No, my mom kind of led me toward acting. She wanted to be an actress when she was younger. That made me interested in it when I was a kid, because she and I are very close.

Colbert credits his early interest in performance not to personal ambition alone but to family influence—specifically a mother whose unrealized artistic aspirations became a gentle guiding force. The quote frames acting as something learned through intimacy and example: a child absorbs a parent’s passions, especially when the relationship is close. It also subtly revises the “self-made” narrative common in celebrity profiles, emphasizing encouragement, emotional proximity, and inherited curiosity. In Colbert’s case, it points to a formative origin story for a career built on performance—suggesting that comedy and acting can begin as an extension of family bonds and shared imagination rather than a calculated professional plan.