Peacock’s recently announced The Office follow-up series has piqued Steve Carell’s intrigue as much as that of the fans, but the actor says he won’t be involved in the new show in any capacity. The beloved Michael Scott from the OG series discussed the upcoming TV show at the premiere of his new film IF, telling The Hollywood Reporter he’ll definitely be watching the latest iteration but will not be showing up in it.
“It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that,” Carell told the publication, adding, “But I’m excited about it, it sounds like a great conceit. I love the idea — I guess it’s set in a family newspaper company, and I worked with Domhnall Gleeson, who is one of the leads. I did The Patient with him and he’s an excellent actor and a super nice guy so I think it’ll be great,” said the actor.
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The logline of the new series, officially announced last week, reads: “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”
The yet-to-be-titled series, co-created by Greg Daniels (The Office) and Michael Koman (Nathan for You), is set to begin production in July with Gleeson (Star Wars, Ex Machina, About Time) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) leading the ensemble cast.
Though he will not be appearing in the new show, Steve Carell is currently enjoying his reunion with John Krasinski on IF, with the latter serving as a writer and director, and Carell voicing the film’s lead Imaginary Friend (IF), Blue.
Steve Carell and John Krasinski reunite for IF — Here’s what each of them had to say about the other
“He directed some episodes of The Office so I was familiar with him as a director and he’s a great director — he’s very thorough, he’s smart and he knows how to work with actors because he is one,” Carell told THR of his fellow The Office co-star, adding, “It was just a joy from the beginning to end and I jumped at the chance to work with him again, partly just to be with him. He’s a good friend and I hadn’t seen him in a while so it was nice to catch up.”
Krasinski, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly in December, shared similar sentiments about his fellow The Office alum, saying, “Steve’s one of the most talented people on the planet. So whether I had ever worked with him before or not, I would’ve been gunning for him because I just had his voice in my head when I was writing Blue.”
IF, all set to hit theaters on May 17, also stars Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Maya Rudolph, Louis Gossett Jr., Bradley Cooper, Amy Schumer, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Awkwafina, Krasinski himself, and his wife Emily Blunt.
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