Post by colly on Aug 20, 2008 3:35:56 GMT -5
Ten Things You Never Knew About Steve Carell
Wednesday, August 20 2008, 06:08 BST
By Beth Hilton, Entertainment Reporter
Steve Carell has a lot to celebrate as he sees in his 46th birthday this week. From his early career as a regular on The Daily Show, he's become a comedy stalwart and unofficial member of Hollywood's uber-cool Frat Pack. Not content to impress critics as David Brent's stateside alter ego in the US version of The Office, he found big screen success with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine (The less said about Evan Almighty the better!). As latest flick Get Smart opens in cinemas this week, we deliver a few fascinating facts about the postman-turned-comedy star.
1. Steve is the youngest of four brothers born in Acton, Massachusetts to a psychiatric nurse mum and electrical engineer dad.
2. Steve's paternal grandfather was Italian and his dad was born with the surname Caroselli, which he changed to Carell before the comedian was born. Steve says of the more exotic moniker: "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."
3. The young Steve tried to make his family laugh by dressing up as an alien and then sitting at the dinner table. Sounds a hoot to us!
4. Before turning to acting, Steve worked as a postman, but quit after a few months because he was "very, very bad at it". Art imitated life a few years later when he played the pivotal role of 'Mail Room Guy Without Glasses' in 1998 film Tomorrow Night.
5. Steve harboured early ambitions to be a lawyer, but ditched the idea after struggling to think of a reason why he wanted to do it. He recalls: "I was filling out my law-school applications and got stuck on the question 'Why do you want to be a lawyer?'. I couldn’t answer that, other than to say it sounded good."
6. Steve felt the pressure when he tried out for Ricky Gervais's 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." It's fair to say he had the last laugh after the show scooped a fistful of awards.
7. Steve had his chest waxed for real in 2005's The 40-Year-Old Virgin because he wanted his reactions to look as real as possible. Ouch!
8. Steve is hitched to Saturday Night Live alumnus Nancy Walls, who he met when she attended an improv class he was teaching. Nancy, with whom he has two children, later appeared with her hubby in The Office as his realtor and love interest Carol Stills.
9. Steve is a bit of a whiz at ice-skating, a skill referred to in an episode in The Office's second season. He still likes to dabble occasionally and currently plays in a men's ice-hockey league in LA.
10. Steve insists that he enjoyed working with children and animals in 2007's Evan Almighty, despite flouting one of the cardinal rules of acting. He recalls: "They do what animals do, they don't smell particularly good, and they sometimes want to attack you when you raise your voice. The baboons took umbrage, shall I say, when I improvised with them." Eek!
Wednesday, August 20 2008, 06:08 BST
By Beth Hilton, Entertainment Reporter
Steve Carell has a lot to celebrate as he sees in his 46th birthday this week. From his early career as a regular on The Daily Show, he's become a comedy stalwart and unofficial member of Hollywood's uber-cool Frat Pack. Not content to impress critics as David Brent's stateside alter ego in the US version of The Office, he found big screen success with The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine (The less said about Evan Almighty the better!). As latest flick Get Smart opens in cinemas this week, we deliver a few fascinating facts about the postman-turned-comedy star.
1. Steve is the youngest of four brothers born in Acton, Massachusetts to a psychiatric nurse mum and electrical engineer dad.
2. Steve's paternal grandfather was Italian and his dad was born with the surname Caroselli, which he changed to Carell before the comedian was born. Steve says of the more exotic moniker: "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."
3. The young Steve tried to make his family laugh by dressing up as an alien and then sitting at the dinner table. Sounds a hoot to us!
4. Before turning to acting, Steve worked as a postman, but quit after a few months because he was "very, very bad at it". Art imitated life a few years later when he played the pivotal role of 'Mail Room Guy Without Glasses' in 1998 film Tomorrow Night.
5. Steve harboured early ambitions to be a lawyer, but ditched the idea after struggling to think of a reason why he wanted to do it. He recalls: "I was filling out my law-school applications and got stuck on the question 'Why do you want to be a lawyer?'. I couldn’t answer that, other than to say it sounded good."
6. Steve felt the pressure when he tried out for Ricky Gervais's 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." It's fair to say he had the last laugh after the show scooped a fistful of awards.
7. Steve had his chest waxed for real in 2005's The 40-Year-Old Virgin because he wanted his reactions to look as real as possible. Ouch!
8. Steve is hitched to Saturday Night Live alumnus Nancy Walls, who he met when she attended an improv class he was teaching. Nancy, with whom he has two children, later appeared with her hubby in The Office as his realtor and love interest Carol Stills.
9. Steve is a bit of a whiz at ice-skating, a skill referred to in an episode in The Office's second season. He still likes to dabble occasionally and currently plays in a men's ice-hockey league in LA.
10. Steve insists that he enjoyed working with children and animals in 2007's Evan Almighty, despite flouting one of the cardinal rules of acting. He recalls: "They do what animals do, they don't smell particularly good, and they sometimes want to attack you when you raise your voice. The baboons took umbrage, shall I say, when I improvised with them." Eek!