Stephen Colbert on Deconstructing the News, Religion and the Colbert Nation

Read "The Subversive Joy of Stephen Colbert" in our new issue. Plus, track Colbert's rise from sketch shows to American hero in Before the Report.

When Rolling Stone's Neil Strauss sat down to interview Stephen Colbert for our new issue, he didn't meet the ironically egomaniacal character the former Daily Show star plays on The Colbert Report. He met Ned Flanders — a preppy, earnest, gentle man miles from his onscreen persona. Their conversation spanned Colbert's Catholic faith, his high school band, the best politicians to mock and the tragedy that befell his family when he was a child. Here's more of their Q&A, where Colbert tackles his loyal fans, his literary preferences and whether he's working on a new character.

Stephen Colbert on 'The Stephen Colbert Show'

Tell me about the difference between the way you and Jon Stewart deconstruct the news.
Jon deconstructs the news in a really brilliant comedic style. I take the sausage backwards, and I restuff the sausage. We deconstruct, but then we don't show anybody our deconstruction. We reconstruct — we falsely construct the hypocrisy. And I embody the bullshit until hopefully you can smell it.

Have you ever called someone and apologized after a joke?
No. There's only one person I've ever really wanted to apologize to, and you'd never know who it was. I will someday. I just have to find the right time to do it.

Would you like to take the opportunity to do so now?
The character has to do it on the show, not me.

If you did it in character, would the person think it was sincere? It might seem like a second insult.
It would be meant sincerely, though of course it would have to be done as a joke. So your question is very interesting to me. Can someone perceive something my character says sincerely? I don't know the answer to that.

Next: Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Nation