Conan O’Brien at his Oscar concert

Conan O’Brien is not a cynical, at least not when it comes to the Oscars, who is organizing for the first time on Sunday. Emmy’s winning comedian, Podcast, traveler And the movie movie is really excited: “I can do this!” He got excited, but also completely worried.

“It is what I wake up and think at night: what is the best way to address this? As? In any way that makes me creatively happy? said.

Since he accepted the work at the end of last year, O’Brien, 61, has had a few months emotionally demanding. In December, his parents, who were in their 90 years, died three days apartin the house of his childhood in Massachusetts. Not long after the double funeral, just when it was being established in Los Angeles to work in the Oscars, the fires began there and their house was evacuated. When his wife called to ask what to save, his only thought was a 1980 letter from the author and eb White. O’Brien had writtenAs a teenage fan, “and a really sweet letter replied,” O’Brien said. “Then I said, just take that. And if the rest goes, it goes. “

He still lives 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, thoughtful and fun. Although he received the Emmy twice (more recently in 2006), he has never attended the Oscars. “This was the only way I could invite,” he joked.

His preparation has included bringing 10 of his own writers to work with unconditional Oscar’s night, execute crew jokes and fall into clubs in Los Angeles to try material. “I started to write the comedy at the time I was 18 years old,” he said, “and that is what I think all the time.” However, even for him, there is no formula. “It’s frustrating, but they are not mathematics. You can’t try it. The only way to find out is to try it with people. “

Even so, with only days for the show, O’Brien had few confirmed plans: would you make a musical number? An opening assembly? “Nothing is in stone,” he said. “I leave all the possibilities on the table. I have options right now and we’ll see what happens. “

Given the agitator news cycle, the risk of creating until the last minute felt necessary and worth it. “There will be things that don’t go as I want them to go,” he said. “But stay open to the possibility of being a gift, and you can do something with that.”

Beyond that, he has a secret to stay punished. “I’m going to read many Russian novels very sad,” he said. “‘Crime and punishment’; ‘Brothers Karamazov’;

Here there are edited extracts of the conversation.

Organizing this program is complicated, notoriously a type of ungrateful taskWhat many people decline. Why did you agree?

I need the money. And when I say that, keep in mind, pay very little.

I said yes because I am nostalgic, particularly now, about my childhood. The greatest emotion I have had in my career is to meet the celebrities who were on my TV when I was a small child. So When I met Don KnottsI lost my head. When I met Tom Cruise, I was happy and he was very lovely for me. But could not have the same impact (as Don Knotts). And I remember seeing Johnny Carson organize the Oscars, and that is a big problem.

And I understand intellectually: the entertainment landscape has changed a lot. I told Billy Crystal: “You hit a note that I think you can’t hit.” Because when people tune in to their Oscar, everyone had seen the films that were parody. It is not the community fire that may be once.

But I’m still thinking that Oscars make sense. Really good cinema, especially when it is from different countries, different points of view, it has an incredible amount of resonance and importance at this time, and this is the night that celebrates that. Being part of this is significant to me. I do not consider it an ungrateful task, even if I do it once, and no one is interested in doing it again, it will have been a significant experience for me. My parents are not here to see it, but I know it would have been a big problem for them.

I could tell my father, and I was impressed. (Laughs). He probably wondered, couldn’t they find someone else?

These have been a few months so intense for you, personally.

It is a lot. And it could be something Irish Catholic, but we are very good to push things down to move forward. It is a strength and weakness. My only goal with the Oscars is that I would like to have fun on stage that night. I would like to enjoy it. Because I am in a stage of my career where I no longer know if one thing takes another.

And I am not saying that in a morbid or sad way. I am happy; I have been blessed. I have really enjoyed all the things I have been able to do and the crazy adventures I have had, the ups and downs. I would not change anything, and if I am having fun, I will not say that everyone else will have fun, because this is not how internet works, but I am having a good time, I think that will be translated.

Did you receive advice from other veteran hosts, such as Billy Crystal or Jimmy Kimmel?

Club He lost his house In the fire, and I didn’t want to bother him because I can only imagine. Then I saw him in the “SNL” 50, and we had a long talk, so I think I’m going to send him a text message so that he said: “Here are some jokes,” things like that.

I got more in the weeds with Jimmy and Molly (Kimmel and McNarney, their main writer/producer who is also his wife). We go to dinner and have such an encyclopedic knowledge, things you wouldn’t even think about. As, if you are doing a little about someone in act I, make sure you are in your seat, because sometimes five minutes after the monologue they are still carrying people. Jimmy said, just be sure to sit when you can, between acts, because you are stopped three hours and begin to wear out. So I have had a couple of metal legs that I am going to paint a meat color.

You said, In your podcastWhat do you hate when critics highlight something relatively lower in a movie. What did you love, among the nominees?

We live in the era of smooth selection. Making a great movie is almost impossible. I think it is a kind of miracle: every year I think of the thousands of films that are made and how they have been made for 100 years. And still the truly great and perfect films are very few and distant. So, for me, it is a celebration of effort.

(In “a complete unknown”), there is a scene in which Timothée Chalamet, like Bob Dylan, is trying to write a song, you see it fighting. I thought it was a great representation of the creative process, which is usually misrepresented in the cinema. Mikey Madison impressed me in “Anora.” I loved the “conclave.” I would see Ralph Fiennes read from an electric manual. I think I have seen all the movies and I saw a real merit in many of them. And then I will be silent on those who were not so crazy, because who cares?

It is a celebration of all these people who work very hard to achieve something that is almost impossible. That is the part that excites me. I am excited by the A-Listers when they win. But when I see these people who have come, you know, Latvia, go up the stage, if they get up (The animated film) “Flow” That is exciting for me. You are seeing someone to have the best moment of their life. It can be transformative.

How will the Accommodation needle make in an era of political agitation?

It’s about threading the needle. I am there, really, to talk about these films, to talk about the industry. And yes, there will be political jokes here and there; There must be. But if it is a rule, I am harming everyone. In fact, I am harming people who could agree with the rule, in my opinion. However, any person voted should not be a prerequisite to enjoy the program. I feel very strong for that.

Is there an aspect of the program you are more nervous?

Making the right tone. The tone has been changing a lot in Los Angeles. And people love to project their agenda in a great show. What I think most is how the land can change when I am talking with you and when the program occurs. Moods can change, currents can change. I want to make sure I have my antenna for everything. And I’m going to do that until they hit my shoulder to get out. So I just hope I can ride it as a wave, because there is so much that I cannot handle now. It will simply happen.

It seems that this is what excites you.

It is what excites me and worries me. And that’s, in a nutshell, my life. I am attracted to the things that scare me. They excite me and scare me. I love them and I fear them, and keep turning. And they have not yet done a medicine that fixes it.

I think if I just loved it, it would not be me. And if I was only terrified by that, you would never have heard my name.

I’m old enough to tell young people now that that does not change. I have some bad news for you: you always have to have both. And I hope that more of that joy, which I think I have.

Is there anything else you can share about what is in the store?

I’m going to look amazing. That is what you can expect.

I am fit. I will use an incredible variety of tuxedo. I have had several surgeries to see my best moment. Unfortunately, I waited until they are late, so I’m still healing. I hope you wear a soft lens.

I think the surprise for the United States is that people will see this and say that it is one of the most attractive men living. There will be a whole controversy of AI, because they will say that Conan seemed a bit also good.