Why He's No. 77

Steve Carell is best-known for playing bumbling boss Michael Scott on the The Office. In addition to being one of the funniest men on the small screen, Steve Carell has starred in a succession of box-office hits, including Bruce Almighty (2003), The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Horton Hears A Who! (2008), and Get Smart (2008).

Back Stage

Steven John Carell (born August 16, 1962) is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated American comedian, actor, producer and writer, who rose to fame as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, from 1999 to 2004. Since 2005, he has starred in the popular American version of the television sitcom The Office, as main character Michael Scott. He has starred and co-starred in several notable films including Bruce Almighty, Anchorman, The 40-Year Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and Evan Almighty. Prior to opting for a career as a performer, Carell worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts. He later recounted that he quit after a few months because he was "very, very bad at it." He also planned on attending law school, but was unable to write an explanation on an application form as to why he wanted to be a lawyer. Carell performed with Chicago troupe The Second City in 1991, where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time. That same year, he landed his first film work in a minor role as Tesio in Curly Sue. In 1996, he was a cast member of the briefly aired The Dana Carvey Show. Along with fellow cast member Stephen Colbert, Carell provided the voice of Gary, half of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo", the Robert Smigel-produced animated short which was moved to Saturday Night Live in 1997. He played a supporting character on many shows including Come to Papa and the short-lived 1997 Tim Curry sitcom Over the Top. He has made numerous notable guest appearances, including on an episode of Just Shoot Me entitled "Funny Girl." Other early screen credits include a role in Julia Louis-Dreyfus's short-lived sitcom Watching Ellie (2002 – 2003) and Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda. Carrell has also poked fun at himself for auditioning for Saturday Night Live, but losing the job to Will Ferrell. While there, he also recorded two guest appearances as "Produce Pete" which aired on April 4, 2005, and May 3, 2005 (and was credited as a contributor). He returned to the show as the guest on August 15, 2005, declaring that he was officially no longer with the show, ending speculation that he might return as a regular player. He did another guest appearance on June 18, 2007 to promote Evan Almighty. Two supporting roles in films helped get the attention of audiences: Bruce Almighty, in which Carell plays Evan Baxter (an arrogant rival to Jim Carrey's character), who gets a humorous comeuppance while co-anchoring the news. In Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Carell plays another news personality, as slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland, whose humorous non-sequiturs helped make the comedy a success at the box office. In spring of 2005, Carell began playing the lead role of Michael Scott on NBC's remake of the British sitcom The Office.

Although the series premiered to mediocre ratings, NBC renewed it for another season due to the anticipated success of Steve Carell's movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and the show subsequently became a ratings success. Carell won a Golden Globe and Television Critics Association award in 2006 for his Office role. He also received Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for his work in the series. He played the lead role in the 2005 film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which he developed and co-wrote. Although the film was a surprise success, Carell revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he has no plans to leave The Office. Carell appeared as the title character of Evan Almighty, a sequel to Bruce Almighty, reprising his role as Evan Baxter, now a U.S. Congressman whom God tasks with building an ark. In October 2006, Carell began shooting the upcoming film Dan in Real Life, co-starring Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche. Filming wrapped December 22, 2006, and the film was released on October 26, 2007. Carell will play Maxwell Smart in a movie remake of Get Smart, which began filming February 3, 2007. (Filming will continue in Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Moscow, Russia). In 2007, Carell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Forcaste

Steve Carell has also been a smash on the small screen thanks to the success of The Office. His portrayal of fatally flawed boss Michael Scott has won him awards from the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, the Writers Guild of America, the Television Critics Association, and the Emmys. Modest to a fault, Steve Carell is the first to admit that his career has exceeded all of his expectations. “In my wildest dreams I never thought, well, I never thought I'd work,” he says.