Truth behind Steve Carell's 'glow up' between season one and two in The Office

Every fan of The Office will know that Steve Carell undergoes a pretty impressive transformation between season one and season two, but not everyone knows exactly why that is.

It might have finished an entire decade ago now, but The Office is still one of those shows where you can hit play on season one about 30 seconds after watching the credits roll on the series finale, and still enjoy every second.

Most of the cast look baby-faced in season one, as opposed to their more mature, developed selves in season nine, but perhaps no one looks more different in season one than the leading man himself.

In the first season of The Office, Carell's character Michael Scott was largely based off his British counterpart David Brent, played by Ricky Gervais.

Jenna Fischer, who played Pam in the series, addressed his look on the podcast Office Ladies, saying: "Originally his character was based on the British show and the boss there, so they really mirrored his look after David Brent."

However, unlike David Brent, Carell's job as an actor took him off to a new direction as he waited to return to Dunder Mifflin for season two of the show.

BBC

During the break, Carell took on the role of Andy in The 40-Year-Old Virgin; a Hollywood movie for which he underwent a good old-fashioned glow up.

Fischer's Office Ladies co-host, Angela Kinsey, told listeners: “The summer that he was going to film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he got in crazy amazing shape… and then he’s maintained that."

She continued: “He’s very fit now, he sort of, like, made that part of his life. They just made gave him a whole new look too, they zhuzhed him up.”

Having previously modelled his character off David Brent, Fischer said the creators of The Office used Carell's new look as an 'excuse' to make the character their own and see what Carell 'was going to bring to the character'.

"And when Steve came back so much thinner and just looking amazing, they used it as an excuse…he looked great," Fischer said.

NBC

Though Carell's co-workers were obviously impressed by the actor's new look, Carell himself previously indicated that he never thought he'd return to the role of Michael Scott after season one.

Writer and producer Michael Schur told Vox in 2018 that Carell savoured the first six episodes of the American version of the show, in case they never got to make any more.

"I remember Steve [Carell] looking around at the cast and saying, 'Hey, we got to make six'," Schur recalled. "Like, 'We got six of these things. That's amazing. What a dream to make six episodes of this thing that's so weird and pure'."

Thankfully the show did return for a second season, and many more after that, giving fans the chance to properly get their fill of Carell as Michael Scott.