Stephen Colbert: 'Nobody has any belief that I can do anything'
To many, Stephen Colbert is inseparable from his ultra-conservative satirical persona. Colbert's challenge, therefore, on the eve of taking over the Late Show is figuring how to be the "real" Colbert.
It's an unrealistic demand in and of itself, since everyone in entertainment adopts some sort of persona when they're in front of the camera. So the real question is, who will the "new" Colbert be?
Colbert insists it might not be as hard as one would imagine. In his Time cover story interview, the comedian revealed that the real "him" was always lurking behind the Colbert we all know from his days at Comedy Central — the only reason we didn't see him is because every inch of the show was meticulously constructed before it went on air.
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But after a decade of The Colbert Show, can he truly make himself anew? Colbert had a final word for his doubters:
Colbert takes the helm of the Late Show Sept. 8 on CBS.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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