To the casual observer, it may seem that Steve Carell rocketed to fame in the five years since his breakthrough role in Bruce Almighty. But the truth is that his success was largely due to the decades the 45-year-old actor spent working in the comedy trenches, teaching improv classes at The Second City Chicago theater and appearing in three failed sitcoms before finally hitting pay dirt as Michael Scott in NBC’s version of the British hit The Office. Now, on the heels of hits such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine, Carell is one of cinema’s most bankable stars — a fact that helped him land the lead role in Get Smart, out this month. We recently spoke with the former Daily Show correspondent about rejection, success, and his offscreen life with his wife and children.
The offers must have poured in after The 40 Year Old Virgin, but you had quite a few disappointments in the time leading up to it.
How about 20 years of them? But you can become kind of numb from the rejection as well. I think that’s what happens with actors — you just start to expect it and anticipate it. But everyone has had those moments where you just feel hopeless, self-pitying, and sorrowful and you feel like there’s really no light at the end of
the tunnel.
Did you have any idea when you were making The 40 Year Old Virgin that it would have such an amazing impact on your career?
No. All the way through shooting it I just kept thinking, “If this is the last movie I ever do, this has been great.” I try not to get ahead of myself at all in terms of what the next thing is. I hope I keep working, as I’ve been really lucky just to support myself acting. Being able to help create and be the lead in a movie is way beyond any expectation I ever had. I’m pretty happy with what has happened so far, and honestly, if it all comes crashing down tomorrow, I’m still pretty happy.
Do you think your film career will take you away from The Office?
No, I’m committed for at least a full seven seasons, and I love it. I’m extremely close with the cast and the writers. I can’t imagine a better work environment. I think it’s smart, and Michael Scott is a fun character to play.
How does working on The Office compare to your first high-profile gig on The Daily Show?
They’re kind of similar in that there’s an enormous freedom to fail, and it’s very fluid. The producers, the writers, the actors, and everyone else all work together to make the best product they can. It’s not like there’s one person saying, “You must do it this way, and that’s the only way you can do it.” I think the scripts are so good, but then they let us play with them and improvise. So I think that’s the main similarity. It’s a very fluid, free-flowing creative process.
How do you strike a balance between family and career?
Highly caffeinated sports energy drinks. I’m the type of person who’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so I’m not taking any of what is happening now for granted. I know there’s a window of time when I’ll be able to do these things. I’m trying to take advantage of that now, while at the same time being cautious to not let it interfere with my family life. That, to me, is the line, but so far I’ve been able to balance those things.
How long have you been married?
Twelve years. I was not a good dater. I literally don’t ever remember asking a girl out on a date. It always just sort of happened to be someone I’d been working with or someone I was friends with, and we’d just find ourselves on a date. Like, everybody goes out to dinner and then it’s just the two of us sitting at a table, and that turns into a date. That’s the way my romances seem to have gone. I was always far too shy and insecure.
Is that what happened with your wife, Nancy Walls?
Yeah! We both worked at Second City. She was also bartending across the street, so after a show I would go over and talk to her. We became friends that way, and we sort of backed into the whole idea of going on a date. It was so roundabout because we’re both really shy. I said, “Boy! If I were ever to go out on a date with someone like you…” And she said, “I bet I’d date someone like you…” It was like we danced around it for weeks until I finally said, “You wanna?” She said, “Uh, okay.” [Laughs.] It was so stupid and so sloppy, frankly. It was not neat or cool, but I guess it was romantic in its own right. It was just two people who sort of gravitated towards each other.
Tell us about your children.
We have a son and daughter, ages four and seven. I look into the future and it’s a scary place. I know that my daughter is going to be hell on wheels when she’s fifteen. So yeah, I’m bracing myself. I don’t want to be an overly protective dad, and I think that the reason people are is that they’re concerned their kids will get hurt. When they’re little, you’re concerned that they’re going to be hurt physically, more than anything. But when they get older, you’re concerned that they’re going to be hurt emotionally. At some point you have to give up that sense of protectiveness and let them get hurt and make mistakes, and I think that’s the hardest thing to do.
Do you think your personality is going to come back to haunt you in the form of your kids and their behavior?
Oh yeah! All my stubbornness and all my eccentricities will be reflected in them. I’m already seeing in my daughter a very cynical sense of humor, and she’s only seven! She understands irony at age seven, which kind of freaks me and my wife out. But it’s not in a rude way — it’s not that she’s being sassy. For example, I bought these shoes and she has this fashion sense and I think, “Oh, I’m the cool dad. I’m gonna show her my new half-boot shoes.” I said, “What do you think of these?” And she goes, “Nah, not liking them.” She’s seven! She knew she was being funny, but she was also saying, “Yeah, they don’t work for me.” Just the way she phrases things is so funny, and that’s definitely a reflection of my wife and I.
You’re going from playing an everyman in The Office to playing one of the most recognizable screwups of all time in Get Smart. What were the different kinds of challenges between the two?
It was hard, because in doing the American version of The Office, I was also stepping into this iconic role. But I took the same approach in that I wanted to do justice to the original Get Smart, but I didn’t want to just do an impersonation [of Don Adams]. I don’t think he’s a bumbling, clueless Inspector Clouseau type. I think Maxwell Smart is actually a good spy, but he has a counterintuitive way of getting the job done. He’s also very straight-laced, and sometimes that works to his advantage and sometimes it doesn’t. But he can fight, and he can shoot. He’s not the best at it, but he’s pretty good. He’s somewhere in between. And I always like the gray area. In that sense, he’s sort of an everyman as well.
The movie itself is going to be really good. It’s going to be funny, but also have a lot of action, which I think will surprise people. I’m billing it as a comedic Bourne Identity, because I wanted it not to be a spy spoof, but a spy movie that was funny. I hope that’s what it ends up looking like.
What changes has success brought you, both on a personal and a professional level?
I have a helluva lot more money than I used to! [Laughs.] Honestly, that’s the most perceivable difference in my life. I will definitely be able to send my kids to college now, which was a question before. That was my barometer for success — if I could support a family, send my kids through school, and provide for them. That’s really all I was hoping for from day one. To make a living doing that as an actor? That would have been completely satisfying. So all of this is way beyond the dreams and expectations I had.
Bret Love is an entertainment journalist. He lives in Atlanta.
Photography by Kwaku Alston/Corbis Outline
