The Truth About Why Steve Carell Left The Office

hard as it may be to believe nearly a decade has passed since Steve Carrell uttered his churlish last words and walked away from his role as Michael Scott's a small screen character that made him a household name but why did Steve Carell lead the office after season 7 in April 2010 Steve Carell made the first public mention that his days in the fictional Dunder Mifflin office were possibly numbered he told the BBC that because his contract for the office only ran through season 7 the then forthcoming season would quote probably be his last year on the series according to interviews published in Andy Greene's book the office the untold story of the greatest sitcom of the 2000s a lack of internal response to corrals comment about season 7 potentially being his last actually made the actor feel like it was time to leave Brian Whittle who worked as a boom operator and sound mixer on the office explained the sequence of events in the book Carell was doing a radio interview and he haphazardly mentioned almost unconsciously that it might be his last season he was kind of thinking out loud but he did it in an interview in public and it created news then what he said was the people connected to the show had no reaction to it Whittle continued when he realized he didn't get any kind of response from them he thought oh maybe they don't really care if I leave maybe I should go do other things elsewhere in the same book hairstylist Kim ferry corroborated Whittle story further noting that Carell had told NBC brass that he planned on signing a new office contract that would be good quote for another couple of years according to ferry however a network executives simply didn't reach out to him about negotiating a new deal he planned on staying on the show he told his manager and his manager contacted NBC and said he's willing to sign another contract for a couple years so all of that was willing and ready and on their side honest and the deadline came for when NBC executives were supposed to give him an offer and it passed then they didn't make him an offer she continued noting that Carell didn't want to leave the office behind he simply had no other choice Carell was like look I told them what I want to do I don't want to leave I don't understand it just is mind-boggling how that happened and I feel bad because I think a lot of people think he did leave the show on his own merit and it's absolutely not true I'm telling you he really wanted to stay and it devastated all of us because he was the heart of our show casting director Allison Joan called the whole situation quote absolutely the asinine since Carell wanted to stay on the show she stated as I recall he was going to do another season and then NBC for whatever reason wouldn't make it deal with him the office producer Randy Cordray offered another element that contributed to Carol's departure the arrival of Bob Greenblatt's who became the chairman of NBC entertainment in 2011 allegedly Greenblatt quotes was not as big a fan of the office as we wished he would have been portray noted his belief that Carell likely would have stayed on the show if there was more respect coming from NBC for what it's worth Greenblatt maintained that he quote couldn't do anything about Carell leaving the series since he believed it was already happening before his promotion why are you the way that you are honestly like so many television breakouts before him once Carell left the small screen he sought to achieve big screen glory Carol's movie cred has taken a few hits of late but he still managed to carve out an impressive slate of comedic and dramatic projects since making the switch to movies all the while he's been boasting a blockbuster animated franchise with the despicable Me film series lending his voice to the villain turned hero through Peck Corral even claimed an Oscar nomination for his wildly unsettling turn as John the pawn to 2014's Foxcatcher it's hardly surprising that Carell would find such career success on both big and small screens the actor didn't officially break through to the mainstream until the office hit the airwaves in 2005 but he'd been plugging away in Hollywood for years with supporting and creative roles on TV fare like the Dana Carvey show and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show as for Carol's film roles he had already stolen scenes from the likes of Jim Carrey and Bruce Almighty and Will Ferrell and anchorman before claiming the role of Michael Scott's in 2005 not to mention his breakout starring role in the same year with the 40 year old virgin I was walking down the street and a race car pulls up and the guy says hey you're funny you're the funniest guy I've ever seen or my name is not Dale Earnhardt as many roles as he's played in the years since leaving the office behind Carol's work as Michael Scott's is iconic so much so that fans and reporters alike continue to hound Carell about his time on the series and the possibility of reprise in his role in a potential reboot of the show however Carell continues to shoot down the idea at every turn he'll be it with loving insight he told Collider I know think we can recapture that same magic I just wouldn't want to make the mistake of making it less good version of it dunder-mifflin any jokes going no not right now does that mean oh all right see you around then check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more looper videos about your favorite TV shows are coming soon subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one [Music] [Applause] you [Applause]

Channel: Looper

Views: 2,431,190

Keywords: looper, looper movies, steve carell, the office, the office us, steve carell the office, why did steve carell leave the office, steve carell the office real story, steve carell the office true story, steve carell real reason, steve carell real, real reason steve carell left the office, steve carell the office contract, steve carell the office season 7, steve carell the office final season, why steve carell left the office

Id: wlmnX3Jd_ls

Length: 4min 52sec (292 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/stonecarrion655]

Basically he was waiting for an offer and NBC didn't give him one

[u/[deleted]]

I hate to be that person, but as much as I like the finale, and some of season 8 and 9, the whole series was just sticking around to collect money, not actually be creative. Michael Scott was going to be redundant if the character were around 2 more seasons.

I also think there is too much hearsay from this source. Steve Carell needed to leave to expand his film roles, it was pretty obvious. Unless Steve comes out himself and says otherwise I'm inclined to agree with that assessment.