Six Degrees: Steve Carell on ‘Get Smart’, his career and Stephen Colbert
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I gleefully anticipate a fair amount of Steve Carell material as the opening date for Get Smart approaches. Here’s one brief Q&A from Time Out New York, including Steve’s take on the relative success of his and Stephen’s post-Daily Show careers:
Steve Carell
The world’s worst boss may be a big-time movie star, but he’d still love to be covering the conventions.
By John Sellers
When Steve Carell left The Daily Show in 2004, not even his biggest fans could have predicted how huge a star he’d become. But the 45-year-old actor parlayed his stint there into the plum role of bumbling boss Michael Scott on the American version of The Office, chased it by cowriting and starring in Judd Apatow’s 2005 instant classic, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and appeared the following year as the morose uncle in the Oscar-nominated indie darling Little Miss Sunshine. Fresh off the fourth and highest-rated season of his NBC sitcom, Carell channels the late Don Adams this week in a big-screen adaptation of Get Smart, the cultish spoof television series about gadget-befuddled secret agent Maxwell Smart.You’re calling me on a shoe phone, aren’t you? Sure. And I’m calling you from the depths of this enormous gym at USC. We’re shooting a special promo for Get Smart.
Well, I’m talking to you from my Brooklyn apartment on my underwear phone.
NNice! Do you actually give yourself a wedgie in order to answer it? It rings and you have to pull it up over your head?. . .
Do you ever miss The Daily Show?
Yes, especially at this time of year. With the conventions coming up, I know what kind of fun they’re about to have. So there is a sense of envy there.I’m sure they envy you, too.
Well, perhaps. If they do, they disguise it very well. But, oh my God—Colbert? Colbert has his own ice-cream flavor! He has a Ben & Jerry’s flavor and he has a portrait of himself hanging in the Smithsonian. My own career pales in comparison. He has far eclipsed me.Well, at least you can enjoy his ice cream.
That’s right. With a big grimace on my face.
I can just hear Steve saying that about Stephen; it’s making me grin.
You can catch Steve on Larry King Live tomorrow night; go to the Larry King Live website to submit a question for him.
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19 Comments
June 12th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
You’ve probably mentioned this somewhere and I’ve missed it, but Steve will be on Larry King Friday night (CNN 9pmEST) for anyone that’s interested. You can go to the LKL site and email in questions you have for him (Steve). Wonder if Stephen will call in to give him some grief, lol.
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June 12th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Yes, I actually mentioned it in this post; there’s a link to the LKL page immediately above the “Related posts”.
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June 12th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
entropy — you appear to be using my email address as your contact info here. a few times now, I have received a message that “my” comment has been responded to, and it’s been you. just a heads up and a — huh?
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June 12th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I sent him a question. I asked him what he liked about being Maxwell Smart. I’ll be working then, so I’ll have to watch the rerun at 3am.
I really want Stephen to call in! That would be ten levels of awesome!.
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June 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
As much as I’m a fan of Stephen, I gotta admit I love me some Steve as well.
I do hope so very much that he makes an appearance on The Colbert Report, if not for “Get Smart”, then for something.
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June 12th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I would love to see him on The Colbert Report, too. I’m sure their conversation would turn into an Even Stepvhen-type argument. :)
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June 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I sincerely hope it happens, and that it’s extreme Even Stepvhen deja vu.
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June 12th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
That interview would be EPIC! Here’s hoping.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Stephen had Amy on to promote her movie…er…and his. Haha. Still, Steve should be invited to the show!
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June 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
haha, I loved how in that interview he said that the role of Mr. Noblet was played by Kevin Spacey. C:
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June 13th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Correct me if i’m wrong peeps, but TCR has never had an actor promote a film before? There has been a few actors and none of them actually promoted a movie. TDS in the early vids seems to have more actors, but only when the political scene is kinda dead.
If TCR will have s. carell on, this will be rare, if not a first…
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June 13th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Au contraire, while it’s somewhat unusual, Stephen has indeed had actors on promoting their shows in the past. The interview with Dermot Mulroney from December 2005 was one of my early faves; Mulroney was promoting The Family Stone, and Stephen commented on Mulroney’s record of playing fiancés, who would win in a fight between Mulroney and Yo-Yo Ma (Mulroney is also a cellist), and how one convinced “bickering” relatives who’d sat through Thanksgiving with one another to pay to see “bickering” in The Family Stone.
Jeff Bridges was also on one of those early shows in 2005 (he was promoting Good Night, and Good Luck and The Squid and the Whale), and I believe Tim Robbins’ first visit (also in 2005) was at least partly to promote Zathura.
You’re right to note that it’s not common, though.
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June 13th, 2008 at 10:18 am
And let us not forget Jane Fonda, under the ruse of promoting “Georgia Rules”. At least that was the conversation Stephen was *trying* to have as Jane attempted to wrestle the focus onto, um, other things.
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June 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I’ve never seen the original TV show, but I’m looking forward to seeing this movie, hopefully. I think it’s neat how Steve’s the slightest bit envious of his former colleagues preparing to cover the conventions. How awesome would just one little field piece be on TDS be? I’m really looking forwarding to their coverage of it too.
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June 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I enjoy these articles. I love Steve!
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June 13th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
If I recall correctly, Jon did say that Steve was going to be on TDS next week.
That’s a plus. Has he ever been on TDS whilst Stephen was doing TCR? They should do some kind of crossover.
*crosses fingers*
ReCaptcha: Gen vibratory
…..Ooooookay.
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June 13th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Steve Carell was on TDS last year promoting “Evan Almighty,” and although they didn’t do anything together, Stephen mentioned “Even Stephven” in the toss and how he and Steve never talked off-camera because they hated each other so much. Hilarious!
While it’s rare that Stephen has actors on his show, maybe Steve could come on TCR and sit on Stephen’s lap. XD
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June 13th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Sit on Stephen’s lap. That would be great! A little disturbing for them probably.
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July 8th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Get Smart looks okay over all though it seems like Steve Carell is veering toward an excess of slapstick humor
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