Steve Carell Trivia: 60 amazing facts about the actor

Apart from being a genuinly “good guy” and undeniably, one of the most charismatic and versatile comedians of our time, Steve Carell is also an actor, director, producer, and writer. And he hapens to be my favourite actor. So let’s make haste and check out some great facts about this amazing human being!!

1. Steven John Carell was born on on August 16, 1962, in Concord, Massachusetts.

2. His father is an electrical engineer and his mother was a psychiatric nurse.

3. At a very young age, Steve would sit at the dinner table dressed as an alien to make his family laugh.

4. His paternal grandfather was Italian and his dad was born with the surname Caroselli, which he later changed to Carell, right before Steve was born. He actually prefers his Italian surname, joking: “Frankly I almost wish I’d grown up with it because it would have been misspelled far less frequently than Carell. Everyone puts in two Rs and two Ls.”

5. He voiced an accountant named Dan Gillick in the season 24 episode “Penny-Wiseguys” of the Simpsons.

6. His favourite drink is diet soda.

7. His mother is of Polish descent and his father is of Italian and German ancestry.

8. He is 1.75m tall (5’9”).

9. While in high school, Steve Carell was the editor-in-chief of the school paper.

10. Carell’s first hit, Evan Almighty, is banned in Egypt for content that is deemed “sacrilegious.”

11. He worked as a rural mail carrier in Massachusetts, where he had to drive his own car.That job lasted only four months, before he relocated to Chicago. “And months later, I found undelivered mail under the seat of my car,” he said. Carell called it the hardest job of his life.

12. He later on joined a children’s theater company. Ironically enough, he at one point, played the pivotal role of ‘Mail Room Guy Without Glasses’ in 1998 film Tomorrow Night.

13.As a teenager, Carell worked a convenient shop “Store 24.” He later incorporated the store’s odd personalities into his comedy parts.

14. He suffers from hay fever.

15. He married Nancy Walls in 1995.

16. He met Nancy Walls in improv class, where she was the student and he, the teacher.

17. They have two children, Elisabeth Anne “Annie”, born in 2001 and Johnny, born in 2004.

18. In 2012, Carell delivered a speech to Princeton University graduates, which included his niece, during Class Day. He ended his talk by offering some tips and advice for success.

19. Carell was raised Roman Catholic. “I hope that God gives me guidance and that he directs me to make good choices, and that he helps me with my family. But that is such a personal thing and I think everyone has a different idea of what God is and what he represents.”

20. While studying pre-law at Denison University, Steve became a member of the country’s oldest collegiate improv troupe, named Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company.

21. After graduating from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, he moved to Chicago where he taught an improvisational comedy class and performed with The Second City troupe, next to Stephen Colbert.

22. Burpee’s Seedy Theatrical Company has existed since 1979, but Carell is its most famous alumnus.

23. Denison University is not only the alma mater of Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner, it is also the alma mater of Hal Holbrook, John Davidson, John Schuck, and Tom Cotter.

24. Before deciding to pursue an acting career, he was seriously considering getting a law degree. What altered his mind regarding that decision is the fact that while filling in the application essay was asked ‘Why do you want to be an attorney?’ to which he couldn’t think of a single reason.

25. His parents were the ones to convince him to strive for his dreams in acting and comedy.

26. Carell made his film debut in 1991 with Curly Sue, a forgettable John Hughes family comedy starring Jim Belushi. He was on screen for 20 seconds, playing the role of a waiter.

27. One of Steve’s earliest onscreen appearances was playing a supremely dedicated hockey goalie who had to come up with inventive ways to practice alone.

28. Steve actually did have experience in the sport, playing as a goalkeeper in high school in Concord, Massachusetts and continues to play in a men’s league in Burbank, California. He claims “what I lack in physical ability I make up for in poor coordination.”

29. Universal studio’s executives were concerned that Carell was coming off as a serial killer in 40 Year Old Virgin.

30. Steve Carell also applied for a position at SNL but he didn’t make it and instead lost the spot to Will Ferrell.

31. He instead, ended up getting a job as a writer and occasional performer on the “Dana Carvey Show.”

32. “The Dana Carvey Show” helped advance Steve Carell’s career in the long run. Steve was placed in a writer’s room that contained Stephen Colbert, Louis CK, Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk, and Charlie Kaufman.

33. Steve was on “The Daily Show” from 1999 until 2004. He often worked with Stephen Colbert which resulted in a long friendship between the two men and performed in recurring sketches such as “Even Stephven” and “Produce Pete with Steve Carell”.

34. Steve Carell owes his fame to his role as Michael Scott in “The Office” but he was far from the top of producer Ricky Gervais’ dream cast list. Paul Giamatti, Hank Azaria, Bob Odenkirk, and Martin Short were all considered ahead of him.

35. He experienced extreme pressure while auditioning for the role in the US version of The Office. He says: “When I was invited to audition for Michael Scott, people treated me as if I had a disease. They said, ‘You have to be crazy even auditioning for this, Steve. It’s going to be terrible.”

36. He won a Golden Globe award in 2006 for this role, and also received two Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007.

37. In The Office episode “Gay Witch Hunt,” the script called for Carell to discreetly kiss Oscar on the cheek. Carell improvised and kissed him on the lips. Both of the actor’s reactions are real.

38. He was in three failed sitcoms before he starred in NBC’s version of The Office (2005).

39. Steve and his wife Nancy own a general store in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Residents claim that Carell will occasionally stop in and help stock shelves.

40. In 2008, Carell actually saved the historic Marshfield Hills General Store in Marshfield, Massachusetts from the wrecking ball, buying it and putting his sister-in-law in charge.

41. Nancy Carell acted with him on The Office as his real estate agent and short term girlfriend Carol Stills.

42. She also cameoed as a sex therapist in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and played Linda in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

43. In the film “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” Carell and his wife had to film their characters’ break-up scene on the exact day of their 17th wedding anniversary.

44. He’s the king of the remake. Three of Carell’s most prominent roles have been retreads: The Office, Bewitched, and Get Smart.

45. He prefers dogs over cats.

46. Steve Carell currently resides in Los Angeles with his family.

47. His character “Uncle Frank” in Little Miss Sunshine was originally written for Bill Murray, and Robin Williams almost got the part.

48. His current net worth is $50 million.

49. In 2011, Carell earned $17.5 million, making him the 31st highest paid actor (excluding TV-related projects).

50. In “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” Carell and Steve Buscemi have a signature trick that becomes vital to the movie’s finale. The trick was actually designed by David Copperfield himself, who insisted that no camera trickery be involved.

51. So Carell and Buscemi had to basically learn how to perform the trick, and signed non-disclosure agreements promising not to reveal how it was done.

52. His mother passed away on the 7th of May in 2016.

53. During season 1 on the set of The Office, Steve Carell had overactive sweat glands, so the temperature on set had to be kept at a cold 17,7°C, until they eventually invested in space heaters.

54. When Steve Carell left the show after seven seasons, he was still adored by the cast and crew. Up until that point, he had always been number one on the call sheet. So, when he left, they “retired” the number one, and it didn’t appear on the call sheet again.

55. Before his audition, Steve Carell had only seen about five minutes of the U.K. version of The Office. He said that if he had watched anymore, he would’ve ended up just doing a characterization of Ricky Gervais during his audition.