How do you keep a beloved show going after its equally beloved star decides to take their career in a new direction? It’s a question that “Grey’s Anatomy” has been navigating for several years after Ellen Pompeo dialed back her leading turn as Meredith Grey. And before that, “The Office” lost its comic center when Steve Carell exited completely to focus on film work.
“The Office” co-star Rainn Wilson admitted in a podcast this week that it was a struggle for the cast and creative team behind the NBC sitcom to keep it going after they’d lost its star.
During a Monday appearance on the “Good Guys Podcast,” Wilson told hosts Josh Peck and Ben Soffer that “The Office” became “a little bit chaotic” in the aftermath of Carell’s departure.
“When Steve left, then it was a little bit chaotic trying to figure out the tone of the show and who’s the lead and how are we telling these stories without, you know, the comic engine of the show, which is Michael Scott, and without one of the greatest comic actors in American history at the center of our show,” Wilson explained. “That was also a struggle.”
When asked what his reaction was when he first learned that Carell was leaving the NBC series, Wilson said, “We knew it was coming for a long time. He was such a big movie star at the time.”
You can watch Wilson’s conversation with Peck and Soffer yourself in the video below:
“The Office” helped turn Carell into a mainstream Hollywood star. He received widespread acclaim for his performance as Michael Scott, the bumbling, oblivious manager of the show’s central paper company office, and earned six Emmy nominations for his turn as the character. He eventually left the sitcom near the end of its seventh season in 2011.
As Wilson noted, Carell had already begun to build a successful film career by that time. “He was doing like ‘Burt Wonderstone’ and these big comedies. I’m forgetting all the names of them at the time, but ‘Get Smart,’ you know? [Movies] that were in 2,000 theaters at the multiplex,” Wilson recalled. “So of course he’s going to leave ‘The Office’ when he can!”
The unsurprising nature of Carell’s exit did not, however, make it any easier for the show’s team to adapt to his absence. “We were prepared for it, but that was definitely a struggle to find the tone of the show without Steve,” the actor, who played the gullible, intense Dwight Schrute, explained.
“The Office” continued without Carell for two seasons before coming to an end in 2013. Carell, notably, made a surprise return as Scott in the “Office” series finale. Looking ahead, “The Office” spinoff, “The Paper,” is in development at Peacock and expected to premiere in September.
