Academy Award®-nominated actor Steve Carell first garnered critical recognition for his contributions as a correspondent on Comedy Central's Emmy® Award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Over the course of two decades, Carell has successfully segued from the small screen to above-the-title status on the big screen, both in big budget films and arthouse indies.
Carell will soon begin production on Paramount’s upcoming family film If. Created and directed by John Krasinski, who will also star in the picture, the story centers on a child’s journey to rediscover their imagination. Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Fiona Shaw will co-star.
Co-created and executive produced by himself and Greg Daniels, Carell can be seen starring in the Netflix series Space Force, alongside John Malkovich, Ben Schwartz and Lisa Kudrow.
Additionally, Carell can be seen in The Morning Show for Apple TV+, an original drama series executive produced by and also starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Carell’s performance earned him a 2020 Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series, as well as an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. The series was nominated for a 2022 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
On the big screen, Carell will star next in Amazon Studios’ film adaptation of The Rabbit Factor, produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and executive produced by Alex Young and author Federico Ambrosini.
This summer, Carell lent his voice to Universal and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, the sequel to Minions (2015) and spin-off/prequel to the Despicable Me film series. The film also features voices from Alan Arkin, Julie Andrews, Taraji P. Henson and Russell Brand.
Carell’s additional film credits include Focus Features’ Irresistible, Robert Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen, Annapurna’s Vice, Amazon Studios’ Beautiful Boy and the film adaptation of Darryl Ponicsan’s novel Last Flag Flying. In September 2017, Carell starred opposite Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes, helmed by the Little Miss Sunshine directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Carell was nominated for a Golden Globe® and SAG Award for his role as Bobby Riggs.
Carell lent his vocal talents in the animated feature Despicable Me in 2010, as the lead role of “Gru.” The international smash hit led to a sequel in 2013 with Despicable Me 2. After reprising his role, Carell returned for the third film in June 2017 as the voices for both “Gru” and his long-lost twin brother “Dru” in Despicable Me 3.
In 2015, Carell starred in Paramount’s Academy Award-nominated film The Big Short, for which he received an individual Golden Globe nomination for his performance as real-life money manager Mark Baum.
In 2014, Carell starred as “John du Pont” alongside Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum and Vanessa Redgrave in Bennett Miller’s Oscar®-nominated film Foxcatcher. For his revelatory performance, Carell received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama.
Carell’s first lead role in a feature film, The-40-Year-Old Virgin, which he co-wrote with director Judd Apatow, became a worldwide box-office sensation in 2005. The film was honored with an AFI Award as one of the 10 Most Outstanding Motion Pictures of the Year. The film also earned Carell and Apatow a co-nomination for Best Original Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.
Carell played the lead role of “Maxwell Smart” in Get Smart opposite Anne Hathaway and Alan Arkin, for director Peter Segal. Carell was part of the ensemble of the acclaimed Little Miss Sunshine, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Carell also starred in Crazy, Stupid, Love opposite Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which was produced by his production company, Carousel Productions.
Additional film credits include Seeking a Friend for the End of the World; Hope Springs; The Incredible Burt Wonderstone; The Way, Way Back; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy; and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Additional vocal work includes “The Mayor of Whoville” in Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! and “Hammy” in Over the Hedge.
On the small screen, Carell completed an eight-year run playing the pompous boss “Michael Scott” on the Emmy-nominated NBC comedy The Office, adapted from Ricky Gervais’ acclaimed British series of the same name. For the role, Carell was nominated for six Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Carell was also nominated four times for a SAG Award and won two as part of the show’s ensemble.
Carell and his wife, actress Nancy Carell (Saturday Night Live), co-created and executive produced the TBS police comedy series Angie Tribeca, starring Rashida Jones. The show was produced under Carell’s production banner, Carousel Productions, and ran for four seasons on the network.
Born in Massachusetts, Carell resides in Los Angeles with his wife. He is a proud father of a daughter and a son.
