Whether you are a fan of The Office or not, there is no denying the show is a trendsetter and one of the best sitcoms. Following its success, many workplace mockumentaries were created, including Parks and Recreation, Superstore, and Abbott Elementary. However, the timeless nature and longevity of the U.S. version of The Office is much in part due to its hilarious cast of actors, and specifically Steve Carell’s performance as the very quotable Michael Scott, according to Rashida Jones.
Before she was a main cast member of Parks and Rec, Jones was an Office regular for Season 3 and appeared in a handful of episodes after that. She was recently on The Jess Cagle Show and was asked if she had a favorite memory from her time on The Office. The I Love You, Man actress immediately responded with a Steve Carell moment from her first day of filming, and it reveals just how comedically talented the 40-Year-Old Virgin actor is:
Oh, I think probably the first day I was in Scranton. Because I felt like I was, I think my first scene was everybody. It was one of those like conference room scenes with Steve in front, just being absolutely absurd. And I felt like I had won like a radio contest or something 'cause I had watched and loved that show for two seasons, and all of a sudden I'm like in the room with the people, and Steve is virtuosic, like the thing he did on The Office was like 10% of what he was doing on set. Every single take was like just the most outlandish, like brave, weird, interesting, hilarious thing you've ever seen every single time. So it was just like a full mind-blower. I'd never seen anybody perform like that before.
This comes as no surprise given the Despicable Me star was nominated 6 years in a row for his portrayal of Michael Scott at both the Emmys and Golden Globe awards. I always thought his character was pretty eccentric already, always pushing the limits of controversy and cringe. But now that I know the final cut was only 10% of Carell’s outrageous behavior as Scott, I’m gonna need to see all of the footage that didn’t make the cut.
The Office was not the only time Carell and Jones collaborated. The Celeste and Jesse Forever actress produced and starred in the 2016 beloved sitcom Angie Tribeca, which was created by Steve Carell and his wife Nancy. The show ran for 4 seasons before it was canceled by TBS. However, it is still one of Jones’ best performances, and it can be watched with a Max subscription.
The Social Network actress is not the only former Office co-star to rave about Carell’s acting chops. The actors behind Michael Scott and Jim Halpert (AKA Carell and John Krasinski) were recently reunited for the new kids' movie IF, which received mixed to positive reviews and was released in May on the 2024 movie schedule. The Big Short actor still blew Krasinski away all these years later, even after working together on The Office for seven seasons.
Fans of The Office can hold out hope for more potential cast reunions given Peacock has a spinoff in the works. Though we most likely won’t see Carell reprise his role as Michael Scott given what we know so far about the plot, it is not entirely out of the question for other characters to make a surprise cameo given members of the cast have expressed their potential interest in a spinoff. If that happens, I’ll let you guys know “ASAP as possible.” Until then, we will have to settle for binge-ing old episodes of The Office with a Peacock subscription.
