Interview : Steve Carell

After several years in which he was primarily known for his contributions on the Emmy-award winning "The Daily Show," Steve Carell has become a leading comedy star in the last year, following the success of the smash hit "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and NBC’s acclaimed sitcom, "The Office." Other recent successes for Carell include hosting the 2005 season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," his performance as the dim-witted Brick Tamland opposite Will Ferrell in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," his role as Uncle Arthur in "Bewitched," and the voice of Sammy the Squirrel in the animated feature "Over the Hedge."

Carell is next set to star in a number of film projects, including "Evan Almighty," a sequel to the hit comedy "Bruce Almighty" and the role of Maxwell Smart in the feature adaptation of the popular series "Get Smart." Carell began his acting career at the age of six in his first grade Thanksgiving play. After graduating from Denison University in Ohio, he contemplated a career as an attorney and then quickly chose a career as an actor. A veteran of the Second City Theater group in Chicago, Carell was twice nominated for a Joseph Jefferson award.

Movies Online recently sat down with Carell to talk about his work in "Little Miss Sunshine," in which he plays a suicidal Proust scholar and brings a dash of irreverence to his portrait of despondency. Carell appeared cool and relaxed, dressed casually in jeans and a white cotton shirt. He was friendly, funny, and enthusiastic about his latest film. Before we got any further though I want to remind our Toronto Readers we have free tickets for Little Miss Sunshine in Toronto.

Q: Does a character like this come naturally to you? Do you think?

SC: Naturally? I don’t think any character comes naturally necessarily. It was fun. I mean, on the page I was really intrigued by the character and it was just something I wanted to play. I didn’t really know whether I could or not or whether I’d be right for it necessarily, but I felt like I understood the depths of clinical depression that this guy had sort of fallen into.

Q: Really? (laughter) How so? You’ll have to elaborate on that one.

SC: Because I think that everyone can sort of relate to that. I don’t think you necessarily have to have felt that sort of depression to empathize with it or to get a sense for what that must feel like.

Q: How do you relate to that rejection? Because here’s a character that… Basically he lost the love of his life, he lost his job, and everything else. You’re an actor, a comic. Rejection has to be something that every so often kind of passes by you.

SC: Oh my god, every so often? (laughter) How about 20 years of it? (laughter) But you can also become kind of numb from the rejection as well and I think that’s what happens with actors quite often. You just start to expect it and anticipate it. And so in terms of this, I just thought about the personal rejections that I’ve encountered in my life and the disappointments. You know, everyone has had those moments where you just feel hopeless and self-pitying and sorrowful and you feel like there’s really no light at the end of the tunnel. You know, frankly, I just went through this with my brother. Two of my brothers have now lost their wives. And I’ve gone through these periods of time now with both of them where that’s how they feel. It’s just abject depression. There seems to be nothing left.

Q: So how do you get out of it?

SC: I think it’s a matter of time and… I really think it’s a day-to-day thing and in terms of them, that’s what I’ve seen. It’s just an evolution and it’s just a process. In terms of this character, it will be time and the fact that he is able to even slightly connect with this extended family helps him see a glimmer of light. I don’t think… That’s the thing I like about the movie, too, is that it’s not… I don’t think it’s clichéd. I don’t think it’s overly precious or overly sentimental. I don’t think the message of the film is that everyone is going to be happy completely and love each other forever and ever. I feel like there’s a lot of grey area. But I feel like there is a feeling of hope at the end of the movie. And there is for my character. I think there is a light. There is something now to live for. There’s a seed of something. And that’s what I liked about it. It’s not like a complete turn around for anybody. It’s just a step in a process.

Q: At what point do you think that depression can be hilarious? (laughter)

SC: [laughs] Well, it’s interesting that the movie starts on these very graphic images. And that when the title of the movie appears on screen is when you first see my character who is just post suicide attempt. And I think that juxtaposition of the title, "Little Miss Sunshine," and this face that couldn’t be more opposite than that. That to me, I think, is funny. I think… You know what, I think the movie’s funny because it’s OK to… I don’t think you’re laughing at these people necessarily, but I think you’re laughing in consideration of them. (laughter) And in a sense what I enjoyed doing in the movie and why I enjoyed being a part of it was that I think the acting was fairly real and fairly organic and I think it’s funnier because of that.

 

When you get a sense that these are living characters, and not these sort of overly created situations, you start to care and become involved. And I think, you know, they always say that tragedy …you know, comedy is tragedy plus time which is sort of true and maybe comedy is tragedy with not that much time. Maybe … well like there are definitely dark scenes in the movie but I think within, like even, frankly, my brother and his wife… some of the hardest, most emotional moments have other moments within them of release and levity and are comedic in a certain sense because they are ridiculous when butted up against the most tragic, depressing things in the world, so I think they definitely do go together.

Q: How do you account for your extraordinary success? Why …

SC: Pure, unadulterated luck. (laughter)

Q. It’s been such a quick, almost dramatic rise to this enormous success…

SC: And it will disappear just as quick. (laughter)

Q: Are you surprised?

SC: Oh, absolutely! Flabbergasted. I think ‘surprised’ is not strong enough. No, I didn’t expect any of this or anticipate any of it. As I’ve said before, I was always just hoping to continue to work as an actor so this last year has been surreal. I’m the type of person who is always sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop or to peter out and end. And if it does, that’s fine. I’m kind of prepared for myself in that way. Because I feel like it’s safer to do that as if as soon as I start buying into it, and saying, ‘Well, here we go,’ ‘It’ll be all gravy from here on out,’ that’s when you go off the cliff in my mind. And so I think I enjoy it and it’s great and it’s exciting, but I also don’t expect it to continue like this. You know what I mean? It’s a self-preservation way. It’s to guard against inflating it in my own mind.

Q: So does that mean, for example, you have a big movie at (inaudible) Universal next summer and "Evan Almighty"…

SC: Right.

Q: Is the pressure on you sort of less because in a sense you’ve already set up in your mind, ‘Well, OK, whatever.’?

SC: Here’s the thing. I’ve already been paid. (laughter) You know what I mean. It’s like if it absolutely tanks and my career is over at that point, I’ll be OK. (laughter) I could go away and I could raise my kids and I could take jobs as they come. If somehow it’s just a disaster professionally, I could live with that in part because I have had such a great run of it and I’ve sort of tasted it but it’s not like I’ve tasted that and it’s done nothing but made me hungry for more. I’ve tasted it and I’m very satisfied with it.

Q: You’re still in "The Office." That’s still going on?

SC: Still going. We just shot our first episode.

Q: Will you talk a little bit about Frank and Sheryl’s relationship? Is she basically there to be her brother’s keeper or can you just talk a little bit about her relationship because she has a very different manner with him than she has with some of the other …

SC: I always got the sense that the two of us were very, very bright kids and had a connection that way and that I always resented the fact that she married beneath her and didn’t do… There was a little scene that I did with Paul Dano that wasn’t in the final cut where he’s asking me in those notes, ‘Why did mom give up?’ ‘Why didn’t she pursue her career?’ And I say, ‘Well, because of you.’ And that kind of sinks into him ‘cause he’s saying, ‘Mom’s so great. She’s so smart. Why is she this?’ You know, ‘Why is she this housewife who munches on popsicles in an angry manner?’ ‘What was she like?’ And I tell her that she wasn’t, you know, she was smarter than me.

 

She had a huge career ahead of her. And she dropped it all because of you. So I think we have a very close relationship in that way and like when I’m teasing Richard and she’s looking at me like, ‘Oh, you’re terrible,’ but she’s also enjoying it at the same time. So we have this real love of each other and each other’s minds, and I think the two of us together think we’re the smartest people in the room. But I was able to, I mean, my character became sort of egomaniacal about that fact and she didn’t play it up.

Q: There’s the one line that sort of explains the Proust connection to the whole movie. Did you go into any more depth with the writers or the director about how Proust fit in with the whole character?

SC: Not really. I mean I read some Proust and I did some research on Proust, but frankly I’m not that interested in Proust (laughter) on a personal level and you know you can also just appear to be much more intelligent than you are by saying someone else’s dialogue. And just saying that you’re a Proust scholar.

Q: What could you write a book on? What would be your topic that you feel proficient enough about that you could write a book about and sound kind of knowledgeable?

SC: Uh, round table discussions. (laughter)

Q: In terms of the character’s sexuality, was there any direction to avoid stereotypes or anything like that?

SC: No, there was never… It honestly never came up. We never discussed it. We never discussed his sexuality. We never discussed any sort of affect. And frankly it never even entered my mind. It was just this guy who was in love with somebody and they didn’t love him back and it was… I think it’s such a light point character wise in the movie and really for me and for everybody else too. It’s kind of the grandfather and Olive sort of raised their eyebrows at the whole notion, but it’s fairly fleeting, I think.

Q: Was it a relief going from something like that to an "Evan Almighty" where you get to let yourself go a bit more and go back to your comic kind of sensibility. Is it a very different animal acting?

SC: Very different animal. "Evan Almighty" is such a different movie totally because this… "Evan Almighty" will be a very broad comedy that casts a large net. It’s going to be PG, and it will be very inoffensive and really sweet and will definitely try to appeal to more of a family audience, whereas this has a much more focused idea.

Q: Did you enjoy the "Evan Almighty" experience?

SC: Oh, it was great. Aside from twisting my ankle. (laughter)

Q: It’s almost the same character but in a completely different situation. Is there much of a connection to the babbling newscaster in "Bruce Almighty"?

SC: Oh, to "Evan Almighty"?

Q: Yes.

SC: Well, it’s the same guy, but he obviously grows. I couldn’t play that same character for an hour and a half because that would be interminable. (laughter) So he has to evolve. You find out about his family. He’s married. He has three boys. It expands the whole picture of who that guy is. And it’s fun. Working with Morgan Freeman… That was just incredible. We’re out in Virginia for three months. They built…well, you’ll see it…they built an arc. They built this thing that is phenomenal and I don’t know. I think it’s going to be kind of a remarkable movie.

Q: What about "Get Smart?"

SC: We start shooting at the end of March.

Q: It is finally happening?

SC: It is finally happening.

Q: What do you hope audiences will take from "Little Miss Sunshine?"

SC: I hope it makes them happy. And I went to see it last night for the first time with like a real audience, if you will, but people applauded at the end and I walked out and sort of eavesdropped on what people were saying and I heard a guy in front of me saying, ‘Man, that was just fun. That was really…’ He said, ‘What a sweet, fun movie.’ Honestly, if that’s what people walk out saying, that’s great. That’s great. I think it’s kind of a little gem. I really feel that way.

Q: Thank you.

SC: My pleasure.

"Little Miss Sunshine" opened last week in L.A. and N.Y. I invite you to read my Little Miss Sunshine Review