Conan O’Brien recalls one interview that made him crawl under desk: "That was my lowest moment"
Conan O'Brien is a celebrated host who has welcomed numerous celebrities onto his talk show. However, there have been instances where he found himself on the other side of the interview. Talking about one such interview, O'Brien opened up about his horrible experience on 'The Howard Stern Show' and how the interviewee made him crawl under his desk.
O'Brien opened up about his early days on 'The Howard Stern Show,' recounting how 'Late Night with Conan O’Brien' struggled to gain attention in its initial days as per Uproxx. Critics, particularly Tom Shales of 'The Washington Post,' were brutal, calling O’Brien a 'fidgety marionette' unfit to host. O’Brien recalled an interview with Charlie Rose, where Rose read a harsh review aloud, embarrassing him so much that he hid under his desk before recovering.
O'Brien described his lowest moment: "From underneath the desk, I said, 'I'm fine; I just need to lie here under the desk for a while. I'll start having meetings in ten minutes.'" That, to me, is when the needle got to the lowest," O'Brien said. Despite the setback, his father reassured him, saying, "If you can survive this, it's going to make the whole story that much better."
As O'Brien's father had predicted, the host quickly rose to success but still faced tough times. In another interview with Dax Shepard on the 'Armchair Expert podcast, the veteran revealed his worst interview experience with Abel Ferrara, as per Joe. For context, Ferrara, known for 'Bad Lieutenant' and 'King of New York,' was a major filmmaker in the 1980s but hasn’t directed a feature in years. "He fled during the show, before his segment. He ran away, got into the elevator, and was out on the street." O'Brien's producer "gave chase… made him—pushing him—got him backstage.” When Ferrara finally appeared, "He came on camera against his will. And then, he came out and I think started yelling at me."
O’Brien, recalling Ferrara’s chaotic interview, said he wasn’t sure if the director was drunk but has no tolerance for intoxicated guests. He described them as “just laughing at their own jokes and taking too long to reply.” O’Brien also hinted that "an actor from a certain show where everyone’s trapped on an island," was extremely drunk during their interview.
On another occasion, O'Brien shared the biggest mistake talk show guests make on 'Hot Ones,' saying the worst thing they can do is "tell the audience [the interview isn’t] going well." He noted that stars often second-guess themselves, which only makes things worse, as per HuffPost.
Explaining it, O'Brien said, "I've seen it happen many times. It’s an amateur move because the host can do a lot to let people think it’s going great, even if it’s not." He emphasized that "audiences want to see a good show, they want to see a good interview." O'Brien also recalled moments when guests sabotaged themselves, saying, "I was always amazed when someone would come out and they’d be doing OK… and then they would just look right at the camera and say, ‘This just isn’t going well, is it?'"