Steve Carell Won’t Show Up in ‘The Office’ Spinoff, but He Did Get a Call From New Star Domhnall Gleeson Asking: ‘Should I Do This? Did You Enjoy It?’

Steve Carell will not be starring in the new iteration of “The Office” coming to Peacock, but he did encourage Domhnall Gleeson to sign on to star. The two actors acted together in FX’s 2022 limited series “The Patient,” which earned Carell a Screen Actors Guild award nomination. Gleeson, meanwhile, was nominated at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards.

“I know Domhnall Gleeson – who I did ‘The Patient’ with – is going to be one of the leads. I know that for sure,” Carell told Jimmy Fallon during a recent interview on “The Tonight Show.” “He’s an excellent actor. And he actually called me and asked, you know, ‘Should I do this? Is this something… Did you enjoy it?’ I said, ‘Of course.’”

Gleeson is headlining “The Office” spinoff alongside “The White Lotus” Season 2 breakout Sabrina Impacciatore. Production on the new series is expected to begin in July. As has been previously reported, the show is not a reboot or spinoff of “The Office” but rather a new mockumentary show with a new cast set in the same universe. Greg Daniels, who developed the American version of “The Office” for television, is co-creating the new series with Michael Koman.

The official logline from Peacock states: “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”

Carell has long been outspoken about not reprising the iconic Michael Scott, whom he played for seven seasons on NBC’s “The Office.” The actor told Collider back in 2018 that he would never be interested in bringing “The Office” back and he more recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he will not be showing up as Michael in the new “Office” series.

“I will be watching but I will not be showing up,” Carell said. “It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that. But I’m excited about it, it sounds like a great concept. I love the idea — I guess it’s set in a failing newspaper company.”

Whether or not other actors from “The Office” return remains up in the air. John Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert on all nine seasons of the original show, told People last month: “The truth is I’d do anything Greg Daniels asked me to do.”

Watch Carell’s full interview on “The Tonight Show” below.