Seth Meyers always dreamed of being an actor.
The 43-year-old American comedian was desperate to get his big break and star in a movie when he was younger, but swiftly decided against it when "really good actors", including Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg, came onto the entertainment scene because he felt they were "better" than him.
Speaking about his career to The Guardian newspaper, the ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ host said: "I was very much aiming to go into movies eventually, like a lot of SNL (‘Saturday Night Live’) people. But, soon after I arrived, all these really good actors started, like Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg, and I thought: ‘If I were casting a movie, I would put all of them in it over me.’ I thought I was an excellent writer, but I knew they were better at acting than me."
The funnyman has praised his parents, Lawrence and Hilary, for bringing him up to have "good taste", which he believes is an essential trait one has to have instilled in them at birth to be a great comedian.
Seth – who has 10-month-old son Ashe with his wife Alexi – explained: "[I came from] a super-loving and supportive family, which I know is not where comedians are supposed to come from.
"I think the greatest gift your parents can give you if you want to be a comedian is good taste. Once you’ve watched ‘Monty Python’, you can’t watch ‘Full House’.
However, Seth also believes "everyone" owes "an enormous debt" to Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’ because it has made people speak openly about an array of topics.
He said: "I feel like everyone you mentioned owes an enormous debt to Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show, because I think that started this trend of people having talk shows where they have a point of view that they’re not afraid to share."
Seth Meyers wanted to be an actor
