Why Nobody Told Steve Carell About This Major Moment in ‘The Office’ Until Cameras Were Rolling
· Vice
The Office is one of the biggest sitcoms of modern times, and part of that is thanks to Steve Carell as the titular, socially unaware office boss, Michael Scott. The series—filmed mockumentary style—follows the insane lives of a group of paper company employees at Dunder Mifflin. The Office, created by Greg Daniels, ran for nine seasons from 2005 until 2013, cataloging 205 episodes.
One of the most emotional moments in the series came during Michael Scott’s farewell in Season 7 (although he briefly returned for the series finale). The crew wanted to properly honor Carell and all the hard work he put into bringing Michael Scott to life, but they wanted it to be authentic.
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One of The Office’s Most Emotional Michael Scott Scenes Was a Surprise for Steve Carell
In Season 7, Episode 21, “Michael’s Last Dundies,” Michael is hosting his final Dundies ceremony, but after things go awry, he’s upset at the outcome. The staff convinces him to host the rest of the ceremony at the office, and they surprise him by breaking out in song. They sing a version of “Seasons of Love” from Rent. The altered lyrics (9,986,000 minutes) touch a teary-eyed Carell, who had no idea the scene was happening until the camera started rolling. They wanted to capture Carell’s real reaction on camera.
Cast members Jenna Fischer (who plays Pam Beesly) and Angela Kinsey (who plays Angela Martin) recount the emotional filming day in their book, The Office BFFs, recalling that Carell knew something was up but couldn’t quite pin it down.
“As we did our final episodes with Steve, it was difficult to contain our sadness at losing our friend and our trusted number one. We cried a lot. The worst was the day we filmed his goodbye song,” wrote Fischer.
“People often ask if Steve knew we were going to sing to him, because the emotion on his face is so genuine. We’d all been given the lyrics and practiced the song in secret. Steve told me that as he was being led into the conference room, he knew something was up. But he did not know we were going to sing, and the whole thing was very moving.”
“The first time we tried to film the scene, no one could get through it,” she wrote. “You can hear Ed Helms’s voice breaking before the song even begins when he says, ‘We want to thank you for everything.'”
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