Conan O’Brien Teases Oscars Hosting Gig on ‘Kimmel’

Conan O’Brien appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss his gig hosting the Oscars this Sunday night, joking that he “made a mistake” taking on the high-pressure task.

“We’re going to have a great show,” he told Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted four times, including last year. “We’re going to have a great time. Things for me come together very late, so I started working on the Oscars about four hours ago and I’m going to pull an all-nighter.” He added, more seriously, “We’ve been working hard and I think we have some fun ideas and some great surprises.”

O’Brien confirmed that he owes Kimmel some thanks. “One of the first calls I got after agreeing to host the Oscars was from Jimmy Kimmel,” he noted. “I didn’t pick up because I have caller ID. But then I thought about it and I called you back and you were very nice. You said, ‘I’ve hosted this several times… I will give you some tips along with my wife Molly, who has produced the show.” The two hosts later met at a restaurant along with Molly McNearney (where O’Brien paid). “They gave me all these great tips,” O’Brien confirmed.

“Dumb tips,” Kimmel chimed in. “I would never give you tips on jokes or any of that stuff. I would never do anything like that. But I did have some kind of old man tips like ‘Try to sit down during the show.’”

Kimmel later asked if O’Brien has managed to watch all of the nominated films. “Well, I told People magazine that I’ve watched all 35,” O’Brien replied. “And that’s in print.” Kimmel said he did try to watch everything when he hosted, but didn’t always see everything. “Some of them if you know they don’t have a chance or nobody saw them, I didn’t watch them,” Kimmel admitted.

“Let me make something clear, when we were coming along as young people there were five movies nominated, right?” O’Brien said. “Then they expanded it to 45 movies and then 75 and now 110. So you gotta watch a lot of movies.” He added, unconvincingly, “I have seen all of the movies.” He then admitted, “I have watched a lot of the movies.”

Elsewhere in the appearance, O’Brien talked about interviewing Quentin Tarantino, appearing in a dramatic role in film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You with Rose Byrne, and his friendship with Bob Newhart.

O’Brien will take the stage at the Oscars this Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. It marks his first time hosting the awards ceremony, although he previously helmed the Emmy Awards back in 2002 and 2006.

Earlier this month, the comedian told People he hopes to “lift people up” and honor the entertainment community as a whole rather than just the celebrities. “It’s a celebration of an entire industry and people from every walk of life who give their blood, sweat, and tears for show business,” O’Brien said.

He added of the pressure, “There’s no such thing as getting to a point professionally where there are no nerves if you’re working in comedy. I am very aware that it’s an iconic show and can be tricky… I like to meet a challenge. If I think something could be funny I will do it to my own detriment.”