“This is me brushing my teeth next to PaulMcCartney!” he says of a photo on his wall behind his desk. Next, he points to a framed ticket of his final Saturday Night Live show from May 2004. He proudly picks up a RodneyDangerfield Centennial Respect trophy (“I loved Rodney, but this award is heavy, to be honest”), which sits on a cabinet next to a fish tank gifted to him four years ago by his former SNL boss, LorneMichaels. And, whoa, that’s a handwritten note from legend JerryLewis, asking him if Lewis can say a profane word as a guest on The Tonight Show. With the same level of exuberance, Fallon also singles out a photo of himself with his wife, movie producer NancyJuvonen, at their 2007 wedding on the private Necker Island in the Caribbean—as well as one of his own parents, Gloria and James Fallon Sr., on their big day in Brooklyn. “My mom is in this beautiful wedding dress and my dad is in a tuxedo with a cigarette,” he says. “Like, Dad, you can’t wait five minutes?!” This combination of unfailing humor and heart has endeared Fallon, 47, to millions of fans. More than seven years into his plum Tonight Show job, the SNL alum has made his mark by eschewing smart-alecky barbs in favor of old-school variety-show-style entertainment. “I like that we mix it up so I can go out and sing a song with someone or dance and do sketches,” he says. Now he’s branching out beyond late night. Fallon hosts and executive-produces That’s My Jam (premiering on NBC Nov. 29), in which two teams of celebrities face off in music-and-dance-based games; he also oversees The Kids Tonight Show, airing weekly on Peacock through Dec. 22, and the E! network’s music competition series Clash of the Cover Bands. And just in time for Christmas, the animated special 5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas, based on his bestselling children’s book, will air tonight at 8:30/7:30 CT on NBC and again on Dec. 23. Before the holiday crush, Fallon talks to Parade about his ghosts of Christmas past, his Tonight Show present and his never-been-brighter TV future. The holidays are a crazy time of year in New York City. What’s it like for you working in Rockefeller Center? It’s a mix between magic and chaos. You add an hour coming in and leaving for the commute. I mean, there’s the tree, the ice-skating, FAO Schwarz and Saks Fifth Avenue with a light show every half hour. But after a while you go, “Maybe get your own tree?” So how do the Fallons spend the holidays? We play holiday music all the time. We decorate. The kids [Franny, 6, and Winnie, 8] are very crafty and we make snowflakes. We watch Hallmark movies. And we make this Puerto Rican eggnog called coquito [a coconut-and-rum drink], and once you try that you’ll never go back to regular eggnog again. There are also candy canes and cookies. I really go all in. Do you follow a lot of traditions from your childhood in Saugerties, New York? Yeah, we still go overboard on decorating the house. We’re like two light bulbs away from being the Griswolds [in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation]. And Santa would come, though weirdly Santa would come to my house with unwrapped presents and the price tags still on. Now things are wrapped. Are you a good gift giver? I think so. I always try to throw a couple curve balls, but I try to be thoughtful. Oh, God, I’m just thinking about the time I got my grandma a scent diffuser. She was like 80 years old, and I thought it would be calming. It was terrible. Oh, I had maybe one really serious girlfriend ever and I got her a long flannel nightgown from the Disney Store with Mickey Mouse on it. And we had no connection to Mickey Mouse! I can relive going to the mall and buying it and then seeing her disappointment. That story aside, you’ve described your early years as idyllic. Do you remember the first time you performed in front of an audience and got a laugh? We are a very, very Irish Catholic family, and my grandparents lived in a little cottage in our backyard. So we would have parties all the time and everyone would be singing and laughing and telling stories. I think at those parties, my parents would ask me to perform something. I actually have a reel-to-reel tape of my parents interviewing me when I was 2. They said “Oh, Jimmy, do JamesCagney,” and I go, “You dirty rat!” I did DonHo too. Weren’t you nervous to perform in front of others? Yeah, I think I was. But the older you get, the more nervous you get. You begin to get knocked back a little and you get embarrassed and start to lose confidence. Maybe it’s because you know from experience that the stove is hot and fire burns. I did a stand-up thing recently, and it was my first time in seven years. I ended up writing a song and doing some jokes, but I was so nervous to go up there even though I talk in front of the camera for millions of people every night. Looking back, are you now embarrassed about anything in your career? Thousands of things! Right now, I’d say my haircuts from when I did “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live [from 2000 to 2004]. It was a whole thing and so embarrassing. I grew a mullet and flipped the bottom out, almost like Paul McCartney from when he was in Wings. But you have to have Paul McCartney’s face to pull that off. But you do have a true musical side. Any secret rock star aspirations? I think every comedian has a rock star thing in their brain. I would love to know what it feels like to make a whole stadium of people go, “Ahhh!” When you leave the stage, you’ll always want someone clapping. When I started out, I only did stand-up comedy. Then in college [at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York] I started adding musical impressions. I would do GeorgeMichael at the end of my act, and it was the perfect closer. I can harmonize, but my voice isn’t that amazing. And I’d be too embarrassed to write an original serious song. You’ve talked a lot about how much you loved Saturday Night Live as a teen. What was your level of obsession? It was my ultimate goal. If I had a birthday cake, I’d blow out the candles and think about SNL. Throw a coin in the fountain and wish for SNL. In college, I wouldn’t go to parties until SNL was over. Then I would go and be like a human YouTube. I’d tell everyone which sketch was the best of the night. Like, “You’ve got to watch ChrisFarley as a motivational speaker saying that he’s living in a van down by the river!” And you were only 24 when you joined the show in 1998. That period of your life must have been a whirlwind. It’s funny. We just had someone young on the show and they go, “What bars are cool?” And I had no clue. I don’t go to bars anymore. I can’t believe what my hours used to be. I’d come home at like 5 in the morning and wake up at 1 in the afternoon. I’d save everything for the nighttime because that’s when I could really shine. That was my life. I got used to that. Did you have a favorite host? I can’t really say, but…I will never forget RobertDe Niro [in 2002] asking me where he should stand. Like, “I can’t give you any direction!” And then when we were rehearsing, I laughed a little bit and I said, “I’m so sorry, I’m laughing.” And he said, “Please laugh. We should be having fun.” I love that dude. Why did you only stay six seasons? I wanted to get out even earlier. [John] Belushi was the best and he only did four seasons. Chevy [Chase] only did one. You went straight into acting in films like Taxi [2004] and Fever Pitch [2005], but you don’t do movies anymore. Is that chapter closed? Never say never, but the odds are not in your favor when you do a movie. You work long hours and long days and you do the marketing and sell it and then it comes out and it’s not that good and, wow, that’s almost two years of my life. It’s a tough industry and I don’t think I have the patience for that or the time. I’m happy. I got a job. Did you have a specific vision when you were tapped to host The Tonight Show? Yeah, I did. Think of black-and-white photos of New York City and the lights on Broadway and people getting dressed to go out and taxis and the classiness. There’s something weirdly old-fashioned about me. Lorne and I love old-school, and that’s the way The Tonight Show was done originally with Steve Allen, and we said let’s just do the best version of that. What’s been your hosting highlight? I’ve done a sketch with CarolBurnett and sang with ChrissieHynde [of the Pretenders]. And I did a sketch with BobDylan. Crazy! I don’t know anyone who’s done a sketch with Dylan. But you’re also keeping your hands full with these other projects. Are you not fulfilled creatively just doing the show? It’s just about having the opportunity to do something. I’ll put out a kids’ book just to see if it’s fun. If it’s not fun, I won’t do it. I’ve had so many jobs, from video store clerk to managing recycling cans at a beverage center to working student events at college. I loved it all. And this job is so great because you can come up with all these crazy inventions and have an outlet. Where did The Kids Tonight Show idea come from? I was doing the show and I realized I have kids, and they didn’t have anything just for them. Animation is good, but you need to see real humans out there doing silly things. When I was growing up, I had Kids Incorporated and The Mickey Mouse Club with actual kids and teenagers. I remember seeing this group Musical Youth in the 1980s and there was a kid singing “Pass the Dutchie.” I was blown away. I wanted to do that! Musical Youth might have made me the host of The Tonight Show. Why aren’t your daughters on the show? I don’t know if my kids are actor kids. They’re funny for a little bit, but anytime you ask them to do something they won’t do it. “Can you say, ‘Welcome to The Tonight Show’?” and they’ll go, “Booooo.” How has fatherhood changed you the most? Well, if I ever went to a bar now it would be because it has a good burger. But you know, I think I’m a little less hyper, I think I’m a bit more understanding and I understand things are going to be OK. And my hours! Now I look forward to the mornings and I want to live as much of the day as I possibly can. Do you realize you’ve achieved so many dreams and you’re only 47? Pun intended, it’s been a wonderful life. I think we have to go. No, I wrote down all these things I wanted to tell you! [He holds up stationery card.] Well, what’s the last thing you want to hit? I’m reading the book A Confederacy of Dunces. I’m still watching Ozark on Netflix because I don’t want it to end. The best gift I ever got was a Nintendo cartridge. I got the movie The Big Chill on VHS when I was 13 years old, [and] I ended up loving it. And one year I had the choice between putting money down on a car or getting a new LaserDisc player. I chose LaserDisc. I thought it was the future. Boy, was I wrong.
Fallon 411
Movie That Always Makes Me Laugh: The Pink Panther with PeterSellers from 1963. “It’s a super-broad comedy, and yet is subtly weird. It’s just brilliantly done.” Sitcom Guilty Pleasure: Taxi. “It’s a beautiful show because it was funny and kind of sad. You had a real roller-coaster experience.” First Concert: He can’t remember: either a doo-wop revue show or a “Weird Al” Yankovic concert (which his dad bootlegged). Both were in Kingston, New York. Favorite Thing About Living in New York City: “When you walk to work, which I do all the time, you can see hundreds of different human beings. And everyone’s got a story and everyone’s look is completely different.” Food Always in My Pantry: SpaghettiOs Favorite Family Vacation Spot: The Bahamas Favorite Caffeine Fix: Green Tea. “Not matcha. That’s too much work.” Secret Talent: “I can tell if you’re a ketchup person or a mustard person on your hot dog.” Superpower: “I can think of someone and they’ll call me or email me in the next few days.”
