Interview: Steve Carell, actor

Steve Carell may be a genius at many things, but a pilot he is not. However, he can easily be forgiven because his face lights up with joy as he animatedly relates the details of a busy morning at home with his family, and how he and his five-year-old son John caused havoc with a large remote-controlled aeroplane.

They had decided to pass the time before he had to leave for this interview at the swish Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, by flying the toy plane around the house and garden – much to the amusement of his wife Nancy and nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

"I love to play and I love being a dad," he gushes. "It's my absolutely favourite thing in the world. And I'll be honest, I think I'm pretty good at playing but this morning John and I were trying to fly this plane and it crashed into everything! We couldn't get it to go more than ten feet. It was chaos."

Carell, the star of the American version of The Office, the global hit The 40 Year Old Virgin and now Date Night, with Tina Fey, is clearly a family man – something that took him by surprise when Elizabeth was born.

"Instantly I started to work more when I became a father," he explains. "From that moment on I auditioned 100 per cent better than ever before in my life and the reason was that I didn't care so much. Once I had kids it changed the rules and put things in context. I figured I could get this job or not but I had this baby to come home to and that's where my heart and my mind were – and still are."

Something worked because in the past five years 47-year-old Carell has become one of the hottest Hollywood properties. Growing up in Concord, Massachusetts, the youngest brother of four to Edwin, an engineer, and Harriet, a psychiatric nurse, he had an idyllic childhood.

Speaking about his parents, who are both still thriving at 84, he says: "They really gave up a lot and sent me to some great private schools. My mum worked nights because it paid better and then took care of us during the day. She was a sleep-deprived woman but never laid it on us, never gave us any guilt trip."

However, young Steve felt obliged to pay them back and originally planned to apply for law school.

"I wanted to do something good and tangible with my life so I was considering law school, but when I went to fill out the application form, it didn't ring true to me. I just didn't feel it."

And that's when his parents went one step further. "They were the ones who let me off the hook and said, 'It's your life, you have to do what makes you happy and that's what will ultimately make us happy.'

"They were amazing – and you know what, with everything that has happened, they could not be more proud. They love it so much."

Instead, after a stint as an impoverished waiter he joined the renowned Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, where 18 years ago he met his actress/comedian wife Nancy Walls, who herself found fame as part of the cast of Saturday Night Live in the mid-1990s.

"On our first date I took her to a jazz club in Chicago called The Green Mill which was apparently a haunt of Al Capone," he says, laughing. "It's a pretty renowned bar but that's where we ended up late one night after I'd done a show."

He drew on his experience of marriage to play jaded family-man Phil Foster in Date Night, a comedy about a long-married couple who decide to spice things up by having a romantic night out in Manhattan, only to end up having a bigger adventure than they dreamed possible.

One of the character's bad habits is that he leaves drawers and cupboards open, something that Steve also holds his hands up to doing.

"So much of the script was informed by all of our life experiences," he says. "We all talked at length about our own marriages and the quirks within them, so the whole idea of my character leaving cabinets and drawers ajar, that's me. We did everything we could to make their marriage feel true, and when my wife saw it she instantly pointed her finger at me."

The couple in the film head for the most fashionable restaurant in New York for their date, but Steve admits he's more of a homebody.

"Nancy and I don't get out as much as we should but we try," he says. "It's important to take moments as a couple and revisit each other and stay connected that way. Our best nights are the ones at home, where we get a pizza after the kids go to bed, watch shows that we've recorded and snuggle up on the couch. Sometimes the simplest moments are the best."

Not only did Second City find him a wife, it also got him to Scotland for the first time. In the mid 1990s, the troupe toured Glasgow and he remembers rowdy nights in the pub.

"I drank beer and tried haggis," he recalls. "We had such fun and I would really love to go back there with my family because Nancy's mother was of Scottish descent. The people were lovely and we did a lot of sightseeing during the day – not just the inside of pubs!"

After leaving Second City he landed a gig as a roving reporter for late-night satirical TV programme The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and one Christmas they sent him on a flying visit to Inverness. "I honestly couldn't tell you what the report was about but I remember thinking how beautiful – and cold – it was up there!" he laughs. (Just for the record, it was a spoof report about dwarf shortages during the panto season).

So with two comedians in the family, are the Carells constantly trying to out-wit one another?

Carell laughs at the very suggestion. "We're quite ordinary people so it's not as much fun as you might think," he says. "My wife is extremely funny and smart but we're both people who tend not to perform when we're not performing, so there isn't a lot of showmanship.

"We allow our kids to do that for us. We enjoy the show at home through them, as opposed to us being crack-ups."

Someone else who has no problem making Carell laugh is 30 Rock's Tina Fey, who is his co-star in Date Night. He had a blast working with her on the movie.

"She's a sweetheart and I just love her," he says. "She's smart, funny and sexy – she's got it all. It was so easy to bounce off each other during filming – you can see us improvising on the gag reel at the end of the movie. And it's a very relaxing way to shoot a movie because the weight isn't only on your shoulders.

"If you happen to be not particularly on form on the day, you know that your partner is going to be there and pick it up for you."

Another famous face in the movie is a very buff Mark Wahlberg, who parades around shirtless every second he's on screen. Was his impressive six-pack intimidating to be around?

"Hey, I go to the gym four days a week. You should see what's lurking under here!" Carell says in mock outrage, before adding, "I have awesome respect for Mark. I don't think of him as a comedic actor but a straight actor with an excellent sense of humour about his image. And you know what, he had a lot of body make-up on so he actually couldn't put his shirt on the entire day he was on set, which was very amusing."

Carell's no slouch, though. He also did some stunts in the movie, including a scene where he jumps into the Hudson River in New York at night, although it's probably not something he'd do again.

"They actually found what they call a 'floater' (a dead body] in there the next day," he reveals. "I'm glad it hadn't been the day before because that would have made me think twice about jumping in."

Right now, though, Carell is revelling in the spectacular success that has come to him fairly late in life. His work schedule may be packed at the moment but he is clearly a happy man.

"It's hard to talk too much about the negative of being busy because as an actor for so long you strive to work, let alone be too busy," he explains simply. "Nancy and I are embracing the moment as best we can while still keeping time for each other and the kids."

So with a slew of movies that also include Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty, Get Smart and Dan In Real Life under his belt, does he now allow himself the odd diva moment?

"If I started copping any sort of attitude my wife would shut me down fast," he says. "I treat people the way I want to be treated. It doesn't sit well to have people waiting hand and foot on me. It makes me uncomfortable."

But surely there are moments where it suddenly hits home just how huge a star he is?

"Sometimes Nancy and I will be watching TV and a commercial will come on or something that will remind us that a movie I'm in is about to come out and we have these moments of being perplexed by the whole thing," he says. "We're constantly pinching ourselves. I thought if I could make a living as an actor I would be way ahead of the game. I never imagined I'd be doing any of this stuff."

He thinks for a moment, then adds: "There's wonderment but also pragmatism. I understand it can all go away as quickly as it came about so I enjoy it while it's here. I never want to lose sight of that or take it for granted."

He is a real softie at heart. He recently bought a general store in the historic village of Marshfield Hills in Massachusetts. The 155-year-old store is one of those wonderful relics where customers would call in to buy ice-cream floats and sweets or just stop by for a coffee and to pick up some household goods.

"I knew I would never make back the money but we have a summer home in this sleepy little town and there aren't many of these places left," he says wistfully. "I loved stores like that when I was a kid, and I discovered that up in the attic they used to sew Civil War uniforms, so it has a wonderful history. Rather than have it fall into the hands of a developer or become some sort of commercial property I wanted to preserve it."

So as the landlord and proprietor, does he take advantage of his high standing in the community?

"I love candy," he laughs, "And I help myself to anything I want but I never put it on the tab, although it would be fair to say that when I'm visiting I'm a kid in a candy store."

Which pretty much sums up life for Carell right now – and quite rightly, he's savouring every moment.

Date Night opens on Wednesday 21 April.

This article was first published in the Scotsman, Saturday April 10, 2010