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No matter how many roles Steve Carell plays in his career, there’s one we’ll always know him best for: Michael Scott on The Office. Carell may have played a devoted father in the drama Beautiful Boy, or portrayed a menacing wrestling coach in Foxcatcher, but he’s still the goofy, lovable boss in our hearts, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. But it turns out, Carell wasn’t always the first choice for the Michael Scott role. Or even the second.
Over 30 actors were considered for the role, and before Carell was offered the part, two other big names turned it down. Both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti passed on playing Michael Scott before Carell secured the role, IndieWire reports.
In his new book about the beloved workplace sitcom, “The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s” author Andy Green interviewed producer Ben Silverman and casting director Allison Jones, who revealed what the casting process for Michael Scott was like. After Hoffman passed, then Giamatti, the role was narrowed down to Carell and Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk.
“We wanted somebody with the kind of generic Americana appeal that most TV stars of the time had,” Silverman said.
Before they found their final two, there was a lengthy list of possible Michael Scotts. David Arquette, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Favreau, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Jason Segal, Richard Kind, Matthew Broderick, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, and John C. Reilly were among the actors who reached the “consideration stage.”
Carell was ultimately chosen because of his take on Michael Scott, who he played as “a jerk and a douche.” Odenkirk took the character to an edgier, darker side and played him as “an asshole” who “was a little tougher and meaner.”
“The worst thing I have ever had to do ever is to tell Bob Odenkirk’s agent that he didn’t get The Office,” Jones said. “Believe me, it was a bummer to make that call and I do suspect the show would have worked with Bob Odenkirk.”
While Odenkirk lost out on the role, he did make it onto The Office eventually. He appeared in the show’s final season in a guest role, playing a manager for a company where Pam (Jenna Fischer) is interviewing for a job. And he snuck a little Michael Scott into his role — Pam is turned away from the job opportunity because Odenkirk’s character reminds her too much of her own former boss, Michael.
