Who Is Steve Carell's Wife Nancy? How They Met, Married - Parade Skip to main content

When it comes to enviable Hollywood relationships, Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Carell definitely have a love story for the books. The couple has been married for more than two decades, have worked together and have two kids together. It's safe to say they know a thing or two about making a relationship work.

“We make each other laugh. We always have,” he told Parade in 2018. “Whereas with my brothers and my parents, our senses of humor were all very different. But Nancy and I share a sense of humor. We must have a thousand inside jokes, between the two of us, and it never gets old.”

Despite working together from time to time (yes, even on the beloved TV show The Office) and having been married for 28 years, some fans still have questions. Get to know Nancy—the woman who stole Steve's heart and is a famous actor and writer in her own right.

So, who is Steve Carell's wife, Nancy?

Nancy—born Nancy Ellen Walls—is from Cohasset, Mass. She stayed in-state for college and graduated from Boston College in 1988. She got her start in acting and comedy while at Boston College, performing in the improvisational troupe called, "My Mother's Fleabag."

Is Steve Carell's wife an actress?

Sort of. After graduating from Boston College, Nancy moved to Chicago where she joined the famous comedy troupe, The Second City.

Next, Nancy joined the cast of Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1996. From there, she became a correspondent on The Daily Show. She first appeared on The Office in Season 2 and appeared in a few of Steve's other famous projects like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Nancy also made an appearance in the Kristin Wiig-led movie, Bridesmaids.

In 2016, she co-created the TBS comedy show Angie Tribeca, alongside her husband, Steve. The series starred The Office alum Rashida Jones and lasted four seasons.

How old is Steve Carell's wife, Nancy? 

Nancy was born on July 19, 1966, making her 56 years old. Her husband, Steve Carell, was born Aug. 16, 1962, making him 60 years old.

How did Steve Carell meet his wife?

Nancy and Steve met through the acting and comedy scene in the 1990s. Nancy was a student in an improvisation class that Steve taught at Second City.

"I was immediately attracted to my wife. She's beautiful, intelligent and really funny. She kind of checked all the boxes in my head, but I thought she hated me because she was very quiet around me," he told The Guardian.

In a 2015 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Steve admitted that when he found out Nancy worked at a bar across the street from the comedy center, he started stopping in to flirt with her.

"The conversation would go something like, 'Hey, you know, if I were ever to ask a woman out, it would be someone like you. Exactly like you,'" Steve said. "And she'd say, 'If a guy like you were ever to ask a woman like me out, I would definitely do that.'"

And it kind of just went on like that for a while, Steve admits.

"This went on for weeks. Other people at the bar must have been like, 'Just do it! Put us all out of our misery.' And finally, we did. It was great," he added.

When did Steve Carell and Nancy Carell get married?

Steve and Nancy got married Aug. 5, 1995.

"There was an ethereal sense of how right it all was and more than anything it was very empowering knowing that person was going to be my partner and have my back," Steve said of their wedding day. "It just made me feel strong and I'll never forget it."

But when asked about the couple's secret to making it work, Steve doesn't have an actionable answer. He chalks it all up to fate, or really, luck.

"There's no secret," he told The Guardian. "I think you get lucky."

Was Steve Carell's real wife on The Office?

Yes, Steve Carell's real wife, Nancy, appeared on seven episodes of The Office from 2005 to 2013. You may recognize her as Carol Stills, Michael Scott's real estate agent girlfriend (and then quickly, ex-girlfriend).

Nancy is one-half of the iconic scene in which Carol Stills breaks up with Michael Scott hours before the office Christmas party because he Photoshopped his own face over a picture of Carol's ex-husband on a family ski trip with her kids.

Goodbye, My Lover. But, of course, only on TV. IRL, they still crack up together on the regular.

"My wife is way funnier than I am," Steve admitted to The Guardian. "As much as I don't really feel I share a sense of humor with my family, I definitely share one with her. We find the same things funny."

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