Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: angela kinsey, bob odenkirk, jenna fischer, nbc, Office Ladies, steve carell, the office

The Office: Bob Odenkirk on Losing Michael Scott Role to Steve Carell

Bob Odenkirk discusses losing out on the role of Michael Scott to Steve Carell on NBC's The Office during the Office Ladies podcast.

You could say Bob Odenkirk's developed into a renaissance man reinventing himself with not only a fulfilling comedy career with his stints on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Mr. Show with Bob & David, dramatic career with his time on the Breaking Bad franchise and its spinoffs including his series Better Call Saul; and now, an action star building a franchise for Nobody. He revealed he almost scored another comedy franchise, The Office, in the starring role of Dunder Mifflin's manager, Michael Scott, which went to Steve Carell. Odenkirk appeared on The Office rewatch podcast Office Ladies with alum and hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsley about what could have been and his transition to more dramatic roles.

The Office: Bob Odenkirk on What Could Have Been

"I am, in a strange way, a very earnest person for a person in comedy," Odenkirk told Fischer and Kinsley, who played Pam Beesly and Angela Martin, respectively, on the NBC series. "I am oddly earnest, and … it's one of the reasons I think Steve Carell is a better, you know — is the one who got the role [in The Office]. There were other parts that I think I was up for that Steve got, and it's because he's better at being genuinely fun. I think I bring with me a little bit too much earnest seriousness, and it's just kinda there. And there's nothing I can do about it except play other roles where it's helpful to have that. And, you know, you just don't believe me as a purely light character. You just are looking for the darkness, and that's actually great in drama. That's a plus, you know? But in comedy, it's not a plus."

Odenkirk eventually found his way to the Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant-created series in the ninth and final season episode "Moving On" as Mark, the manager of a Philadelphia real estate company where Pam was interviewing for a job. "The idea was, Pam's gonna go in for an interview at this real estate office," Fischer recalled. "And they thought it would be really funny if it was like her life was gonna repeat itself now in Philadelphia. And her boss is basically Michael Scott." For more, you can check out the episode from Earwolf below.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!