Jon Stewart had some fun with Daily Show alum Steve Carell on Wednesday. Stewart recounted how he and Al Pacino went to see Carell’s new movie and Stewart was disappointed to discover Carell wasn’t in it. At least not the Carell he knows. In fact Carell was so convincing in the film that Stewart just didn’t recognize him. Carell will surely receive an Oscar nomination for Foxcatcher, completing his transition from Daily Show correspondent to 40-year-old virgin to major actor. That’s not major comedic actor, but straight-up George Clooney stuff. Maybe space will be next for Carell? Pacino, according to Stewart, was so impressed he vowed to quit acting–Carell being just too good to compete with.
Al Pacino, of course, didn’t actually go to the movies with Jon Stewart, though that’s a cute picture. But all the rest is true about Steve Carell’s performance in this twisted, brilliant story by Bennett Miller that “might have pleased Dostoevsky,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I never knew you were talented,” Stewart told Carell, who may not himself have known he was this talented back then either.
