‘The Office’: Steve Carell ‘Couldn’t Come Back’ From 1 Joke
Before Steve Carell was a famous TV and movie star, he was cutting his teeth on improv. Carell is one of the most successful alumni of The Second City, a Chicago-based improvisational comedy troupe. Because of his background, Carell was able to deliver scores of laugh-out-loud moments during his tenure on The Office. The actor was able to elevate already exceptional scripts by making up jokes on the fly.
Steve Carell improvised a lot while working on ‘The Office’
While The Office is a scripted show, there are brilliant moments of improvisation also. The cast was given one “fun” take where they could deviate from the lines and add in jokes of their own. Carell certainly capitalized on these opportunities during his seven seasons on the show. In the “Gay Witch Hunt” episode, he even improvised the kiss that Michael forced upon a reluctant Oscar.
‘The Office’ cast often broke character to laugh at Carell
Naturally, Carell’s improv garnered no shortage of laughter on set. His fellow castmates would often dissolve into giggles after witnessing his antics. Sometimes, they even managed to ruin takes with their laughter. For his part, Carell was pretty great about staying in character. However, there was one joke that was so hilarious, that even he couldn’t get through it.
Fans of The Office no doubt remember the infamous “Dinner Party” episode when Michael forces some of his employees to come over to the condo that he shares with Jan. Turns out the hysterical episode was just as fun to film as it was to watch. In an interview with Rolling Stone, John Krasinski (who played Jim Halpert) revealed one joke that was so hilarious it bested Carell and the whole cast.
The ‘Dinner Party’ episode had all the actors in hysterics
“One of the funniest things I’ve witnessed in my life was Steve showing us that flatscreen TV and saying, “When . . . when people are over you can just do this,'” Krasinski shared about Carell. “The TV only moved, like, a half an inch. Sometimes Steve would get frustrated when we couldn’t keep it together because he didn’t think he was as funny as we thought he was, and also he’s more professional than all of us. But on that one, he couldn’t come back. There was something in the room there that was like an untamed animal, and we were just getting demolished by laughter.”
Ed Helms (who played Andy Bernard) echoed Krasinski’s sentiments about the hilarious moment. In fact, The Hangover alum had to focus all his energy on staring blankly at Carell’s ear or his chin just to make it through the scene.
Ed Helms couldn’t look at Carell when filming the episode of ‘The Office’
“I couldn’t make eye contact with him because I would laugh, so I would either look at his chin or his ear or even something behind him and just focus on that, just so that I could get through something and keep a straight face,” Helms remembered. “There was probably plenty of scenes where I’m stiff as a board not even acting, so to speak, but just trying not to laugh.”
Certainly, fans agree that the “Dinner Party” episode of The Office is chock full of hysterical jokes. It’s pretty funny to think that even a comedic great like Carell had trouble getting through the episode.
