Steve Carell Has Never Watched ‘The Office’

Your average Office fan has seen the series at least twice. And many simply use the sitcom as background noise for any and all at-home activities and can recite lines from almost any episode.

Steve Carell, the comedic genius behind Michael Scott, has never watched The Office in its entirety. Some actors don’t like to watch their work back. But the fact that Carell avoided watching one of the most beloved comedies of the last decade is borderline impressive.

Steve Carell has only seen snippets of ‘The Office’

In 2019, Carell was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The interview began with Colbert announcing that The Office was the most-streamed show on all of Netflix. That’s six years after the comedy went off the air. The host went on to ask the actor if he ever watched the series. He replied, “No.”

“Well, sometimes the cast would get together and we’d watch it together. That was really fun. But no, I tend not to do that. I don’t know,” Carell continued with a look that suggested watching himself on-screen would be a less-than-pleasant experience (we’re sorry he feels that way because we, like many, have the opposite experience).

Carell did an interview with The New Indian Express a year later where he was asked the same question.

“Did you watch yourself when The Office was on air?” the publication asked.

“No. Well, sometimes a member of the cast would get together, and we would watch it – which is fun, but no, I tend not to,” he responded.

Carell also told the publication that he’d never watched the UK version of The Office. But that he’s been meaning to.

“I haven’t, actually. Never,” he responded when the interviewer asked him if he’d ever watched the series. “I have it and I thought I would watch it after the show ends, but I haven’t. But I remember getting the call to audition, and Paul Rudd telling me, ‘This is awesome! You have to see it.’”

Steve Carell doesn’t watch the movies he’s in either

Colbert also asked the actor if he ever watched the movies he’s in. Again, he said, “No.” But he has heard bits and pieces of Despicable Me “from the front of the car” because his kids would watch it on drives.

Carell says the only way he’d ever watch himself in a movie is if he’d starred in “Shawshank Redemption.”

“If I’d been in ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ I’d watch that because I always watch ‘Shawshank Redemption’ when it’s on,” he told the host.