‘The Office’: Steve Carell Doesn’t Seem to Want to Be a Part of Any Official Reunion

Going off anecdotal evidence, “The Office” is one of the most popular shows to ever hit Netflix, so it’s no surprise that everyone involved with the show keeps getting asked about a possible reunion.

Steve Carell — who, in the TV Academy’s infinite wisdom, never saw fit to give an Emmy to for his role as Michael Scott — doesn’t seem to share his former castmates’ enthusiasm for revisiting the show in any official capacity.

Speaking to Esquire about his upcoming role in the film “Beautiful Boy,” Carell said, “There’s been a resurgence in interest in the show, and talk about bringing it back. But apart from the fact that I just don’t think that’s a good idea, it might be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted ten years ago.”

Pointing to the sometimes-abrasive nature of Michael Scott’s personality, Carell also said, “There’s a very high awareness of offensive things today—which is good, for sure. But at the same time, when you take a character like that too literally, it doesn’t really work.”

TVLine first reported back in December of last year that NBC was looking at a possible reunion for the upcoming fall season. Carell is the first of the main cast members of the long-running sitcom to express strong reservations about a potential reunion. John Krasinski has said that he would be very open to returning to his role as Jim Halpert, telling IndieWire back in March that his ideal conditions would be for a UK-style Christmas special. Jenna Fischer has said that she’d be interested if the core creative staff returned as well.

Back in 2013, an unsuccessful attempt to feature Rainn Wilson in a Dwight Schrute spinoff led to an unusual Season 9 episode called “The Farm.”