He went on to star in several comedy films, including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and its 2013 sequel, as well as The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Evan Almighty (2007), Get Smart (2008), Date Night (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and The Way, Way Back (2013).

[2][3] He also starred in Little Miss Sunshine (2006), The Big Short (2015), and Battle of the Sexes (2017), the last two earning him his eighth and ninth Golden Globe Award nominations, respectively.

He made his Broadway debut playing the title role in the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of Anton Chekov's Uncle Vanya (2024).

[citation needed] His father, Edwin A. Carell (1925–2021), was a mechanical engineer,[7][8] and his mother, Harriet Theresa (née Koch; 1925–2016), was a psychiatric nurse.

[9] Carell's maternal uncle, Stanley Koch, worked with scientist Allen B. DuMont to create improved cathode ray tubes.

[16][17] While at Denison, Carell was a member of Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company, a student-run improvisational comedy troupe, and was a goalie on the school's Big Red hockey team for four years.

[20] Carell stated that he worked as a USPS mail carrier in Littleton, Massachusetts, but quit after seven months because his boss told him he was not very good at the job and needed to be faster.

[21] Early in his performing career, Carell acted onstage in a touring children's theater company, later in the comedy musical Knat Scatt Private Eye, and in a television commercial for the restaurant chain Brown's Chicken in 1989.

Along with fellow cast member Colbert, Carell provided the voice of Gary, half of The Ambiguously Gay Duo, the Robert Smigel-produced animated short which continued on Saturday Night Live later that year.

"[25][26] Carell's first major film role was as weatherman Brick Tamland in the 2004 hit comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

[30] In 2005, Carell signed a deal with NBC to star in The Office, a remake of the British TV series of the same name which was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

Carell played the role of Michael Scott, the immature, idiosyncratic regional manager of Dunder Mifflin, in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

"[33] Carell played Uncle Arthur, imitating the camp mannerisms of Paul Lynde's original character, in Bewitched, a TV adaptation co-starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.

[38][better source needed] Production ended during the middle of the fourth season of The Office because of Carell's and others' refusal to cross the picket line of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.

[42] In 2010 Carell starred with Tina Fey in Date Night and voiced Gru, the main character in the Universal CGI film Despicable Me along with Miranda Cosgrove, Kristen Wiig, and Julie Andrews.

Thom Hinkle and Campbell Smith of North South Prods., former producers on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, were hired to manage Carousel's TV operations.

[47][48] Also in 2013 Carell acted in the summer coming-of-age comedy The Way, Way Back starring Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, and Allison Janney.

Carell played activist Steven Goldstein in the gay rights drama Freeheld, replacing Zach Galifianakis, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

The film's consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Café Society's lovely visuals and charming performances round out a lightweight late-period Allen comedy whose genuine pleasures offset its amiable predictability.

"[53] In 2017, Carell headlined the biographical comedy-drama Battle of the Sexes, portraying tennis star Bobby Riggs, with Emma Stone co-starring as Billie Jean King.

The film received a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critical consensus reading, "Welcome to Marwen has dazzling effects and a sadly compelling story, but the movie's disjointed feel and clumsy screenplay make this invitation easy to decline.

[58] In 2019, Carell returned to television to star in the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show opposite Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

[59] Carell played Mitch Kessler, a morning news show anchor who is struggling to maintain relevance after being fired due to a sexual misconduct accusation.

[68] In 2023, it was announced that Carell would be making his Broadway debut as the title role in the Lincoln Center revival of Anton Chekov's Uncle Vanya at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

[69] The production will be directed by Lila Neugebauer and Carell will star alongside Alison Pill, William Jackson Harper, Alfred Molina, Anika Noni Rose and Jayne Houdyshell.

On August 5, 1995, Carell married Saturday Night Live cast member Nancy Walls, whom he met when she was a student in an improv class he was teaching at The Second City Training Center.

[72][73] In an interview with 60 Minutes, Carell cited George Carlin, John Cleese, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, and Peter Sellers as his inspirations for acting and comedy.