INTERVIEW: Smart Talk With Steve Carell

Beginning as something of a cult figure, with his portrayal of the sweet-but-dim Brick in Anchorman, Steve Carell has gone on to be America’s funny man of the moment. Appearing in Judd Apatow’s The 40 Year Old Virgin gave him success as a leading man in his own right, which was solidified with a serious turn in the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine and Evan Almighty.

Carell now takes on an iconic mantel, playing hapless secret agent Maxwell Smart, in the 2008 movie version of the TV series Get Smart, which co-stars Anne Hathaway and wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson (formerly ‘The Rock’).

Entertainmentwise: The film is a remake of a much-loved 1960’s series, how much did the original source material influence your performance?

Steve Carell: Well, we were inclined to use as much as we could without doing imitations, that’s the way-I think- we both approached our characters. We didn’t wanna do impressions of Don Adams and Barbara Feldman, because they had created these great, iconic characters that were unto themselves. So, we figured our best bet would be probably just to take the essence of what they did, and interpret it the best we could.

EW: This is a big summer action-comedy, was there any pressure being the headline star?

You know, I don’t really think of it as a responsibility, more of an honour to be able to do something like this. I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting here promoting this movie, which is doing extremely well over in the States, and seems to be doing well internationally. It’s a joy, I don’t really see it as a burden. The responsibility is more about making the movie as good as it can be.

EW: Bill Murray has a very bizarre cameo in this movie, what was he like to work with?

SC: You know, what was even more bizarre was the way in which he came to do the movie. Because he doesn’t have an agent or manager, and nobody really knows his phone number. We were talking about who would play the cameo of Agent 13 (who lives in a tree), and the list was, wow! Everyone from George Clooney to Harrison Ford. Then our costume designer said ‘I know Bill, he’s a friend of mine, would you like me to call him?’ and he said yes. But that’s the last we heard of it - we gave him the date and he just showed up. We didn’t even know if he would show up on the day, he took a cab to the set, he didn’t want a car sent to him because he didn’t want anyone to know where he was staying. He just showed up!

EW: Finally, you have the task of kissing both Dwayne Johnson and Anne Hathaway in the film, who was the better kisser?

SC: Um, they were both delightful! I think I am probably the envy of men and women across the globe. Both wonderful kissers, Dwayne has extremely well developed lips, because he’s a physical specimen of renown, and Anne just has a different, er, style (laughs).