Beck Regrets Turning Down ‘Zoolander’ Character That Went to David Bowie

Singer-songwriter also performed new song "In the Night" on The Tonight Show

Beck gave his new ballad, “In the Night,” an especially moody performance on The Tonight Show on Tuesday night with the help of some mild stage fog and a dozen orchestral string players, including fellow guest Sacha Baron Cohen.

“Darkness came on by with stories of the sky,” he sang, “To bury all the lies in the night.” He played acoustic guitar on the song, which features on his recently released Ride Lonesome album. “It’s the mood of, like, when you’re in your house and it’s almost dark but you haven’t turned the lights on,” Beck said on the show of the LP’s direction. The strings and a Spanish guitar–style solo added deep drama to the performance.

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Earlier in the episode, during an interview Beck gave Fallon, the singer-songwriter, whose full name is Beck Hansen, revealed that he turned down a role in Ben Stiller’s 2001 fashion world satire, Zoolander. Deep into the 10-minute chat, Fallon asked Beck about how he’d read that during the making of the artist’s equally moody Sea Change (2002), Beck would watch the cult-hit movie to cheer him up. He replied by saying that someone in the cast had told him that Owen Wilson’s character, Hansel, was partly based on him. “I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ll take it, because ‘Hansen’ — Beck Hansen — ‘Hansel,'” Beck said.

Fallon asked the singer what he thinks about himself inspired Hansel, and Beck said, “I think it was just the freewheelin’ something, I don’t know,” Beck said. “And he asked me to be in the movie and I stupidly said no. And they got David Bowie.” Fallon then produced a photo of Hansen and Wilson side-by-side, and they look separated at birth.