'You can really taste the dark side,' Colbert said, taking a sip from a stormtrooper mug
About 15 years ago, Stephen Colbert spied a giant ad for a new TV series called "Alias." He thought he was seeing things.
The woman in the skintight bodysuit -- Jennifer Garner -- used to be his daughter's babysitter.
He informed his wife, Evelyn, of the news about Garner, who he had first met on the set of the Michael J. Fox sitcom "Spin City."
"She wasn't hot," Evelyn told him, in disbelief.
"Yes, she was," Colbert said.
"Well, you never said anything," she replied.
Colbert bested Abrams in many realms of nerddom at the Montclair Film Festival's 'Celebrity Nerd-Off.' (Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Montclair Film Festival)The ABC series, which would take Colbert's former babysitter to the big time as CIA double agent Sydney Bristow, was created by J.J. Abrams, known for "Felicity," and later, "Lost" and the film reboots of "Star Trek."
The Jennifer Garner moment was just one gem of many that Colbert, the former "Colbert Report" host now at the helm of "The Late Show," let loose as he interviewed Abrams Saturday night as part of a "Celebrity Nerd-Off" at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
Coming just weeks before the release of Abrams' much-hyped "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens," the onstage conversation acted as a benefit for the Montclair Film Festival, which runs from April 29 to May 16. And Colbert's nerd prowess was in full effect -- whether it was suggesting, in great detail, which J.R.R. Tolkien tale Abrams might do well to tackle -- or answering "Star Wars" questions that stumped even Abrams.
"You can really taste the dark side," Colbert said, taking a sip from a stormtrooper mug.
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Colbert, who lives in Montclair, is on the advisory board of the festival, and his wife is the vice-chair of the board. Last year's festival fundraiser paired Colbert with Steve Carell, his former "Daily Show" colleague.
Here are a few more magic moments from his chat with Abrams, the director and co-writer of "The Force Awakens," who has spent the last three years making the "Star Wars" film:
- "At 2:30 in the morning (today) we finished the mix of the movie," said Abrams, talking about "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens." He casually added, later -- "I was talking to John Williams last night."
- "I didn't play sports because I physically couldn't," said Abrams, explaining why he turned to his parents' Super 8 camera and amateur filmmaking as a child. (For his part, Colbert stuck with Dungeons & Dragons. "I have nothing to show for it," he said.)
- Stephen Colbert once auditioned for a movie co-written by Abrams called "Filofax." He was unsuccessful. When the film, a comedy starring Jim Belushi and Charles Grodin, came out in 1990, it was called "Taking Care of Business."
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- Abrams was brought in as a script doctor for the 1998 Michael Bay movie "Armageddon." After consulting a NASA scientist, he found much of the story's details about space to be incorrect. But producer Jerry Bruckheimer told him to leave the fantastical touches in the script.
- Abrams can be seen in the 1993 film "Six Degrees of Separation." Yes, as an actor (Colbert cued up a clip).
- "Lost" -- Abrams co-created the series with Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof -- almost didn't happen the way it happened. Abrams was suddenly told they should wrap the whole series into a TV movie, but when he asked how they should do that, he didn't get an answer. The series got made anyway. "I would say that you kicked off the golden age of television," Colbert said of the show.
- Despite his role in resurrecting the original "Star Trek" characters for film, Abrams was never an especially big fan of the series. (Colbert was.)
- Abrams said the Newark event was the first time he'd seen the "Force Awakens" trailer in front of a real audience.
- Growing up in Charleston, S.C., Colbert saw the first "Star Wars" film, "Episode IV," earlier in 1977 than most of his friends after winning a ticket contest. "For the next few weeks I didn't know how to explain to my friends how everything was different now," he said.
- Joe, an audience member from Philadelphia, was the winner of a bid to be the first to ask Abrams a question. "What is the stupidest thing that the Jedi decided in any of the first six films?" he asked. Abrams was stumped. Colbert stepped up to the plate. "To train Anakin" (the future Darth Vader), he said.
- Another audience member asked Abrams how many ewoks he thinks he could take on in a fight. Colbert hunched down low to help him answer the question. "Six," the director said.
- Abrams said his favorite non-starring alien in the "Star Wars" movies is the guy with the smile in the cantina in "A New Hope."
- Colbert asked Abrams if "the force" meant anything to him as a kid. "It was a nondenominational, powerful idea that was very important to us, in this film, to bring back," he said.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup. Find NJ.com Entertainment on Facebook.