“That’s what she said.”
For “The Office” fans, the mere utterance of these four words conjures up the image of none other than regional manager Michael Scott, played by the very talented and very funny Steve Carell.
Carell was born and raised in Acton by parents Harriet and Edwin, in a family of four boys.
In a recent interview about his formative years, Carell’s manner was relaxed, polite and cheerful as he offered thoughtful responses, revealing that even amid his professional success, the “down-to-earth-ness” of his small town upbringing remains a part of who he is today.

Q: You’re of Italian descent. How was it growing up in an Italian American family?
Carell: It was great. My Dad was the Italian aspect of the family. However, my mother learned how to cook fantastic Italian food so I reaped that benefit as well.

Q: Do you have any specific childhood memories of Acton?
Carell: Well, I played a lot of hockey in Acton. I was an active member of the Acton youth hockey league. We would play at the Nashoba Valley Olympia; we’d play at Valley Sports which was the Assabet Valley Olympia, I think at the time. I played youth hockey from Squirts through Bantams.

Q: Were there any places that you liked to hang out in those early childhood years?
Carell: There was theActon Bowladrome…obviously always hung out there. And I remember there used to be a restaurant across the street called The Actonian, right on Kelley’s Corner there, that was sort of a Mom and Pop version of Friendly’s.

Q: Were there any characters in your childhood from Acton that you based any of your future characters upon?
Carell: No, not specifically. It’s like characters are a conglomeration of many different people that I’ve known, or met, or were taught by.

Q: What schools did you go to?
Carell: For elementary I went to a school it’s now “NashobaBrooks,” but at the time it was just called “Brooks School” of Concord. I went to Fenn School in Concord from fourth to eighth grade and then I went to Middlesex for high school.

Q: How would you describe yourself as a child?
Carell: I was fairly quiet. I think I was a little bit on the shy side. I certainly wasn’t a class clown. I was the person laughing at the class clown, but I wasn’t the class clown himself.

Q: Do you remember when and how you got your first laugh?
Carell: Ummm… not really. I remember my first interest in acting, which was when I was doing a second-grade play “The Native Americans and the Pilgrims” (Back then called “The Indians and the Pilgrims.”) I played a Native American. We were miming paddling in canoes and I paddled on both sides of the canoe and the teacher made a big deal out of that. She said, “Did you notice how Steve paddled on both sides so as to not make the canoe go in a circle? If you paddle on both sides it would go straight.” And it was one of the first times I remember being singled out for something like that and it really stuck with me. It made me feel very good. That was like my first acting bit.

Q: Back then, were you entertaining your three brothers with any of this?
Carell: You know I didn’t really perform when I wasn’t on stage. I wasn’t really whacky, I have to say. It was mostly when I was able to do a play that I stepped out of myself a little bit.

Q: What were your interests in high school at Middlesex? Were you still playing hockey?
Carell: I played a lot of hockey at Middlesex and played soccer and lacrosse. I was pretty active in the sports.

Q: At that point in high school were you involved in drama at all?
Carell: I did a bunch of plays and it continued to be a hobby through college. Just sort of something fun to do but nothing I ever put stock in as a career choice.

Q: And you worked the overnight shift at the Store 24 in Maynard. Did you get a lot of material working there?
Carell: I did, yeah. You know what, I certainly got material to talk about on talk shows. The people that you meet at four in the morning at Store 24… that’s a different side of life that most people don’t witness.

Q: How about your writing? You did some writing for “The Dana Carvey Show” and you co-wrote “The 40-Year Old Virgin.” Were you writing in college?
Carell: Yes, I would do some writing. We would write sketch comedy shows and I sort of dabbled in it along the way but “Forty-Year-Old Virgin” was the first screenplay that I ever took a crack at.

Q: What led to your decision to go to Denison University in Granville, Ohio?
Carell: I really liked the college. I went and visited it. I liked the size of it. I wanted to be a history major at the time and I liked their history department and they had a small theater department but one that did really good work. So again that was something more just to do for fun nothing that I was considering as a career.

Q: When would you say that point was? You went out to Chicago’s “Second City” to take some acting courses. Was that a leap of faith or do you think at that point you knew “This is where I’m headed.” Was there an event?
Carell: Well I was actually filling out my law school applications my senior year and I got stumped by the essay question which asked “Why do you want to be an attorney” and I couldn’t answer it. I had no valid response. I specifically remember my parents were the ones that prompted the whole idea of acting. They’re the ones who said, “It’s your life. You have to do what’s going to make you happy. You need to do something that’s going to be satisfying and gratifying.” So they’re the ones who kind of emboldened me to pursue it.

Q:What would you consider your first big break in the industry?
Carell: Probably getting into “Second City.” But, it’s weird, it’s like I’ve had several breaks along the way. You know it was never one enormous break. It was like from that I got onto a couple of TV shows and then I finally landed on “The Daily Show,” which was a big break. And then from “The Daily Show” I got the movie “Bruce Almighty” and that was a big break. Writing “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin” and being in “The Office” kind of happening simultaneously. So these were sort of incremental steps but there was never one specific thing that propelled me at any advanced rate over anything else.

Q: You are best known for your role as Michael Scott, regional manager on “The Office”, which has been described as a mockumentary. Did you have a good feeling from the get go about the pilot?
Carell: I had a good feeling about the script, the actors and the pilot but you never know with something like that. None of us really assumed that it would continue past the pilot because the landscape of television is just littered with failed shows. We knew that if it lasted we’d be very lucky.

Q: How do you keep a straight face during the shooting of “The Office?”
Carell: Well you know what, a lot of it’s out of respect to the other actors, because if somebody is doing something that’s really funny, you don’t want to ruin the take for them. You want the world at large to see it. You want other people to be able to enjoy what’s making you laugh so hard so you try to contain it, so as to not ruin it for everybody else.

Q: Of all the characters you’ve played over the years, who’s the closest to your own true personality?
Carell: I guess “Dan in Real Life” is maybe the closest to me. That was sort of one of the more quiet things that I have done. I think I tend to be more like that in real life.

Q: It’s well known that you bought the Marshfield Hills General Store and that you have a home in Marshfield as well. What made you chose that area?
Carell: Well my wife grew up in Cohasset. She has a lot of family in that area and the proximity to Acton. All my brothers live sort of here and there, but all within a twenty-mile radius, so we figured that was a good place to be.

Q: When you come back are there certain restaurants or haunts you like to visit?
Carell: You know what? There’s a pizza place in Acton that I really like. I’m spacing the name of it….Lando’s is really good. There’s another place too. Sorrento’s, next to the bowling alley, that’s really good.

Q: Do you have a favorite saying?
Carell: Sort of my own little mantra: Take nothing for granted.

Q: Is there anything that you learned in your hometown of Acton that you brought to Hollywood?
Carell: Every part of growing up in a small town forms who you are.

Q: How is future looking next season for the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Paper Supply Company?
Carell: You know what? I have no idea because I have not seen one script for next season. The writers are getting together as we speak and planning out next year. Your guess is as good as mine.

Q: And now for the last question. What’s the one question you wished I had asked, but I didn’t?
Carell: Was the chest waxing real?

OK, could you please tell me?
Carell: Yes. It was real and, it hurt for a long, long time.

And that readers, “Is what he said!”

CARELL'S CAREER
Steve Carell, comedian, actor, producer and writer, had the honor of being declared “the funniest man” on the cover of “Life” magazine. Carell has also received the distinguished “2006 Golden Globe Award” for Best Actor in Television Comedy for his role of Michael Scott in “The Office.”
Carell confirmed in June, that he would be departing the series next May, which will be the end of the show’s seventh season.
In 1999, Carell appeared as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” and along with his role on “The Office,” his vast array of films include “Bruce Almighty,” “Evan Almighty,” “Anchorman,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Dan in Real Life,” “Horton Hears a Who!,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Get Smart,” and most recently “Date Night,” “Despicable Me” and “Dinner for Schmucks."