Shandling Shuffles To Film

Comedian Garry Shandling takes on a more serious role in the movie Hurlyburly. As he tells CBS This Morning Contributor Eleanor Mondale,, his character, Artie, can't help hiding his insecurities with humor.

In Hurlyburly, Shandling, 49, plays a fast-living movie executive, desperately seeking approval from his fast-talking friends, played by Kevin Spacey and Sean Penn.

The role "certainly has parts that are relatable to me," says Shandling. "But what is unfamiliar is the drug use, and the hanging out with those kinds of guys - which I have avoided in my real life because I'm fearful of that."

Artie is not quite part of the messed-up gang that is at the center of Hurlyburly's plot.

"I think [Artie] is sort of more normal than these guys, but struggling to be like them and struggling to be loved by them, and desperate for their acceptance. And that's where his motor is," Shandling explains.

Shandling will have to keep his own motor running for a while. He's about to star in a comedy he wrote, playing an alien who finds Earth to be a very funny place. Last season, he ended a successful five-year run in his HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show.