On the heels of another carefully worded denial from exec producer Greg Daniels that The Office‘s May 16 series finale will not feature a return appearance by Steve Carell, TVLine has learned exclusively that the Dunder Mifflin legend will, in fact, turn up in the swan song.
In a conference call with reporters last week, Daniels sort-of-but-not-really shot down speculation about a Carell comeback, saying, “I think Steve felt, and I agree, that the ‘Goodbye, Michael’ episode was his goodbye and he didn’t want to overshadow the ending that all the other characters deserved.”
Possible translation: Carell’s return won’t overshadow the ending.
And by all accounts, it won’t. According to sources, Carell’s return engagement qualifies as more of a cameo than a full-fledged guest appearance. (It’s unclear if Carell will be joined by his Office soul mate Amy Ryan.)
An NBC spokesperson declined to comment, while Carell’s rep insists that the Office finale will be Scott-free.
On Saturday, Carell surprised thousands of Office fans when he joined his former co-stars at a huge “wrap party” held in the real Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“I would like to say that so far, Austin is like a beautiful woman and I want to take advantage of you,” Jim Carrey told the crowd at Friday’s South by Southwest world premiere of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – a go-for-broke comedy in which he plays a David Blaine-style nemesis to SteveCarell‘s lion-maned, wax-chested Las Vegas magician.
Carrey then launched, somewhat inexplicably, into a rendition of The Killer’s “Human” (“Are we human? Or are we dancer?” he sang), before another of the film’s stars – Olivia Wilde, who plays a magician’s assistant in the comedy — took the microphone.
“Thank you for coming out and filling this beautiful theater,” Wilde said, scanning the packed Paramount. “We are so honored to start this festival. This [movie] represents to me what Austin represents and that is fun — a good-natured, laughing good time. So thank you for having us.”
The film’s other stars, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin andJames Gandolfini, didn’t make it to the event, nor did director Don Scardino (30 Rock), who was unfortunately indisposed “pissing out a kidney stone,” Carrey volunteered.
Moments earlier, Janet Pierson, producer of the SXSW Film Festival since 2008, justified her choice of kick-off film in easy-to-grasp terms.
“It’s f–king hilarious,” she said.
“We should put that on the poster,” Carell later joked.
Reports surfaced Thursday claiming Meryl Streep would be making a cameo in the upcoming “Anchorman: The Legend Continues.”
However, “Anchorman’s” Steve Carell tells Access Hollywood (sadly) that Meryl won’t be able to fit the film into her schedule.
“When I did ‘Hope Springs,’ [Meryl] mentioned she was a fan and she said, ‘Oh, I’d love to be in it,’” Steve told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Friday’s Access Hollywood Live. “But that’s not gonna [happen] — that’s not a thing.
“She’s actually busy — she can’t do it,” he added, with a laugh.
While Meryl isn’t available, Steve confirmed the highly anticipated sequel will feature Harrison Ford, James Marsden and Kristen Wiig, and said the Will Ferrell-led comedy will not disappoint.
“It’s gonna be really funny. It’s a great script,” he said. “I think the fact that it had eight years to gestate [was helpful]. The second one actually makes sense. It’s smart and really silly at the same time.”
In fact, Steve said the movie will be hilarious and remain “very similar to the first in terms of tone.”
He pulled off one of television’s most memorable vanishing acts when he left The Office in 2011. Now, Steve Carell is up to some new tricks — namely, playing a blowhard magician opposite Jim Carrey in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (opening March 15). Carell plays the title character, Burt, whose relationship with former BFF and partner-in-magic Anton (Steve Buscemi) reaches the breaking point as their stale act battles dwindling audiences and Burt’s enormous ego. But when an edgy, rival street magician (Carrey) starts stealing their thunder, Burt and Anton have to learn — with the help of their beautiful assistant, played by Olivia Wilde — how to rediscover the magic. Here, the 50-year-old actor lets loose with TIME.
Your hair in the movie is pretty epic.
Yeah, there’s a lot of hair going on. Everybody has their own hair in the movie. James Gandolfini, Steve Buscemi, everyone. Alan Arkin. Hair is a big part of the whole adventure on this one.
Now that you’ve rocked a blond mullett, can you say that blonds have more fun?
I would say, in my experience, blonds have less fun.
Why?
The blond mullet look was not working for the missus.
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