Stephen Colbert Reveals His Role That Got Away

Stephen Colbert rose to prominence during his eight-year tenure as a correspondent on the satirical news program, "The Daily Show." After wrapping up his run on that series in 2005, Colbert went on to host his own news program with a similar satirical tone, titled "The Colbert Report," which ran from 2005 to 2014. Now, of course, Colbert hosts a popular late-night show called "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which has been on the air since 2015 and is still going strong.

Although Colbert may be known by the general public almost exclusively for his news correspondent and hosting gigs, he has dabbled in acting as well. Some of his notable acting credits include his turn as Chuck Noblet in the short-lived 1999 series, "Strangers with Candy," his performance as Harry in the 2011 film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company," as well as various roles in one-off episodes of shows like "The Office" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." He's also made cameo appearances as himself in some shows, such as "House of Cards" and "Madam Secretary" (via IMDb). Most recently, he played a character named Alf Musik in one episode of the popular Peacock series, "Girls5eva."

However, there's one role Colbert sees as the one that got away, and he just recently revealed what it is.

To promote the upcoming "Sex and the City" reboot series, "And Just Like That...," actors Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, who play Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes, respectively, made a joint appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." 

During the interview, Colbert mentions that the women of "Sex and the City" had many romantic interests over the years and prompts Nixon to tell the audience about her favorite of Miranda's. She brings up the episode in which the main theme is that sometimes men "just aren't that into you." The episode sees Miranda go on a date and at the end of it, the man tries to leave very quickly, prompting Miranda to think, "He's just not that into me." Her date then has to say that he is into Miranda and that he's only trying to leave quickly because he has diarrhea. Finishing her story, Nixon reveals in the interview that she recently found out from a "Sex and the City" writer that Colbert was almost cast in that very role.

Reacting to the anecdote, Colbert hilariously asks, "They wrote that with me in mind?"

This "Sex and the City" story took another interesting turn when Stephen Colbert revealed to Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis that the role in question wasn't written for him in mind, but that he actually auditioned for the role of Miranda's unlucky date.

In good humor, he explained, "I can add to your story by saying the opening line of that scene is, 'That was some hot biryani.' And I know that because I auditioned for that part and didn't get it. Evidently, I did not have the acting chops to act like I had diarrhea." Concluding the story, Colbert joked, "To this day, if I go to an Indian restaurant, and if I see they have it on the menu I go, 'That's some spicy biryani.' Because I never forget. It stayed with me."

After laughing at the host's story with Nixon, Davis likely spoke for both Colbert and "Sex and the City" fans everywhere when she called his failure to get the part "our loss."