Dan Levy Recalls When His MTV Bosses Almost Didn’t Let Adele on Show Early in Her Career: “Rage in My Eye”

, who was championing early in her career, reveals he had to push to get her on Canada. The star made an appearance on Friday night and recalled discovering the once “little known musician” when she was promoting her first album, , in the U.K. in 2008. Levy fell in love with her, so when he got a job at MTV Canada shortly after and learned she was touring in Canada, he knew he had to get her on the show .

But he was met with his bosses not quite sharing the same level of excitement as him. “I said to my producers, ‘You absolutely have to get this girl on the show. We have to talk to her and she has to perform,'” the actor and producer remembered. “And my bosses at the time were like, ‘It’s not Sum41, so no.'” Levy said, “There was a rage in my eye,” when he heard their reaction, and thought, “It was early days, I could have quit.” But he was determined to get Adele on the show, and after some persuading, he eventually convinced his bosses.

“You could hear a pin drop,” he recalled of her performance in ‘s small studio. “She has a power that can stop a room. … It was unbelievable.” Levy clearly knew what he was talking about when he saw Adele’s potential because the “Easy on Me” singer has gone on to win 16 Grammy Awards and an Oscar for her music.

When Fallon asked if Adele remembered the actor from their interaction years ago, Levy noted that he saw her perform at one of her Las Vegas shows, and “she did come over and sort of grabbed my hand and gave me a wink. So, I don’t know, maybe she did remember.” THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporter.