Top 10 Best Unscripted Steve Carell Moments
Top 10 Unscripted Steve Carell Moments
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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Unscripted Steve Carell Moments. For this list, we’ll be looking at Steve Carrell’s funniest and most memorable ad-libbed moments in film and television. What’s an unscripted Steve Carell moment you love? Let us know in the comments.
#10: Michael the Tourist
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“The Office” (2005-13) How do you film a recognizable star like Steve Carell in a place as big as New York City? Very carefully. In this season two episode, Michael Scott heads up to the Big Apple for a meeting with the new CFO, David Wallace, and his not-so-smitten boss/love interest, Jan. But first, he takes in some of the classic New York sights, such as Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and...Sbarro? To film these segments, Carell and the crew had to act fast to prevent the growing crowds around him from getting too big, so they were mostly improvised. But with a wit as quick as Carell, pressure isn’t an hindrance; it’s a bonus.
#9: Dirty Dancing
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“Date Night” (2010) A middle-aged suburban dad and a dancer's pole is already a comedy goldmine, but leave it to Steve Carell to keep going. In this hit comedy, Carell and his on-screen spouse, Tina Fey, find themselves onstage at a seedy underground club. His and Fey's improv experience meant plenty of riffing occurred. But it's that doubtful anyone - on set or in the audience - expected Carell to go as far as he did here. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Fey said that Carell’s licking of the pole was completely unscripted. His on-screen reaction is just as priceless, completing selling the genuine disgust he felt.
#8: Trance
“Dinner for Schmucks” (2010) An awkward situation turns into a side-splitting one in this comedy from “Austin Powers” and “Meet the Parents” director Jay Roach. At the titular dinner, Barry Speck, a guest of Paul Rudd’s character Tim Conrad, is disturbed by the presence of Zach Galifianakis’s Therman Murch, Barry’s boss and wife-stealer. Therman thinks he has mind control powers, and Barry’s none the wiser. As Barry sits nervously, Therman, cloak and all, gets him to say something we've never heard at any dinner party. Several of the other actors start cracking up, and we can't blame them. Roach has said that these were his favorite improvised moments in the film.
#7: The Long Pause
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“The Office” (2005-13) “The Office” is full of simultaneously excruciating and hilarious moments, and the cast knows how to sell that discomfort. In the script for this early episode, writer Paul Lieberstein instructed Carell to hold “the longest pause in television history” as he struggles to think up a surprise that he’d promised staff earlier. Carell took that note very seriously, going above and beyond by pausing for two-and-a-half minutes! While the aired version is much shorter, you can see Carell breaking a sweat from his elongated pause. The lesson: ask Steve Carell, and you shall receive.
#6: Finger Through the Zipper
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“The Office” (2005-13) No one knows Michael Scott better than the man who plays him. That means understanding when to tap into his more-inappropriate side. After Phyllis reports a run-in with a flasher, Michael unwisely tries to lighten the mood by sticking his finger through his front zipper. The rest of the cast had no idea this was coming, and you can see them doing their best to not lose it. Brian Baumgartner, who plays Kevin, is visibly giggling in the background, while John Krasinski looks seconds away from breaking. Michael Scott might not know much about workplace sensitivity, but Steve Carell definitely knows a lot about improvising.
#5: Telling Off Chani’s Boss
“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” (2013) Carell’s star was still rising when he played the scene-stealing, good-natured weatherman Brick Tamland in the first “Anchorman.” But he was a bonafide movie star when the sequel came out nearly a decade later. In “Anchorman 2,” Brick is paired with the equally unique Chani Lastnamé, played by Kristen Wiig. After their not-so-meet-cute, things explode in a screaming-and-paper-throwing rage against Chani’s boss. Director Adam McKay realized there was something missing from the scene in the script, and his stars came up with this hilariously chaotic moment. If nothing else, it shows that no one can scream quite like Steve Carell.
#4: The Kiss
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“The Office” (2005-13) The third season of “The Office” wasted no time in making us wince. In the season premiere, Michael Scott outs accountant Oscar as gay and only makes things worse as the day goes on. In an attempt to save face, he gets way too close to Oscar’s, planting an excruciating and unreciprocated kiss on his lips. If the cast looks shocked, it’s because they were. While Michael kissing Oscar was in the script, it was only supposed to be on the cheek. It’s definitely not the show’s most romantic kiss, but it’s arguably the most memorable.
#3: “I Love Lamp”
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“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004) Not many actors can turn three words into countless laughs, but Steve Carell has some very special talents. When Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy discusses love with his fellow newsmen, Brick Tamland declares his love for various inanimate objects around the room. By the end, he sounds quite choked-up. This baffling but hysterical moment was completely a Carell creation. Director Adam McKay had encouraged the cast to improvise, and Will Ferrell’s response was also ad-libbed. Brick supplies many of “Anchorman’s” best moments, but this is arguably his most iconic. Or, in Brick-speak: we love scene.
#2: Tearing Up
“The Office” (2005-13) In this case, it wasn’t Steve Carell surprising his “Office” castmates. Instead, it was them surprising him. As his final Dundies comes to a close, Michael Scott is unexpectedly serenaded by his colleagues. In a Dunder-Mifflin spin on “Seasons of Love” from “Rent,” the Dunder Mifflin staff sing about the man, his memorable moments, and all “9,986,000 Minutes”he spent at the workplace. Carell had no idea that this had been prepared, and his smiles and tears are all completely real! The next episode would be his last as a main character, and this scene shows how important he was to the whole series.
#1: Chest Waxing
“The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005) Think comedic actors have it easier than dramatic ones? We dare any thespian to go through what Steve Carell did for ”The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. In this scene, where lead character Andy Stitzer’s co-workers bring him in for some personal grooming, Carell strove for authenticity. How much? He had his actual chest waxed, a painful experience that led to hilarious reactions, both from Carell and the other cast members, who just cannot contain their laughter. Whenever we think of Steve Carell and how much we admire his commitment to his craft, we instantly think of this scene.
