Steve Carell made a deliberate decision not to watch the British version of The Office before taking on the American remake, and it turned out to be one of the smartest calls of his career.
Speaking to LAD Bible, the 63-year-old actor explained that he had not seen the original Ricky Gervais series before auditioning for the US version.
When he did try to watch a small amount, he stopped himself almost immediately.
“I started to watch a tiny bit, and I knew instantly that if I watched any more, I would just do a copy of Ricky, and I didn’t want to do that because I figured if it had any chance of success, it’s not going to be the same show. It has to be different in some way and his depiction of that character was so specific and so great that I knew I could never, ever come close to that level.”
In total, he says he has watched less than a minute of the British series to this day.
The decision to audition in the first place was not universally supported at the time.
On Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast earlier this year, Carell recalled that his friend Paul Rudd had actively warned him against it.
“I remember Rudd pulled me aside and was like, ‘Don’t do it, man. Don’t audition.’ It was like, ‘There is no way.'” Poehler confirmed the sentiment was widespread.
“Everyone was like, don’t even touch this,” she said. “10-foot pole,” Carell agreed.
Carell played regional manager Michael Scott from 2005 to 2011, making a surprise cameo return in the 2013 finale.
His co-star Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute, recently reflected on how the show struggled after his departure.
“When Steve left, then it was a little bit chaotic of trying to figure out the tone of the show and who’s the lead,” Wilson said on the Good Guys Podcast, describing Carell as “one of the greatest comic actors in American history.”
The show ran for two more seasons after Carell left, before concluding in 2013.
