Steve Carell Quotes & Sayings

As soon as you start to talk about your own mannerisms, you are screwed. Because if you are aware of your own mannerisms, or beyond that even what makes any one thing funny to people, I really ascribe to that that if you start deconstructing it too much, it is immediately not funny. — Steve Carell

I'm not good with pickup lines or flirting. I don't have that kind of self-confidence or natural charisma. — Steve Carell

People know where romantic comedies are going. It's not brain surgery to figure out the end of a romantic comedy. — Steve Carell

I don't ever want to take a part in order to prove that I'm capable of doing something. It's all based in doing stuff that's interesting or working with people who would be fun to work with. — Steve Carell

I don't know how other people perceive the lives of actors, but my life is fairly ordinary. I go to work, I come home, I put my kids to bed. If I'm home in time for dinner, I have dinner, and then it's bedtime. — Steve Carell

Everyone is flawed and everyone makes mistakes and is culpable. — Steve Carell

I had a lot of coaches growing up that were very hard on the kids in the name of building character, but it could have the opposite effect on kids. — Steve Carell

I was sort of traumatized by girls in the third grade. Because there was a girl in my third grade class I had a crush on. I bought her a box of Valentine's Day chocolate. And I put it in her cubby with a note that said something like, 'I am deeply in love with you, Your Secret Admirer.' And I didn't sign my name. — Steve Carell

My job doesn't define my kids in any way. When we go to places, it's about them and it's about us as a family. I think they're proud of me, but I'm just Dad. — Steve Carell

Relationships shouldn't be disposable. If there's something worth saving - not always the case, some relationships are irreconcilable - but if there is something that you determine is worth saving, then try to do that. — Steve Carell

When someone is good, but it doesn't seem like their world will collapse if they don't get the part, it's more appealing. It's like dating someone: You don't want someone who's too into you. — Steve Carell

It's interesting when you're trying to create a character in animation. It's really a communal effort. — Steve Carell

Once I moved to Chicago and started trying to get acting jobs, I just tended to book more things that were comedically based than anything else. I never had the preconceived notion, 'I will be a comedic actor.' I just thought, 'I'll go into acting and see what kind of work I can get.' — Steve Carell

Whenever I hear someone describe something as a 'kids movie' or a 'family movie,' it immediately has a negative connotation in my mind because I think, 'Well, as an adult, I wouldn't go see it by myself, because it's purely for children and it holds nothing for me and it's simplistic and it's kind of easy.' — Steve Carell

Whenever you see people talking about how real they are or how normal they are, it seems odd to have that self awareness that you could potentially not be normal. — Steve Carell

Your brain, like your tongue, is a muscle. Practicing thinking by yourself really helps develop your brain, which you need throughout your day. I like to practice my thinking in a darkened room, alone. — Steve Carell

I don't text, I don't have a Blackberry. Literally, I just have a cell phone that I haven't programmed and the whole Bluetooth. No. I don't even have an earpiece for my cell phone. — Steve Carell

There's such a freewheeling nature to 'Second City,' and the greatest thing about 'Second City' was having a sophisticated audience night after night who appreciated what it was. They knew it wasn't all going to be great when you improvised, so they were very forgiving that way. — Steve Carell

People generally have sex fairly young, and probably younger than they should be having it. — Steve Carell

I look at improvising as a prolonged game of chess. There's an opening gambit with your pawn in a complex game I have with one character, and lots of side games with other characters, and another game with myself - and in each game you make all these tiny, tiny moves that get you to the endgame. — Steve Carell

In the United States, there is a restaurant called The Outback Steakhouse, and I could survive in there for several weeks at least, sustaining myself on bloomin' onions and, I'm sure, their legitimate and very Australian cuisine. In the real Outback? I give myself about 14 minutes. — Steve Carell

There's very little you could do to prepare to be a correspondent on 'The Daily Show,' because it's not being a journalist, it's not being an actor. It involves elements of both of those things, but they're not required necessarily as job experience. It's helpful if you know how to improvise, but again, not a requirement. — Steve Carell

The best food is in Chicago. There are great restaurants everywhere, from fancy places to burger joints. — Steve Carell

I always feel so pretentious talking about comedy and deconstructing it. It always feels somehow self-centred to talk about any sort of process. — Steve Carell

It's not a master plan to do every remake and every recreation of icons. It's just what I've been hired to do. — Steve Carell

When you do an animated movie - at least the ones that I've been a part of - you never see any of the other actors. It's all done separately with headphones in a voice booth. — Steve Carell

You never saw Peter Sellers the actor trying to make you laugh. All he was doing was the character. What I'm saying is that I don't think you should know you're in a movie. I don't like it when actors are winking at the audience and saying, 'Right, isn't this funny? Are you with me?' — Steve Carell

Don't underestimate your kids. Don't be condescending, because they're children but they're not stupid. — Steve Carell

I think anyone loves to play a character that is either evil to a certain extent or has a real definable character flaw. Those are always really fun, and, I think, funny. — Steve Carell

You project a version of yourself to the public to protect and insulate yourself a little bit. Actors come up with a version of themselves in order to protect the real person. — Steve Carell

Actors and magicians are both performers, and they represent things that are not necessarily who they are. — Steve Carell

For my wife and I, the challenge is to not make every day the best day possible because it's not realistic. — Steve Carell

When you approach it, and I hate sounding like the pretentious actor, but yeah, I think you have to find things within the character that are likeable, or at least human, and not to go at it with any sort of predetermined notions as to what that character is. — Steve Carell

I was a bad dater, and up until 8th grade I went to an all boy's school. So, by the time I hit high school I was a bit freaked out by women in general. — Steve Carell

I joined an improv group in college, which was a lot of fun. After I graduated, I moved to Chicago to try to get into the Second City. — Steve Carell

That's an interesting way to put it: an expectation of who you should be. More often than not, it's described as an expectation of who you are. — Steve Carell

Being an action star is all I had ever hoped to be. I ultimately knew I would be an action star. — Steve Carell

I had a friend who, after 25 years of marriage, found himself trying to date again, and it was completely different. Everything had changed, and he had to reacquaint himself. It was funny even talking to him about it. For someone who has been out of the loop, it's a different world. — Steve Carell

How did I end up in films with people like Keira Knightley ... all these beautiful leading ladies and me - it's kind of shocking. — Steve Carell

I don't want to be pretentious about, "yes, I need to move in to the more dramatic roles and express myself and prove to everyone that I'm capable of doing it," it really isn't that, I think that's a bad reason to choose roles. It's more like, who would I be working with and would they be fun to do and entertaining to watch, is it an interesting story or character. — Steve Carell

It's nice to find people who live on the fringe, finding one another and she's just unrelentingly funny. — Steve Carell

I'm not a crazy Vegas guy. I'm not a gambler. — Steve Carell

As a parent, all you want is for your kids to be safe but you don't want to be over-protective and so you know that at some stage, they're going to make their own mistakes and get hurt emotionally when all you want to do is protect them from that. — Steve Carell

My wife is way funnier than I am. As much as I don't really feel I share a sense of humour with my family, I definitely share one with her - we find the same things funny. — Steve Carell

I don't even know if I have kind of a personal, like a take or a mental manual of how I'm raising kids. It's really - I think with everybody, it's just day-to-day and you just try to deal with every situation as they come. — Steve Carell

They love 3-D. It's fun to watch a movie in 3-D with your children or with a group of children because you see the kids in front of you from time to time reaching up. You see little hands reaching up to grab things that they think are right there. I think it's remarkable and it does obviously, literally, add another dimension to the movie. — Steve Carell

I think there's a little bit of idiot in everybody and I think some people cover it better than others but I think I am very much a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. — Steve Carell

You know, what's funny to one person is not at all to someone else. — Steve Carell

I'm a taker in terms of jokes. I love to hear a good joke, but I don't retain jokes. I'm not a good teller of jokes. — Steve Carell

I don't want to, I don't plan my career based on what I want people to believe I'm capable of doing. So I just take things that I think might be good or might be fun to do or might ultimately entertain. — Steve Carell

Goalies almost never get credit for winning a game, but they always get blamed for losing a game. — Steve Carell

I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious. — Steve Carell

I'm listening to a lot of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna. A lot of pop female artists. I have to say I'm pretty well-versed in the pop female category. — Steve Carell

Maybe the coolest people are the ones who don't care about being cool. — Steve Carell

What kind of person would have a real craving for gummy worms? — Steve Carell

I've waited my entire life to be busy. Whenever I hear actors complain about being busy, I think, 'shut up.' Because you do, you wait to be successful or to be able to work. — Steve Carell

If somebody takes the parking place you were waiting for, I tend to kind of let it roll off my back. Maybe I'm harboring a lot of something and it will all explode somewhere down the road, but I tend to just let it slide off my back. — Steve Carell

Oh, I so don't care about the podium at the Oscars. I've stood at the podium at the Oscars and that's close enough. To be a presenter is as close as I need to be. — Steve Carell

I love my wife dearly, and, therefore, I've never cooked a meal, romantic or otherwise, for her. — Steve Carell

I don't like to get angry. It doesn't make me feel good. It is very human, but it's also a loss of control, and I like to have that kind of control. — Steve Carell

I'll do whatever I can do to remain employed. I'm just not precious about doing comedy or doing drama. I never want to do something in order to prove to other people what I can do. — Steve Carell

People just like to be on camera. There's a huge desire to be in front of the camera, and once there, people will say and do almost anything. It's sort of a drug, and I think people get addicted to it. — Steve Carell

When I first started looking at Twitter, I followed people like Steve Martin, who will just write the funniest non sequiturs now and then, which I thought was really fun. That's kind of the road I've taken. Every now and then, something comes into your mind and you put it out there. It's very innocuous. I think it's kind of fun. — Steve Carell

Whenever I'm offered something, I always read the script and meet the director. I still appreciate just being considered. — Steve Carell

Children are very smart, in their own stupid way. A child's brain is like a sponge, and you know how smart sponges are. — Steve Carell

For me, at least, all of my career goals, all of my focus, everything just shifted and the importance was my children, and that's where all the joy came from as well. — Steve Carell

My maternal grandma was a tough, tough lady and a stern woman, who lost her husband young and raised six kids by herself. She lived in a mining community in Upstate New York and ran a boarding house for miners. She took care of an entire family and miners who lived in the house as well. — Steve Carell

I play the baritone horn - which is like a mini tuba, and is the least sexy instrument you can choose, and I generally say I don't play one so I don't have to acknowledge it. I also play fife. — Steve Carell

I think ultimately, when you believe somebody is going through a situation and it's either awkward or ridiculous, but you believe it, that can be funny. — Steve Carell

I remember my wife wanted me to go see 'Contagion,' and I was like, 'Oh my God, why would I want to see that movie?' I mean, I'll just have nightmares and it will freak me out. It turned out that I really enjoyed it; I thought it was very well done. — Steve Carell

I don't think my kids have to worry too much about me embarrassing them because that's not how I would want to grow up, with wacky dad showing up at school and performing for everyone. — Steve Carell

Style advice? Always wear clothes ... that are ... clean, for starters. An added bonus if it is pressed as well. Unless you are wearing clothes that are supposed to look rumpled. — Steve Carell

Like most people, I have painful memories of trying to fit in as a child. I wore, said, and did pretty much what everyone else did. — Steve Carell

We always spend the summer together. My wife and kids, we always go back to Massachusetts and spend the summer there near where my wife and I both grew up. I wasn't willing to sacrifice the summer to go elsewhere. — Steve Carell

I think in most relationships that have problems, there's fault on both sides. And in order for it to work, there has to be some common ground that's shared. And it's not just one person making amends. — Steve Carell

'Anchorman' ... is not grounded in anything. There is absolutely no heart to that movie, which I love. — Steve Carell

I don't think of myself as funny - I don't fill up a room with my humor ... I would fail miserably as a stand-up comedian. — Steve Carell

Well, it might have been if I'd had success earlier in life, but having success that much later meant I was far more grounded when it came. The last few years of my life have just been surreal and after a lifetime of disappointment and heartache and rejection, I still don't believe this is all actually happening. I'm extremely grateful for my success - I just never expect it to last and my motto, if I have one, is just put your head down and do the job. — Steve Carell

From cheesecake on a stick to meat skewers to deep-fried bananas on a stick - there are no plates anymore. In Los Angeles, everything has become a corn dog. Actually, corn dogs still work. But most other food should be stickless. — Steve Carell

Nothing to me feels as good as laughing incredibly hard. — Steve Carell

Even the most self-confident people, at one point of their lives, felt like outsiders or felt like they weren't being heard or seen or witnessed in some way. — Steve Carell

Six-year-olds are very wrapped up in their own lives, and that's the way it should be. — Steve Carell

I'm a fun dad, but I don't know if I'm the fun, crazy dad. — Steve Carell

I don't do anything to try to change people's perceptions of me. I tend to think that's sort of an ego driven thing. — Steve Carell

Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information. — Steve Carell

My father is Italian, and I never met my paternal grandparents. The family name was 'Caroselli' and it was changed in the mid '50s. I think they wanted to assimilate, which was pretty common, although I love the name 'Caroselli.' — Steve Carell

Well, on a personal level, I would never want to take on a character who didn't have some redeemable qualities. Even the worst of people, such as Michael Scott in The Office [Carell's character in the US version of the Ricky Gervais sitcom], have some decent human qualities that you can latch onto. — Steve Carell

Divorce is fairly common these days, and I think many times people disregard the emotional impact that divorce has on a couple and a family, because it happens so frequently. — Steve Carell

In my role of agent for Miss Hathaway, I would like to say that she does not answer questions relating to this subject. — Steve Carell

I hate hospitals, in my mind they are associated with sickness. — Steve Carell

[And on going from character to leading actor] I don't approach anything differently; I just approach it as a character. I'm always astounded at the fact that I've ever played a leading character in anything [Laughs]. And my wife concurs with that, frankly. She always thought I would be, at best, the wacky neighbor on a sitcom, so this is all just a surprise and a joy. — Steve Carell

Sending a handwritten letter is becoming such an anomaly. It's disappearing. My mom is the only one who still writes me letters. And there's something visceral about opening a letter - I see her on the page. I see her in her handwriting. — Steve Carell

We are all facing the end one day or another. I say, live a good and prosperous life, make sure your choices count, make them count. — Steve Carell

Being a leading man ... that's like saying, 'I want to be astronaut.' That's not going to happen. — Steve Carell

If I'd had a great level of success early on, who knows how I would have responded. I might have been a complete jerk. — Steve Carell

Reading a book, watching a movie, going to a play, it's transporting, and very, very exciting. And to be a part of that, creating things with your imagination, whoa. — Steve Carell

I ate fiberglass insulation. It wasn't cotton candy like the guy said ... my tummy itches. — Steve Carell

Do not to be as shy around girls, because they're probably just as shy and just as scared as you are. — Steve Carell

I wasn't a class clown, I never developed this comedic flair as a kid. Even when I decided to become an actor, it was just to be an actor, not necessarily a comedic actor. I wasn't that guy who struck out with women so he became really funny, and that's when the women started to like him. — Steve Carell

I am happily married, and I think I was lucky that success came a little later in my life. It's difficult to handle all the attention when you are a young gun. — Steve Carell