Jon Stewart Movie, 'Rosewater,' Set To Film This Summer

Jon Stewart Is Making A Movie
Jon Stewart performs during '12-12-12 The Concert For Sandy Relief' December 12, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
Jon Stewart performs during '12-12-12 The Concert For Sandy Relief' December 12, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

Before he became famous for hosting "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart was just another comic trying to succeed as an actor. Stewart appeared in films like "Half Baked," "The Faculty," "Playing by Heart" and "Big Daddy" in the late 1990s, but hasn't had much connection to Hollywood since taking over "The Daily Show"; his last live-action role was in the 2002 film "Death to Smoochy."

As first reported by Deadline.com, however, Stewart is set to jump back into the filmmaking world with "Rosewater," an adaptation of journalist Maziar Bahari's "Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity And Survival." Stewart wrote the script for "Rosewater" and will direct the film during a three-month break from "The Daily Show" this summer. Right now, no casting decisions have been made, but Oscar-winner Scott Rudin is involved in the film as producer.

“I am a television person who is accustomed to having a thought at 10 a.m. and having it out there at 6:30 p.m. and moving on, so this is a little scary, yes,” Stewart told the New York Times about his new job.

Bahari and Stewart have a connection that goes back further than "Rosewater." Before Bahari spent 118 days in an Iranian prison unders suspicion of being a spy, he was a guest on "The Daily Show." That appearance caused some of the misunderstanding between Bahari and the Iranian government.

"You can imagine how upset we were," Stewart told the Times, "and I struck up a friendship with him afterwards."

For more on Stewart's new film, head over to Deadline.com. To find out what "The Daily Show" plans to do in Stewart's absence, check out this post from HuffPost Comedy.

He Hangs Out With The Muppets

50 Reasons To Love Jon Stewart

Before You Go

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot