false modesty

Okay, Steve Carell’s Willful Humbleness Is Starting to Get a Little Weird

Steve Carell cannot believe that anybody cares he is leaving The Office. What is the big deal? He’s just the most important, likely irreplaceable character on a well-rated, beloved TV show that is one of the few bright spots in a network’s entire lineup, working in a town that’s interested even when a totally replaceable actress leaves a CSI spinoff, but, heck, who could care? “I’m surprised by it, frankly. I didn’t think it would be that big a deal. I’m just not renewing my contract. I’m surprised there’s any sort of hubbub about it,” Carell told the L.A. Times. This would be easier to believe if Carell is playing contract-negotiation games, which he doesn’t seem to be, or if he is playing a character whose leading characteristic is intentional obliviousness, which we are starting to think he might be. [24 Frames/LAT]

Okay, Steve Carell’s Willful Humbleness Is Starting to Get a Little Weird