March 25, 2026, 8:22 a.m. ET
Steve Carell may be etched in the popular imagination as Michael Scott. But, it wasn’t always that way.
The actor and comedian, 63, said during a recent appearance on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast that a famous friend advised him not to take the role in “The Office.” Carell went on to ground an award-winning ensemble cast in the comedy show, a U.S.-based remake of the popular Ricky Gervais-led series from the U.K.
Given Gervais’ success, Carell told Poehler he was apprehensive to take on the role. That apprehension was shared by fellow comedian Paul Rudd, he said.
“I remember Rudd pulled me aside and was like, ‘Don’t do it, man. Don’t audition.’ It was like, ‘There is no way,'” Carell joked on the podcast.
“Yeah. Everyone was like, don’t even touch this,” Poehler added, to which Carell quipped, “10-foot pole.”
Carell eventually did audition, nabbing the role and steering the US-based franchise to its height of popularity between 2005 and 2011. Despite having Gervais’ performance as a blueprint, the “Anchorman” actor revealed he opted not to watch the UK show, worrying it would corrupt his own performance.
“I watched, like, a minute of one of the shows of [Gervais] and he was so good and so specific and so funny, I thought, ‘If I watch a second more, I’m just gonna go on an audition with that,'” Carell recalled, “I won’t be able to even imagine it a different way.”
While the show eventually found its audience, he said it wasn’t a runaway success immediately.
“People really hated it,” he joked. “They actively hated it. And I don’t quite know how it got legs after that.”
Carell’s performance as Michael Scott now holds a beloved spot in the comedic canon, his oft-quotable character helping to define “cringe TV.”
