Donna FreydkinNEW YORK — He's won 18 Emmys for his work on The Daily Show.
He famously coerced Bill O'Reilly into acknowledging that this thing called "white privilege" actually was real. He railed against NFL player Michael Vick and his notorious dog-fighting ring. And his Indecision 2000 segment declaring George W. Bush the winner of the presidency was one for the ages.
And yet when Jon Stewart does get recognized, it's for nothing related to his unquestionable influence on political coverage.
"I don't think I've ever had that kind of profile that people are super excited to see," he says. "I get more like, 'Hey, you're the guy from Big Daddy?' I had that in the coffee shop the other day. I still get that sometimes. I'm not a recluse. I can wander the streets."
Seriously? Since taking over the deliciously satirical Daily Show from Craig Kilborn in 1999, and having on everyone from Jake Gyllenhaal to President Obama, he's remembered for Adam Sandler's comedy?
That's one reason that Stewart never had any intention of casting himself in his directorial debut Rosewater (opening Friday in select cities), unlike, say, Ben Affleck, who both directed and starred in Argo, that other movie about Iran.
"Ben Affleck has an actual track record of being in movies and making them successful. I'm known as a poison pill. I wanted it to be made and succeed," Stewart says. "What's the one element that I know consistently makes movies do poorly? Me."
'Rosewater' is based on the memoir of Maziar Bahari, a journalist who was imprisoned in Iran, accused of spying. The film is written and directed by Jon Stewart. VPC
Instead, he poured his smarts, soul and sweat into Rosewater, the cinematic adaptation of journalist Maziar Bahari's book Then They Came For Me. The book is about his being imprisoned for 118 days in Iran for allegedly being a spy after reporting on elections for numerous western outlets and appearing on The Daily Show.
"Maziar's memoir was so compelling. There's a tendency to view those stories as so stark, a travelogue through hell. His had so many elements of family, humor," Stewart says. "He's such a textured individual. He was able to infuse the story with all those elements. You felt it had the depth of literature while still being non-fiction."
On set, says Gael García Bernal (who plays Bahari), Stewart is what you'd expect. "Off-camera, he doesn't stop. He's incredibly funny and it's just amazing when he includes you in his humor. This film was difficult and you had to be highly concentrated. His sense of humor kept us alive, in a way," he says. "He is very intelligent and easygoing, very capable of listening and putting his point of view across."
In person, Stewart is relaxed and thoughtful, but also impeccably attentive. Despite his stature among news junkies, he has no intention of running for office, a question he gets asked often.
"People are incredibly dissatisfied. We are parodic. We are in that world, when you're making satire, that can appeal to people and they can confuse that with actual ability in the public arena," he says. "I understand that we're armchair quarterbacks. When are you going to be the head coach? I'm not as good at that. I'm really better at talking (trash)."
He's equally circumspect about what's next for him, and whether he'll direct again or spend another decade behind The Daily Show desk after his contract is up next year. "That's generally how I approach things — I try and finish my plate before going back up. It's hard enough for me to focus on the task at hand. My whole world is regimented by these deadlines. You're always making those calculations," he says.
What he does know is that after leaving the show for several months last year to shoot Rosewater, and leaving John Oliver at the helm, the trains still ran on time.
"It was good for them to know they could do the show without me and good for me to know that I'm OK without the show, if that makes sense," he says.
He has relocated from Manhattan to New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and three-legged rescue pitbull — a bit of a disconnect, given how Rosewater also skewers the allegedly lurid sex trade in Fort Lee, located right outside New York City. Stewart is at peace with any possible fallout.
"I don't know that it will be able to air there," he says. "This is the price you pay when you turn your town into a sexual playground."
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