Patrick Stewart on the Joy of Being Whipped with Wet Towels

You fit quite well into a comedy series.
Who knew?

What do you have in common with Walter Blunt?
My first job was on my local newspaper at 15. I left school and became a cub reporter. And all I got to do were births, deaths, and marriages for a year. And then they fired me.

What TV news do you watch?
I watch a lot, cable as well as network, and BBC and iTV. There are so many options to choose from here. I’ve always been intrigued by the role of the anchorman. So when Jonathan [Ames, Blunt Talk’s creator] first said Walter Blunt was a newsman with his own show, I was on board instantly because I just wanted to be sitting behind the desk.

How did it feel when you were finally behind the desk?
It is so unlike being an actor. I know some people say, “No, no. They’re all actors. They’re all bullshitting,” but no actually they’re not. Well, many of them are not.

Do you think you could hack it as a newsman?
I have no ambitions to be Jon Stewart. I wish I were, but that’s never going to happen. But to have people bringing you the news that you can trust, who you believe are properly committed to an honest, open, revelatory and truthful kind of journalism is a marvelous thing. And Walter is like that. It’s just that he’s struggling to keep his private life in shape and he has weaknesses. But then I get media people who say, “Oh, you should be around media people more often if you think Walter has excessive weaknesses.”