Your fourth-or-fifth-favorite late night talk show host is hosting the Oscars this Sunday, and to fete this semi-momentous occasion Variety has featured him on the cover of their latest issue.
Kimmel seems to be clinching a sort of monopoly on awards shows—he hosted the 2016 Emmys, too—which is lightweight annoying though hardly uncommon. At the very least, this profile gave us the opportunity to learn how, exactly, he got former Republican Presidential nominee Jeb Bush—middle child of a political dynasty and once the governor of Florida—to film an Emmys segment in which he portrayed himself as an Uber limo chauffeur.
After reminding us that Kimmel is no Billy Crystal (“he doesn’t sing or dance”), Variety lets us in on the way he enlisted our poor old pal Jeb to be the butt of the joke: he emailed his personal account a bunch.
Unlike hosting recidivists Billy Crystal and Jackman, Kimmel doesn’t sing or dance. But he can make a room explode in laughter. For the Emmys, he enlisted Jeb Bush to play a chauffeur in a pre-recorded bit by personally emailing him and flying to Florida to shoot the scene. “I just pestered him until he had no choice,” Kimmel says. “He said, ‘All right, you maniac, I give up!’” While he won’t reveal how he’ll open the Oscars, he doesn’t rule out a cameo from Hillary Clinton. “Possibly,” he says. “I’m not saying that to be coy. I’m saying that because I don’t know.”
Incidentally, it seems that Jeb probably answers his email more frequently and more diligently than most people.
Something tells me that Hillary Clinton is probably not going to be as easy to reach. Variety also reports that this year’s Oscars are themed “the evergreen celebration of movies.” Can’t wait!
Correction: An original version of this piece misattributed the publication reporting this story. The Kimmel cover is on Variety, not THR. We regret this dumb error!