Funnyman Steve Carell has one of the few entertainment industry marriages that has stood the test of time. Steve and his wife, Nancy, share a sense of humor and a background in television comedy, which may explain why their 23-year-marriage has not only survived, but thrived.
Star of the upcoming movie Beautiful Boy, Carell is best known for his role as cringe-inducing but well-meaning Michael Scott on the NBC television sitcom The Office.
Mariner Books Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
Mariner Books Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
His wife, Nancy Ellen Carell (née Walls), is an actress and writer. You might recognize her from her recurring role on The Office as Carol Stills, Michael's realtor who first appeared in Season 2. Fun fact: She was also a Saturday Night Live cast member during the 1995-1996 season.
The couple first met when Nancy took Steve's improv class at the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. When she wasn't taking comedy classes, Nancy worked at a bar across the street, and Steve often stopped in to talk to her, he said in a 2015 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Though there was plenty of joking between them, neither was bold enough to make the first move. "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 told Ellen. "And she'd say, 'If a guy like you were ever to ask a woman like me out, I would definitely do that.'"
"This went on for weeks," he continued. "Other people at the bar at the bar must have been like, 'Just do it! Put us all out of our misery.' And finally, we did. It was great." For the record, Steve asked Nancy out first.
Steve told The Guardian in 2013 that he didn't realize until later that Nancy was just as anxious as he was. "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. I thought she for sure knew that I was full of it, and I later found out that she was just as nervous as I was and trying to act cool."
Steve and Nancy obviously got over their nervousness, and the couple married in 1995. "I knew early on that she was the right one. I'll never forget standing at the altar and I saw her coming down the aisle—immediately a sense of calm came over me," Steve continued to the publication. "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. It just made me feel strong, and I'll never forget it."
The Carells have two children: Elisabeth Anne Carell, born in 2001, and John Carell, born in 2004.
In addition to raising a family together, the couple also works together on occasion. Their projects include creating the 2016-2018 TBS sitcom Angie Tribeca.
"We didn't start thinking we're going to write a show. We just came up with this name that was really dumb and it just kept making us laugh … and the more we talked about it, the more it made us laugh," Steve explained to Entertainment Tonight, adding: "She makes me laugh more than anybody."
In fact, Steve credits Nancy with being even more hilarious than he is. "My wife is way funnier than I am. 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," he said in the same The Guardian interview.
For her part, Nancy doesn't hesitate to brag about her husband's talent. At the 2015 Oscars, she told an ABC entertainment reporter, "I thought he was amazing in his role in Foxcatcher.
Steve, who was nominated for Best Actor for the movie, was clearly moved. "Honestly, that means everything to me. I'm going to start crying before I even get inside."
As for the secret to a love like theirs? "There's no secret," Steve told The Guardian. "I think you get lucky."
