Steve Carell sold The Office better than Dunder Mifflin. However, his surprise cameo was almost a dream.
On a recent episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Carell’s co-stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey explained how they had to convince her to return for The Office finale.
For those unaware, Fisher played the role of Pam Beesley, while Kinsey was seen in the role of Angela Martin.
He first revealed that it was series creator Greg Daniels’ idea to bring Carell back one last time, asking the actor to do so “right at the beginning of Season 9.”
However, the actors were “reluctant”, Fischer said. “He felt like Michael’s story was really over. He didn’t want to open it again, and especially he didn’t want to come back two years later,” she continued in the October 30 episode, adding that Steve Carell didn’t want the finale to be about him.
According to Fisher, the 40-year-old The Virgin actor felt that his character Michael Scott had already had a perfect ending and that the final ending was the end of all the others, which the actor “didn’t want to print.”
However, Daniels eventually convinced Carell to appear on the show. The Despicable Me voice-over artist was seen reprising his role for the season 9 series finale in May 2013, appearing as best man at Dwight Schrute’s wedding to Rainn Wilson and Angela Martin Was.
When speaking to Carell in the finale, the producer told him his idea that the final episode would be about Dwight and Angela’s wedding.
As heard in the podcast, Carell’s appearance was kept a secret from everyone, even the actors and the NBC network. According to Kinsey, it was the set PA who told her that Steve was on set, and she was shocked when she saw him “sitting in hair and makeup”.
According to Fischer, Carell had signed a secret contract to protect him from spoiling his comeback. A scene was filmed without him, while executives did not see the actual finale until the day before broadcast.
As Fisher said, Daniels was afraid that NBC would make a promo for the final episode and spoil Carell’s return.
Steve Carell played the role of Michael Scott for seven seasons until 2011.
Also read: Steve Carell Shares His Honest Opinion About Despicable Me 4’s ‘Gentleminions’
