Brian Williams has proved himself far more than just a solemn guide through the nightly news; his quick sense of humor also has made him in demand as a late-night guest, emcee and guest-star.He’s funny enough, in fact, that Tina Fey, star, creator and executive producer of NBC’s “30 Rock,” is bringing Williams back for his second cameo on Thursday, Nov. 5. In his first appearance, Williams, 50, was the victim of Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), who gave out Williams’ phone number instead of his own to adoring female fans. We caught up with Williams for a brief chat before he jetted off to Afghanistan for a week of serious reports under a blanket of high security.
NYP: Will you be playing yourself again on “30 Rock”?
Brian Williams: Yes, and when you have as stiff an image as I do, it makes you a nice, juicy, easy, big target, so I happily play off of that. But that’s all I’ll say because I don’t want to get a phone call from Tina.
NYP: How do you know Tina? Is that how you ended up on 30 Rock?
BW: We see each other a lot at the same benefits. And we’ve both been around NBC for a lot of years so we see each other at employee functions and charity things and we’ve gotten to know each other that way. It’s hard to trace the genesis of our friendship. To my college-age daughter [Allison] who’s an improv comedian, actress and vocalist, Tina is an absolute mogul and role model.
NYP: Did you ever have
aspirations of becoming a comedian or an actor?
BW: God, no. I come from a boisterous family. My mother was an amateur stage actress. She appeared at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, N.J., among other places. She would break into song at a moment’s notice and she always had a flair for the dramatic. There’s a lot of my mother in my daughter. I come from a loud Irish-Catholic family. I guess that’s the roots of it. But I sure didn’t set out to do any of that. As a kid, I really only knew that I wanted to be a journalist and travel the world. I can never believe anyone wants me to appear on these kinds of shows. I certainly don’t present that way in my day job. It’s a very nice thing when they offer.
NYP: You’ve been named a “special correspondent” on “The Jay Leno Show,” but up until Wednesday night, October 28, when you appeared on the show from Afghanistan, we hadn’t seen you. Should we expect more of these appearances?
BW: The problem is traveling to LA. I’ll have an appearance scheduled and then something gets thrown in the way as a roadblock. But when I’m out there it’s not a problem to do it. I just do the news and then go downstairs and do Jay’s show once I’m clear of the newscast. After the Afghanistan appearance, I’m scheduled to come on again later in November and sit next to Jay on the set.
NYP: Are you concerned that your comedic appearances will detract from your image as a news anchor?
BW: “I do have the fear that somehow someone will confuse the two and think that it means in any way that I’m less serious about my work. But I think people are smart enough to differentiate. They get it when they see me cutting up with Jon Stewart or Tina Fey or Jimmy Fallon and they get it when they see me at 6:30 p.m. The NBC folks are all for it — they think it shows people more dimensions of me.
NYP: How do you have time for it all?
BW: I have no other interests. I’m a non-fiction person in a non-fiction line of work. I don’t read novels to relax — I read newspapers, magazines and Web sites. I go home every night with a briefcase full of work, the news on, and my laptop by my side. I’m always following everything that’s going on and e-mailing folks on the staff, asking them what they think about this or that story for tomorrow. This job is probably done best if it’s your life’s calling.