"None of those things": When The Office star Steve Carell shared funny details about his character in the classic workplace comedy 

Even after all these years, The Office has held on to its position as a formidable workplace comedy. The Office starred Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, and John Krasinski in leading roles and was quite a sensational show owing to its mockumentary style and deadpan humour.

What made The Office so special was the impeccable camaraderie between its cast members onscreen, especially that of Steve Carell. Over the years, Carell, along with the rest of the show's cast members, appeared on The Ellen Show and shared their insights about their characters.

What did Steve Carell say about his character from The Office?

Speaking on The Ellen Show, Steve Carell revealed that his character, Michael Scott, was blissfully oblivious to everything and everyone around him and operated from a sense of single-mindedness. He remarked:

"Well, it's a character...he doesn't have any sort of social filter. He doesn't get it. He doesn't understand how other people perceive him at all."

Ellen then agreed with him and interjected that the character thought of himself as "fantastic", to which Carell added:

"Oh, funny, glib, witty, but he's none of those things. But whenever he gets some sort of self-knowledge, that probably would make his head just explode. If he really saw how other people see him, I think he'd go crazy."

Steve Carell reflects on Michael Scott

The Office star Steve Carell appeared for an exclusive interview with Mashable Magazine in 2021, where he shared a few remarkable pointers about his character of Michael Scott and his process behind the performance. Speaking about the character's tone-deaf nature, Carell commented:

"It's why I bristle a little when people try to compartmentalize Michael as a racist. He's a person with an enormously good, kind heart who lacked a great deal of information about the world around him. He was as asleep in a woke world as you could be. (Michael's) trying his best! There's a difference between being intolerant and being ignorant. Sometimes intolerance and ignorance go hand in hand, for sure. But I think he was a very earnest and decent human being. He just didn't… get it all the time, you know?"

He further added:

"Michael put his foot in his mouth all the time, saying inappropriate things, but I don't think he ever valued one type of person over any other, and in that way, I think he was a very pure character. He's very dumb in terms of political correctness and being appropriate in public. But at the same time, I just don't think there was hardness in his heart towards anyone."

The Office showrunner, Greg Daniels, chimed in:

"It's always about intention. If Michael has a purity of intention, he can do the worst things in the world for comedy. But as an audience, you sense that he didn't do it in order to be cruel or to be a jerk. He's trying, and he just has poor social skills."

Trending

The Office is available to stream on Peacock.

Keep reading Soap Central for more such informative articles.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback