Conan On New Doc: ‘Why Perpetuate The Myth That I’m Someone That’s Always Smiling?’

Conan O’Brien is promoting a new documentary about his life titled “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop,” which debuted at the SXSW Film Festival, Director Rodman Flender explains that the title refers to Conan’s inability to stop performing and not, as some may have thought, his inability to stop talking about his separation from NBC.

Conan describes the film as documenting the period in his life when he didn’t know if he would get another job in television. Flender asked Conan during filming whether he was capable of having fun without an audience in front of him, and Conan did not have an answer. Even in this interview, Conan is extremely candid, admitting:

“So much of my life in the last year and a half has been about being honest about things and letting people see, for better or worse, I’m human, I’m a performer. I take my work very seriously, I get very down on myself.”

And Conan suggested the documentary was a good idea because “why perpetuate the myth that I’m someone that’s always smiling and laughing and saying ‘hahaha we’ll take a break, we’ll be right back.'” Instead Conan thinks viewers of television should know that people on television are not and happy and thrilled all the time. Given Conan’s willingness to be very revealing, it seems like this documentary certainly could be an insightful and enjoyable portrait of a complex and talented performer.

Watch the clip from CNN below:

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!