On Conan O'Brien's final Tonight Show, he earned one of his biggest laughs when he said that if HBO decided to make a movie about the recent late-night fiasco, he'd "like to be played by Academy Award-winner Tilda Swinton." I just finished interviewing Swinton at Sundance to promote her new film I Am Love, and I decided (without any authorization from HBO whatsoever) to make her a formal offer for the red-headed role. Do we have a rare bit of good news for the beleaguered O'Brien?
"I've heard about Conan!" Swinton said excitedly when I broached the subject. "I'm so thrilled."
So would she be willing to take on the challenge of playing him? After all, Swinton has bent genders onscreen before, as anyone who's seen her 1992 film Orlando would know.
"I would just be only too happy," she beamed. "Yes, yes, yes, absolutely."
Then, pondering the offer, she decided to return the favor and solicit from O'Brien. "What I really would love to do is get him to do some of the things I get to do. It would be nice if he were here at Sundance maybe, wearing this coat, talking about I Am Love."
It might seem like a tall order for O'Brien, but he certainly has several months of unemployment to pull off such a switch. "And why not?" Swinton said. "Every girl should have a doppleganger."
[Photo Credit: Jeff Vespa/Getty Images]