Steve Carell played Michael Scott on The Office from 2005 until 2011, returning for a cameo in the finale in 2013. However, while speaking with LAD Bible, he revealed that he had never really seen the original British version of the sitcom, which inspired the American version.
"I will admit, this Office, I've only watched about less than a minute of that, of this Office because I had not seen it prior to auditioning for the American Office,” he said.
He explained that he stayed away from the show because he didn’t want it to impact his own performance as Michael Scott. "I started to watch a tiny bit, and I knew instantly that if I watched any more, I would just do a copy of Ricky [Gervais],“ he said. “I didn't want to do that because I figured if it had any chance of success, it's not going to be the same show. It has to be different in some way and his depiction of that character was so specific and so great that I knew I could never, ever come close to that level."
Back in March, when appearing on the Good Hang podcast with Amy Poehler, Carell also spoke about his early days of the show. He admitted that when he was first interested in the role, Paul Rudd encouraged him not to take it. “I remember Rudd pulled me aside and was like, ‘Don't do it, man. Don't audition,’” he said.
Poehler agreed that, when she first heard they were bringing the show to the US, she originally thought, “This is a terrible idea. No one can be as good as Ricky Gervais, no one can do that show.”
However, the series went on to be a massive hit, earning Primetime Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.
