STEVE CARELL enjoys playing nice guys nearly as much as his Anchorman character Brick Tamland loves lamp.
But the US star wants to cross over to the dark side after voicing former supervillain Gru in new animated movie Despicable Me 2.
There’s one role he has in mind — the most evil of them all.
Steve, 50, said: “My dream is to be a Bond villain. Everyone wants to be in a Bond film.
“There’s an interesting way that people depict Bond villains that they’re charismatic and almost likeable, almost redeemable and human.
“Not a caricature or a villain but a human being who does bad things.
“I think it’s most actors' dream to play a Bond villain.”
Gru finds love in the sequel with Anti-Villain League agent Lucy Wilde, voiced by Kristen Wiig, and his parental duties to adopted daughters Margo, Edith and Agnes are further explored as he continues his career change.
He’s now working as a spy tasked with tracking down a new supervillain.
Voicing Gru gives Steve the chance to show off his range of accents. Not that he really knows what Gru’s evil tones are based on.
He said: “It’s vaguely eastern European. It’s not a nationality, it’s a very generic accent. I want it to be vaguely intimidating and evil, while at the same time accessible and fun.”
Steve has forged his way into the elite group of Hollywood funnymen thanks to starring roles in Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin and the US version of The Office.
Playing loveable characters is clearly his forte.
Steve said: “I guess I’m just inherently a loveable person.
“People prefer to see accessible characters that they can relate to and potentially bond with — and like in some way.
“It’s always a harder sell when you player a character that’s a jerk and unredeemable. It’s always nice to have a little bit of redemption that’s available to a character.”
If Steve chooses to mix it with Hollywood bad guys, he won’t have high expectations. His career ethos has always been set the bar low in a bid to avoid major disappointment and possible heartbreak.
He started off on TV gaining notoriety on The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live before going into movies and then back to TV with his starring role as Michael Scott — based on David Brent.
It’s a tactic which has more than paid off now he rubs shoulders with Anchorman co-stars Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, plus heavyweights Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the comedy big league.
He said: “I don’t think too much about where I am in the spectrum of things.
“I’m fortunate and really lucky to be working. I’ve lucked out on a number of things I’ve been a part of.
“TV wasn’t even the aim, I didn’t have a game plan for any of this. The hope was to work and make a living but beyond that I didn’t have a real career.”
Steve, who is married to actress Nancy Carell and they have two children, credits his lead roles in The 40 Year Old Virgin and The Office as serious career game changers.
He said: “The 40 Year Old Virgin certainly propelled my career, that and The Office.
“Those two happened almost simultaneously. Within that one year a lot of things changed.
“The fact that I co-wrote The 40 Year Old Virgin and had a creative part of it was a big boost. I think that was one of the major things.”
Steve’s popularity with British audiences was cemented thanks to his role in The Office.
The show achieved the rare feat of taking on the British original and building a UK fanbase. Its success on these shores gives its main star huge pride.
Steve said: “That’s nice to hear. The UK office was such a daunting thing for us because it’s so well loved and even at that time, was iconic.
“The way I approached it was if this was even half as good as the original, we’re ahead of the game.
“Again, it was all setting the bar low for myself. If we could just make a decent show for what it is and not try and emulate the original or be as good as the original, it’ll be good for us.
“Ultimately it was a very different kind of show, it became its own thing and allowed Ricky Gervais’s version to stand alone.”
Steve left the show after seven series and before filming a brief cameo in the final ever episode in series nine.
He only agreed to bring back Michael Scott for the finale on the condition the script didn’t allow him overshadow the ending for everybody else.
Unlike Ricky who brought Brent back for a skit on this year’s Comic Relief and to star in a series of online guitar tutorials, Steve won’t be reprising the role of his character.
He said: “I look at The Office and I look at Michael Scott how I look at college.
“It was great and I was so glad I had it, but for me it’s done.”
The Office is not the only British sitcom which has made an impression on Steve. He’s a huge fan of Blackadder.
He said: “I love it. I’m a big Rowan Atkinson fan I think he’s a real talented guy.
“I’ve never met him but I’d like to some day.
“I love Hugh Lawrie, too. I’ve met him a couple of time, again such a supremely talented guy.
“With Rowan Atkinson too, their ability to do the most dramatic work and the craziest comedy, I think they’re great.”
Steve’s next major role is the return of weatherman Brick in the eagerly-awaited Anchorman sequel.
Anchorman: The Legend Continues is released this December after years of uncertainty following the success of the 2004 original.
Steve said: “It took a long time, the studios didn’t want to make it. We all did. We were on board from the very beginning and they had not interest until this last year and then they got it together really fast, Will and Adam (McKay) wrote a great script.
“When Paramount saw the response to the teaser trailer online and how many hits it got and the interest it generated, they realised their was an audience waiting of the second one.”
Steve is reluctant to talk up the film’s chances of being a box office smash. But his obvious enthusiasm for the sequel suggests it’ll be worth the wait.
He said: “I think it’s going to be brilliant. It’s so funny to me that the UK loves Anchorman because I didn’t even think it was released over here. The UK and Australia found it through DVD.
“It’s really funny, just our experience shooting was is any indication — I don’t want to oversell it, setting the bar low, just based on our 2 months in Atlanta — it’s going to be ridiculous.”
“There are some great cameos. Some known about, some people don’t know about yet which will be surprising. It’s gong to be really funny. I can’t wait for people to see it.”