Another late-night host is testing the industry waters outside late-night TV.
According to the Daily Mail, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver is currently filming a role on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives. The site reports that Oliver “hit it out of the park” on the show, which he reportedly started filming this week. Oliver’s “wacky role” on the soap opera was written specifically for him, the site also reports.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Oliver’s representatives for comment.
Oliver made his plea for a soap opera role on his show in March, citing his admiration for sports commentator Stephen A. Smith’s recurring role on General Hospital. “To all the soap operas out there, let me say this: I am officially offering myself to you. Write me a role, and I’ll be on your set so fast, it’ll make your head spin,” Oliver said at the time.
“I only have a few conditions: First, I don’t want to play myself. I want to be a character. And I want his name to be ridiculous,” he said. “Also, I want to do something juicy—like murder or slapping or being slapped or being someone’s long-lost something—and, ideally, I’d like a dramatic close-up of my face. But in return, trust me, I will give my all to this performance.”
To prove it, Oliver reenacted a scene similar to one he had played for his viewers, in which Smith plays “Brick,” a gun-toting crime-family security guru.
Smith replied to the segment with a humorous video questioning whether Oliver was “ready” to be a “soap opera star.”
“This is serious, OK? You gotta be willing to be that bad guy,” Smith joked. “Can’t have the smile on your face all the time. You gotta wear that scowl, you gotta be irritating, you gotta be all of those things. You gotta welcome being disliked.”
As one of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on late-night, Oliver would be no stranger to the feeling. Trump has called Oliver’s show “boring,” “low-rated,” and a “waste of time.” So far, the host has been lower on the president’s enemies list when it comes to hosts, even weeks after he got his way following repeated calls for the removal of Stephen Colbert, and The Late Show was canceled last month.
Oliver is apparently up to the challenge, according to the Daily Mail, which reports that an insider claims Oliver’s tenure on the show could potentially go long.
“If the character takes off, writers could turn it into a recurring or even contract role,” they said. Though the show “tapes nine months before it airs, execs have decided to slot John’s scenes in asap, potentially as soon as August, to see the audience reaction.”
The site’s insider is also cited as claiming Oliver was offered a role on General Hospital after Smith said he’d “put in a call” for the late-night host. The show “pitched him an emotional role recently,” they said, “but he turned it down,” because he “only wants to play fun parts.”
