Sir Patrick Stewart researched his role as a cable news host by spending time with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
“I learned very quickly how clever people – who work on those shows, how intellectually clever they are and how articulate,” Stewart told CNN’s Brian Stelter. “I sat in on production meetings at 9 in the morning, at the beginning of the day. ‘Tonight’s show, what is it going to be?’ And there was never a silence, because the moment someone finished talking about a subject or pitching a subject, somebody else was in, or there would be three or four people with their ideas. So, I said to our team, whenever we are having our production meetings or discussions about what is going on, there should never be silence. That was the first thing I got from it.”
In Blunt Talk, Stewart plays Walter Blunt, the British host of an American cable news show–and a man with a host of off-camera problems. The Starz comedy, which debuted last night, puts Stewart in a comedy–and a world he’s long watched from the outside.
“I have been a news junkie all my life,” Stewart said.