While The Office casting Steve Carell was a big win for the iconic sitcom, this choice also indirectly benefited another pair of classic TV shows. The Office’s cast of characters included some of the best network sitcom characters in years, and standout supporting stars like Creed Bratton and Mindy Kaling helped make the series a classic. To differentiate itself from the UK version of The Office, the broader, warmer US workplace mockumentary introduced legendary new characters like Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute and Jenna Fischer’s Pam. These characters and their chemistry made the show a huge hit.
However, The Office was not always guaranteed to become a cult classic. There were a lot of near-misses in the show’s production, with the show’s tone changing radically after season 1 and steering away from the bleak cringe comedy that made the British original work. The casting of The Office’s central character, incompetent regional manager Michael Scott, was also a thorny issue. Carell’s early exit from The Office proved that the series truly needed him, with stars like James Spader, Kathy Bates, and even Carell’s frequent co-star Will Ferrell failing to replace him in the hearts of viewers.
If Bob Odenkirk Had Been Cast As Michael, He Would’ve Never Played Saul Goodman
The Office Could Have Accidentally Ruined Breaking Bad
Further evidence of just how much Carell’s version of Michael Scott shaped The Office comes from Breaking Bad supporting star Bob Odenkirk. Speaking to Fischer and Angela Kinsey on the Office Ladies podcast, Odenkirk admitted that the intensity and aura of self-serious sadness that he offers even in comedic roles made him a bad fit for the project. Per the star himself, “I bring with me a little bit too much earnest seriousness, and it’s just kinda there.” While this earnestness complimented Odenkirk’s comedic roles in everything from Mr. Show to Arrested Development, it wasn’t quite right for The Office.
Fortunately, missing out on The Office indirectly provided Odenkirk with the greatest role of his career, since this left him free to take on a supporting role in Breaking Bad in 2009. Odenkirk played Breaking Bad‘s amoral attorney Saul Goodman, a role that earned him unprecedented acclaim as a dramatic actor and eventually spawned an equally popular spinoff. Better Call Saul could not have been further from The Office in terms of tone, taking the dark tone of Breaking Bad and slowing it down into something even more contemplative, bleak, and brooding.
How Bob Odenkirk’s Michael Scott Would’ve Been Different From Steve Carell’s
Odenkirk Admitted His Screen Persona Was Too Dark For The Office
By Better Call Saul’s ending, the spinoff had covered the entire story of Saul Goodman and his eventual unlikely redemption. While portraying Jimmy McGill’s transformation from an ex-con into a criminal attorney was a perfect fit for Odenkirk’s talents, the same sense of world-weariness that the star imparted to the role would have suffocated The Office’s protagonist. Odenkirk’s Michael Scott would have been way too tragic, feeling more like the original show’s outright unlikable David Brent than Carell’s unexpectedly sweet, sympathetic take on Scott. Compared to Carell’s oblivious Scott, Odenkirk’s sitcom hero would simply have seemed too sad.
Even in his most broadly comedic roles, Odenkirk generally offers a slight edge of sadness to compliment the silliness. Throughout his career, Odenkirk has leaned into this side of his screen persona with supporting roles in dramas like The Spectacular Now, Little Women, and Nebraska. In contrast, Carell’s star-making role in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy proved that he excelled at playing absurd, over-the-top buffoons. Michael Scott’s personal life occasionally made him feel tragic to viewers, but his lack of self-awareness ensured that his plight is more funny than cringe-inducing or hard to watch.
Bob Odenkirk Eventually Guest Starring In The Office Brought His Pilot Audition for Full Circle
Season 9 Episode 16 Ironically Saw Odenkirk Play A Michael Scott Clone
Eventually, Odenkirk played a Michael Scott clone in an episode of The Office that slyly referenced his near-miss casting. In season 9, episode 16, “Moving On,” Pam attended a job interview and was struck by the similarities between her potential new manager and her former employer. Odenkirk played a Scott clone whose personality quirks immediately called to mind Carell’s character, but the small role perfectly utilized the very same ineffably sad vibe that the actor brings to every role.
“Moving On” used the same quality that made Odenkirk a bad fit for the role to make his guest spot count.
To prove to Pam that she couldn’t simply work for another version of Michael in a new version of her old office, Odenkirk’s character needed to be similar to Scott but also vaguely, discomfittingly different. “Moving On” used the same quality that made Odenkirk a bad fit for the role to make his guest spot count, as Pam realized she needed to move on not just from Dunder-Miflin but from her role as an office receptionist for good. Thus, The Office proved that Odenkirk did have a perfect role in the show, albeit not the one he was originally lined up to take.
