In PEOPLE’s exclusive first listen from Wednesday’s new episode ofJenna FischerandAngela Kinsey’sOffice Ladiespodcast, the actor reveals that filming his send-off episode of the NBC series was “very emotional.”
“It was time for other characters to step to the forefront and other storylines to be pursued,” Carell, 60, tells his former costars. “I think it was the right …. The timing was right, I think for everybody but simultaneously there’s just a sense of joy for me that we had experienced all of this and we were getting… I was getting a chance to take a lap with everybody.”
Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson in The Office finale.Chris Haston/NBC
“It was,” agrees Fischer, 49, who played Pam Beesly.
“It was just hitting us in waves I remember,” adds Kinsey, 51, who played Angela Martin. “We would laugh one minute and then be tearing up the next. But like you said, it was because we’d had such a good run, we’d had such a good time.”
“Incredible,” summed up Carell. “Just incredible.”
Steve Carrell in The Office finale.Chris Haston/NBC
After Carell left his leading role in the series after seven seasons,Ed Helmswas eventually positioned as the new lead until he had to exit the show as a regular to film the thirdHangoverfilm. However, Carell did reprise his role in season nine series finale in May 2013 titled “Finale,” where he appeared as the best man at Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) and Angela’s wedding.
John Krasinski, who played Pam’s husband Jim Halpert, previously told PEOPLE aboutkeeping Carell’s last hurrah under wraps.
“It was so thrilling. We all just flat-out lied, the actor, 43, told PEOPLE. “Ilied to Letterman! I have to apologize to him for that at some point. It was just one of those things that we all vowed and had to protect. Look what happened — it was the best. The ‘that’s what she said’ [throwback] was the perfect use of Steve.”
Carell uttered his character’s famous line after surprising Dwight and taking over best man duties from Jim. Dwight told Michael, “I can’t believe you came,” to which Michael replied emotionally, “That’s what she said.”
Back in 2020, Carell and Krasinski had a virtual reunion and reflected on the show’s 15th anniversary in a segment on Krasinski’s YouTube showSome Good News.
“I was a waiter when I got that job, I was 23 years old,” Krasinki told Carell. “After the pilot, I went back to waiting tables because I was sure nothing was going to happen with it. We all kind of came into it with that vibe. I remember none of us had done anything huge,” he continued as Carell laughed on.
Carell added, “It’s such a happy surprise that after all these years people are still tuning in and finding it today, it’s pretty cool.
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The Officecan be streamed in full on Peacock, and Earwolf’sOffice Ladiesdrops every Wednesdays on major podcast platforms.
source: people.com
