It’s often thought that David Letterman just can’t handle an interview with a good looking guy.  Some have theorized that Dave is SOOOO uncomfortable with his own looks, it’s hard for him to relax when a good looking actor shows up on the couch.  But Aaron Eckart may have found the trick, and believe me it wouldn’t be any advice that I would give him — just act more nervous than Dave and all of your good looks will be forgiven.

That’s not to say that Eckart wasn’t lively, funny and overall entertaining.  He looked great, came prepared with good relateable stories for Dave, like one about a mutual rattlesnake issue that the two of them have on their Montana farms.  And he certainly did a fine job, within his madated restricted abilities to reveal story points from The Dark Knight, promoting his film.  But what was so distracting for most was his relentless figiting and almost zero eye contact with the host, that just made him visibly uncomfortable with the entire appearance.

This is however where the problem for The Guest Whisperer comes in.  I always stress the importance of knowing your audience when you sit down for an interview and in this case your primary audience is always Dave, as he can save or sink any performance on his show.  So if the mission is have a winning appearance and you aren’t blessed with the attributes of a flirtatious Julia Roberts — one of Dave’s all time favorites — you better go with what you’ve got.  Aaron, being a slightly insecure good looking and talented actor,  made the right choice — if he had one — to be himself and let Dave make him the butt of a few harmless jokes while at the same time coming off as an intelligent, relateable guy who served his producers well with a winning appearance.

Not a perfect plan, but one certainly good enough to get him invited back.