Steven John Carell (/kəˈrɛl/; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred asMichael Scott in theNBC sitcomThe Office (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, and director. Carell has receivednumerous accolades, including aGolden Globe Award forThe Office. He was recognized as "America's Funniest Man" byLife.[1]
Steven John Carell was born on August 16, 1962.[6] His father, Edwin A. Carell (1925–2021), was amechanical engineer,[7][8] and his mother, Harriet Theresa (née Koch; 1925–2016), was apsychiatric nurse.[9] Carell's maternal uncle, Stanley Koch, worked with scientistAllen B. DuMont to create improved cathode ray tubes.[10] His father was of Italian and German descent and his mother was of Polish ancestry.[11] His father's surname was originally Caroselli but it was changed to Carell in the 1950s.[12]
Carell was raisedCatholic[13] and was educated at Nashoba Brooks School, The Fenn School, andMiddlesex School. He played ice hockey and lacrosse while in high school.[14] He played thefife, performing with other members of his family, and later joined areenacting group portraying the10th Regiment of Foot. He attributed his interest in history to this,[15] earning a degree in the subject fromDenison University inGranville, Ohio, in 1984.[16][17]
While at Denison, Carell was a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe, and was a goalie on the school's Big Red hockey team for four years.[18][19] He also spent time as a disc jockey under the name "Sapphire Steve Carell" atWDUB, the campus radio station.[20]
Career
1989–2005: Early work and late night
Carell stated that he worked as aUSPSmail carrier inLittleton, Massachusetts. However, Carell quit after seven months because his boss told him he was not very good at the job and needed to be faster.[21] Early in his performing career, Carell acted onstage in a touring children's theater company, later in the comedy musicalKnat Scatt Private Eye, and in a television commercial for the restaurant chainBrown's Chicken in 1989.[22]
Carell's first major film role was as weatherman Brick Tamland in the 2004 hit comedyAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Struck by Carell's performance in the film,Anchorman producerJudd Apatow approached Carell about creating a film together, and Carell told him about an idea he had involving a middle-aged man who is still a virgin.[27] The result was the 2005 filmThe 40-Year-Old Virgin, which Carell and Apatow developed and wrote together, starring Carell as the title character. The film made $109 million in domestic box office sales[28] and established him as a leading man. It also earned Carell anMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance[29] and a WGA Award nomination, along with Apatow, for Best Original Screenplay.[30]
In 2005, Carell signed a deal withNBC to star inThe Office, a remake of the British television seriesof the same name which was created byRicky Gervais andStephen Merchant. Developed byGreg Daniels this series, shotmockumentary-style, revolves around life at a mid-sized paper supply company. Carell played the role ofMichael Scott, the immature,idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin, inScranton, Pennsylvania. Although the first season of the adaptation suffered mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Carell's filmThe 40-Year-Old Virgin,[31] and the series subsequently became a raging success. Carell won aGolden Globe Award andTCA Award in 2006 for his role inThe Office. He received six consecutivePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominations[32] for his work in the series (2006–2011). Carell earned approximatelyUS$175,000 per episode of the third season ofThe Office, twice his salary for the previous two seasons. In anEntertainment Weekly interview, he commented on his salary, saying, "You don't want people to think you're a pampered jerk. Salaries can be ridiculous. On the other hand, a lot of people are making a lot of money off of these shows."[33]
Carell was allowed "flex time" during filming to work on theatrical films. Carell worked onEvan Almighty during a production hiatus during the second season ofThe Office.[38][better source needed] Production ended during the middle of the fourth season ofThe Office because of Carell's and others' refusal to cross the picket line of the2007 Writers Guild of America strike. Carell, a WGA member,[39] has written two episodes ofThe Office: "Casino Night" and "Survivor Man." Both episodes were praised, and Carell won aWriters Guild of America Award for "Casino Night."[40] On April 29, 2010, Carell stated he would be leaving the show when his contract expired at the conclusion of the 2010–2011 season because he wanted to focus on his film career.[41] However, according to interviews inThe Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, Carell did not actually plan to leave at the time and was only "thinking out loud" during the interview, but after his statement failed to elicit a reaction from NBC, he decided it was best to move on.[42]
Co-starMiranda Cosgrove and Carell at a premiere forDespicable Me 2, June 2013
In 2010, Carell starred withTina Fey inDate Night and voiced Gru, the main character in the Universal CGI filmDespicable Me along withMiranda Cosgrove,Kristen Wiig, andJulie Andrews. He reprised the role in the 2013 sequelDespicable Me 2, the thirdDespicable Me 3 in 2017, and fourthDespicable Me 4 in 2024. In 2008, Carousel signed a first look deal with Warner Bros.[43] In 2009, his production company Carousel Productions launched a television arm and signed a deal with Universal Media Studios.[44] He has several other projects in the works, including a remake of the 1967Peter Sellers filmThe Bobo. He is doing voice-over work in commercials forWrigley's Extra gum. Carell has launched a television division of his production company, Carousel Productions, which has contracted a three-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios, the studio behind his NBC comedy series. Thom Hinkle and Campbell Smith of North South Prods., former producers on Comedy Central'sThe Daily Show, were hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.[45]
His last episode as a main character inThe Office, "Goodbye, Michael," aired April 28, 2011, with his final shot showing Michael returning his microphone to the fictional documentary crew, before walking to a Colorado-bound plane to join hisfiancée,Holly Flax, inBoulder, Colorado. His final line in this episode, toPam Beesly, is thus unheard. Although he was invited back for the series finale in 2013, Carell originally declined believing that it would go against his character's arc.[46] Ultimately Carell did reprise the role briefly in the series finale.[47][48] Also in 2013 Carell acted in the summer coming-of-age comedyThe Way, Way Back starringSam Rockwell,Maya Rudolph, andAllison Janney. Carell was asked about participating in a revival of the series in 2018, during the press day forWelcome to Marwen, Carell toldCollider reporter Christina Radish, "I'll tell you, no... The show is way more popular now than when it was on the air. I just can't see it being the same thing, and I think most folks would want it to be the same thing, but it wouldn't be. Ultimately, I think it's maybe best to leave well enough alone and just let it exist as what it was...I just wouldn't want to make the mistake of making a less good version of it. The odds wouldn't be in its favor, in terms of it recapturing exactly what it was, the first time."[49]
In 2018, Carell starred in three films. He led the addiction dramaBeautiful Boy as real life fatherDavid Sheff, whose son Nic (Timothée Chalamet) struggles with drug addiction. He also playedDonald Rumsfeld inAdam McKay'spolitical satire,Vice, about the life of formerVice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). The film received mixed reviews,[55] and went on to be nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.[56] His third 2018 role was starring as Mark Hogancamp ofMarwencol inRobert Zemeckis'Welcome to Marwen. The film received a 32% onRotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus reading, "Welcome to Marwen has dazzling effects and a sadly compelling story, but the movie's disjointed feel and clumsy screenplay make this invitation easy to decline."[57] The movie was a box office failure, grossing $12.7 million against a budget of around $49 million.[58]
2019–present: Career expansion
In 2019, Carell returned to television to star in theApple TV+ drama seriesThe Morning Show oppositeReese Witherspoon andJennifer Aniston.[59] Carell played Mitch Kessler, a morning news show anchor who is struggling to maintain relevance after being fired due to asexual misconduct accusation.The Morning Show received a two-season order fromApple. The first season premiered in the fall of 2019[60] and the second season premiered in 2020.[61] For his performance in the first season, Carell was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, his eleventh Emmy nomination overall.[62] Carell had originally signed a one-year deal with Apple to star in the first season only but he signed on to star in the second season in October 2019.[63]
On August 5, 1995, Carell marriedSaturday Night Live cast memberNancy Walls, whom he met when she was a student in an improv class he was teaching atThe Second City Training Center.[70] They have a daughter named Elisabeth Anne (born May 2001) and a son named John (born June 2004).[71] His daughter graduated from and his son attendsNorthwestern University. On June 15, 2025, Carell received an honorary Doctor of Arts from Northwestern.[72][73]
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