Seth Meyers talks Vladimir Putin, Cardi B and his new book about being scared

Hollywood

Seth Meyers considers himself more of a bear than a rabbit.

You’re probably scratching your head right now. But it makes sense when you put it in the context of the late-night talk show host’s new children’s book, “I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared!” (Flamingo Books, 40 pp., out now).

The book’s two main characters are animal friends: Bear, who is terrified of everything, and Rabbit, who is terrified of nothing. Bear accompanies Rabbit on an adventure, only to return home after his fears mount too high. He ultimately overcomes his anxieties when Rabbit’s overconfidence puts her in danger and she needs his help.

“I am a longtime bear,” Meyers, 48, says over a jovial Zoom call, adding, “I am married to a rabbit.” Meyers has three children with wife Alexi: Ashe, 5; Axel, 3; and Adelaide, born last year.

The oldest one’s a little bit bear, middle one rabbit, baby too early to tell,” he says of his kids, who inspired him to write the book.

“Once you have kids, you start thinking about fear a lot more,” he says. “You, as a parent, have a whole new relationship with fear and you have these kids who are processing it. I wanted to write a book about what people are scared about, what maybe they’re right to be scared about and also make it an adventure that kids would want to engage with.”

Ultimately, it’s helpful to be part-bear and part-rabbit. But having people lean toward one or the other in a family works.

“My wife is so helpful in telling me to relax at times when I am not having fun due to things I am frightened of,” Meyers says. “And I think I am helpful as well, every now and then, when I tell her ‘Hey, maybe just for safety sake, we do this.'”

‘Rip-roaring reasonableness’:Stephen Colbert, more late night TV hosts weigh in on SOTU

When you’re a parent, you’re afraid for your kids all the time, Meyers says. Outside of parental worries, Meyers says he’s terrified of heights.

“I’m so clumsy that I feel like even if I’m a long way from the edge of a building, there’s a series of trips that could happen to me where I would just jackknife over the side,” he says.

Outside of his family, the two things Meyers loves most are writing and running.

“I feel like I can’t do one without the other,” he says. “I need to run to clear my head to write. And when I’m writing, it’s that having gone on a run clears out all the clutter and makes me a little bit more clear-headed.”

Meyers’ life might seem memoir-worthy, with his writing and “Weekend Update” tenure on “Saturday Night Live,” not to mention his “Late Night With Seth Meyers” talk show. But he demurs at the idea.