Evan Almighty

Background:

“Nothing to me feels as good as laughing incredibly hard. If a movie or a TV show or a book makes you laugh until you cry, you just feel better.” Steve Carell.

Comic performer Steve Carell first made his name on television as a correspondent on the popular Comedy Central news satire series “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (1999-2004). In 2003, he had his breakout role as Bruce's (played by Jim Carrey) loathsome rival for the anchor position in the hit comedy movie Bruce Almighty. He soon followed it up with the 2004 Will Ferrell vehicle, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, playing the slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland, and with a title character in the summer 2005 box-office hit The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Carell also keeps working on television and is currently starring in the American (NBC) version of the British (BBC) acclaimed sitcom “The Office,” playing Michael Scott, the ostentatious and nonsensical regional manager. The role later won him a Golden Globe and an Emmy. The 5' 8'' tall actor-comedian was also named “The #2 Entertainer of the Year (2005)” by Entertainment Weekly.

Recently starring as Toni Collette’s gay, suicidal brother, and a once-prominent Proust scholar in the applauded dark comedy Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Carell will soon star in the upcoming films Evan Almighty, Horton Hears a Who (voice), Dan in Real Life, Get Smart, Juvenile, and High T.

"I don't think of myself as funny- I don't fill up a room with my humor...I would fail miserably as a stand-up comedian." Steve Carell.


Italian Ancestry

Childhood and Family:

"I have no idea where my pathetic nature comes from. If I thought about it too long, it would depress me." Steve Carell.

Of Italian descent Steven John Carell (original family name was Carello) was born on August 16, 1963, in Acton, Massachusetts. He was educated at The Fenn School, an all boys private school in Concord, Massachusetts, then at Middlesex School in Concord. He was an editor-in-Chief of his high school newspaper, Newton South's "The Lion's Roar." After graduating from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Steve then took acting at Chicago's Second City troupe.

While working as writer/performer with the famed Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois, Steve met and fell in love with actress/writer Nancy Walls (Saturday Night Live alum; born on July 19, 1966). They married in 1995 and have two children together: a daughter named Elisabeth Anne Carell (born May 25, 2001) and a son named John Carell (born 2004). Steve and his family are currently residing in Los Angeles, California.


The Office Man

Career:

"I think a character in a comedy should not know they're in a comedy." Steve Carell.

A former mail carrier who once planned to be a lawyer, Steve Carell later made up his mind and wanted to pursue a career as a performer. After graduation, he moved to Chicago where he became a member of the famed Second City improvisational theatre, where he also had stints with several noted theatre groups at The Goodman Theater and Wisdom Bridge Theatre.

In 1991, Carell made his first appearance with a minor role as Tesio in the John Hughes comedy Curly Sue, starring James Belushi and Alisan Porter. He also made a name for himself in television as a writer/performer on ABC's a half-hour sketch comedy show, “The Dana Carvey Show,” in 1996.

In the subsequent years, he would frequently alternate between film and television. He appeared on ABC’s failed sitcom "Over the Top" (1997; alongside Tim Curry and Annie Potts) and was spotted as a guest in a November 1998 episode of NBC's sitcom "Just Shoot Me!" He also had a stint as one of correspondents on Comedy Central’s Peabody- and Emmy-winning half-hour satirical news program “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in 1999, and remained an infrequent contributor until 2004. Additionally, he could be seen in the comedy films Tomorrow Night (1998) and Suits (1999).

In 2003, Carell played a key supporting role on NBC short-lived sitcom “Watching Ellie,” starring ex-Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. That same year, he shot to fame for his breakout big screen performances as Evan Baxter, Bruce's (played by Jim Carrey) loathsome rival for the anchor position in Tom Shadyac's blockbuster comedy movie Bruce Almighty (2003; also featuring Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston). He followed it up with the 2004 Will Ferrell vehicle, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (also with Christina Applegate and Paul Rudd), playing the supporting role of slow-witted weatherman Brick Tamland. The film was released in summer 2004, in the same week with the teen comedy Sleepover (starring Alexa Vega), in which Carell played an overeager security guard.

"Honestly, every step along the way, I've been amazed that I've gotten to that point. To be in a Jim Carrey movie, I couldn't believe my luck to be opposite him even for a couple little scenes. Or to be one of the news team in Will Ferrell's movie. I thought, 'This is it. I've reached the pinnacle. Nothing could make me happier than this.'" Steve Carell (on acting opposite Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell).

2005 prove to be a big year for Carell. After making a brief, but indelible cameo as Uncle Arthur, opposite Nicole Kidman and Anchorman co-star Will Ferrell, in Nora Ephron's comedy film inspired by the classic television series, Bewitched, he nabbed the title character of the sexually inexperienced electronics store technician in the summer box-office hit The 40 Year Old Virgin. The film, which he also co-wrote the original screenplay with writer/director Judd Apatow, was chosen as one of the Top Ten movies of 2006 by the American Film Institute. That same year, he also landed a lead as Michael Scott, the ostentatious and nonsensical regional manager, in the American (NBC) remake of the popular British (BBC) sitcom “The Office.” The Emmy-winning show later earned Carell a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy. He was also nominated an Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

Recently, in 2006, Carell lent his voice as a hyperactive squirrel named Hammy in DreamWorks’ amusing animated feature based on the United Media comic strip, Over the Hedge, and played Toni Collette’s gay, suicidal brother and a once-prominent Proust scholar in the applauded dark comedy Little Miss Sunshine (also with Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin), directed by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. He is also slated to reprise his role as Evan Baxter, the self-obsessed, newly elected Congressman, in a second installment of the "Almighty" franchise, Evan Almighty (co-starring Lauren Graham and Morgan Freeman). His once-supporting role into a lead after Jim Carrey opted out of the sequel.

Carell is currently busy on set filming Peter Hedges' romantic comedy Dan in Real Life, playing the title role of a widower who falls in love with the girlfriend (played by Juliette Binoche) of his brother (played by Dane Cook), and Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino's computer-animated film adaptation of Dr. Seuss' rhyming story, Horton Hears a Who, in which he reunited with Jim Carrey voicing the Mayor of Who-ville. He also teams up with Anne Hathaway in Peter Segal's film version of the classic Emmy award winning series Get Smart, playing the role of bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart.

Additionally, Carell has been announced to star in the comedy films Juvenile, playing the lead role of a typical suburbanite sent to a juvenile prison for a crime he committed as an adolescent, and High T, as a man who gets testosterone shots. He also plans to star in his own, yet untitled film project.

“You never really know what the camera is picking up in a scene -- or even where it is. There are stealth shots that surprise us all the time.” Steve Carell.

Awards:

• MTV Movie: Best Comedic Performance, The 40-Year Old Virgin, 2006
• Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, “The Office,” 2006
• Television Critics Association: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy, "The Office," 2006