When one thinks of Steve Carell, it is very rare to imagine him without a smile on his face. The actor is, perhaps, one of the most well-respected and talented comedy actors in the world. He starred in project after project and portrayed iconic characters like Michael Scott, Gru, and Andy Stitzer, all with a comedic tone blanketing his performance. However, how many of his viewers truly know of his talent?
When the smile off Carell’s face falls, it breaks every comedic bone in his body, and he goes from a comedian to a true actor. The best example of this would be Beautiful Boy, where he played the role of David Sheff, a father who has to help his son, Timothee Chalamet, come out of his addiction.
However, there is only one film that helped the actor get an Oscar nomination; Foxcatcher. Since the movie required a lot from the actor, it is not surprising that the way that he acted around his co-stars also changed. However, it seemed that Channing Tatum got the brunt of this.
Steve Carell’s Methods Were Extreme
In an interview with Variety around the release of Foxcatcher, Steve Carell talked about how he was able to disappear into the role of John du Pont. Since the film was based on real events, the actor did not have a lot of room for creative liberty, wearing copious amounts of makeup to resemble the sponsor and changing all his mannerisms to make sure he was as accurate as possible.
Playing the role of a convicted murderer who was known for doing some very horrible things, the shoot was going to be very challenging for Carell, and it would seem that he was fully prepared for this. During the interview, he confessed that he was very cautious about his interactions once he was in character.
I didn’t choose to connect socially. That aspect of it was hard, because I like being around people and keeping things light. I had to let that go.
The actor limited his interactions with his own family and essentially isolated himself from the world. This was not something that Carell enjoyed, as he mentioned that he enjoyed being upbeat and interacting with people. Although this made him more like his character, there is no denying that the lengths that he was going to play the role seemed quite draining.
Steve Carell Was Always In Character With Channing Tatum
Steve Carell then revealed that he also had to be very cautious about his interactions with Channing Tatum. The project follows the unfolding of the relationship between their characters, with John du Pont going from someone Tatum’s character, Mark Schultz, looked up to, to someone he loathed.
With this in mind, the pair were very calculated about their interactions. Many method actors are known for being a little too extreme when they are filming such dynamics. Most famously, it has been known that Meryl Streep would constantly avoid Anne Hathaway when they were filming The Devil Wears Prada. While this can make an actor get into a headspace more efficiently, it can cause real-life relationships to become strained.
It wasn’t this moody, ‘Methody’ thing we did. It wasn’t something we discussed; it just happened organically,” Carell says. “I think we both felt it was important to preserve this strange dynamic we had in the movie.
However, this was not the case on Foxcatcher. During the interview, Carell explained that this was something that both he and Tatum had agreed on, wanting to fully commit to their characters. In an odd way, they ended up taking their dedication a bit too far. So much so, that the first time the two interacted with each other out-of-character was at the premiere of the film.
Foxcatcher is available for streaming on Hulu.
