“You gotta stick to the scripts!” Aniston scolded the late-night show host after he jokingly tried to plant one on her at the end of the audition scene

Stephen Colbert jokingly goes in for a kiss with Jennifer Aniston on ‘The Late Show’.Credit : 

CBS

Jennifer Aniston has an idea for what Stephen Colbert’s next gig should be after The Late Show ends.

The actress stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Sept. 11 and brought along some scripts for a fake scene that could be featured in a potential fifth season of The Morning Show, should the Apple TV+ hit series be renewed, and put Colbert to work.

Calling him a “brilliant actor,” she teased that they’re “doing some preliminary casting for this fifth season, that we hope happens,” and figured she’d give Colbert a chance while she had him.

“So I just thought, ‘Why not?’ You’re going to be free next year,” she quipped. “Starting in June, you’re avail? So I thought maybe you could audition for season 5 of The Morning Show! Isn’t that sort of perfect?”

Jennifer Aniston on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’.CBS

Colbert was an easy yes and offered to “fly out” to L.A. to audition, but Aniston revealed she had a scene ready for him to do on the spot. “I figure we’ve got cameras, these are rolling, right? So we can get you on tape, as they say.”

She then had Colbert play the role of a “sexier” Steve Carell, “The Morning Show‘s new weatherman, Jeremiah Cloudson-Storm.”

The scene included a reference to the controversial cancellation of The Late Show, which was announced in July, as Aniston said, “I see you’re coming from two decades of doing late-night weather.”

“Yeah, I had the number-one late-night weather show until the network canceled it,” Colbert replied.

“What a premise! Sounds ripped from the headlines,” Aniston quipped, and the host replied, “Yes, but changed just enough to not be legally actionable.”

After she offered his weatherman character a job at UBN, where her character Alex Levy is an anchor, he seemed to misinterpret the moment, and, while shaking Aniston’s hand, started to lean in for a kiss.

Aniston pretended to be startled by the bit, and gave Colbert an alarmed look, as she pulled back from him while he continued moving in.

Jennifer Aniston on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’.CBS

“That’s not in the script. You gotta stick to the scripts!” she said, laughing, and the segment ended with Aniston and Colbert all smiles and holding hands.

CBS’ decision to end Colbert’s Late Show after 10 seasons — which the network said was “purely a financial decision” — has been met with a mountain of criticism. Colbert’s fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, John Oliver and Jon Stewart have all rallied around him, as have dozens of celebrities.

On the Sept. 8 show, Drew Barrymore made a statement to show her support for Colbert, as she wore a custom bedazzled shirt that said “We [heart] Stephen” and recreated her infamous desktop dance from 30 years ago when David Letterman hosted the show.