" he said. "It's much better to be perceiving their needs and giving, giving, giving to them."
The thing is, the audience does love him.