The Office<\/a>, but this time, he felt the idea already had its centre of gravity.<\/p>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t want to come in with my set of ideas and lay them on top of his,\u201d he says. \u201cHe had the idea. He had a very clear vision of what he wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawrence\u2019s vision is born directly from his own reality. His daughter is Charlotte Lawrence, a pop singer who has been touring Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got back from following her around,\u201d Lawrence says. \u201cShe humoured me. I so badly wanted to be a \u2018dad-ager\u2019 and just be in control of her life and make sure that she\u2019s happy and that nothing bad ever happens to her, and she wanted no part of it, as she shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
That tension sits at the heart of HBO’s Rooster, which premieres today on OSN+. Lawrence says he has often struggled with the impulse to remain his daughter\u2019s protector while recognising that she no longer needs it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou pretend that you\u2019re doing it for them,\u201d he says. \u201cBut really you\u2019re doing it for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the series, Carell plays a bestselling author who takes a writer-in-residence position at a university in the hope of staying close to his professor daughter and remaining part of her life. As they spend more time together, the arrangement reveals how uncertain that role has become.<\/p>\n
The comedy often emerges from moments when good intentions collide with reality. The character means well. He listens carefully and still manages to misread the situation, or lets his emotions get the better of him.<\/p>\n
For Tarses, that dynamic works especially well with Carell\u2019s style of performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the funniest moments for me are when he\u2019s not even speaking,\u201d he says. \u201cHe\u2019s just such a gifted physical performer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carell has built much of his career on that impulse. In his performances, a pause that lingers a moment too long or a glance that arrives a beat late can carry as much weight as the line itself.<\/p>\n
Getting the best out of him also presented Lawrence and Tarses with on obvious challenge. If they leaned too heavily on Carell\u2019s most familiar comic rhythms, they risked doing pale imitations his funniest moments.<\/p>\n
And even more than a decade after he left the show, Carell\u2019s performance as Michael Scott in The Office remains one of the defining comic roles of the past two decades. Lawrence says they had to consciously pivot to avoid the character’s shadow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the trap for us,\u201d he says. \u201cMichael Scott is so iconic and specific.\u201d<\/p>\n
The solution, he explains, was to lean into Carell\u2019s dramatic instincts and allow the comedy to grow from character.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re comedy writers, so we could talk all day about Anchorman, or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or The Office,\u201d he says. \u201cBut when you watch some of his other work, where the comedy is spare at best, you see the full range of what he can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tarses says that perspective shaped the character from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s smart and he has some dignity,\u201d he says. \u201cThe comedy comes from him being out of place.\u201d<\/p>\n
After months of development, Lawrence and Tarses sent Carell the script for the first episode, and Carell felt vindicated for turning down the opportunity to write it himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fantastic,\u201d he says. \u201cPilot scripts are really hard. You have to introduce all these characters and set the tone while also trying to make it funny. But I thought it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
What ultimately convinced him to join the show, he says, was the environment Lawrence creates around his productions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s funny, he\u2019s very intelligent, and more than anything, he\u2019s a really kind person,\u201d Carell says. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of person I want to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6NE2Q5DZ2PNII5OK6MA6JEFPZ4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
From left: Matt Tarses, Bill Lawrence, Danielle Deadwyler, Steve Carell, Charly Clive, Lauren Tsai, Phil Dunster, John C McGinley, Alan Ruck, Annie Mumolo, Maximo Salas and Connie Britton at the Rooster premiere in New York. AFPInfo<\/p>\n
For Carell, that quality matters more than creative control or star billing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no reason to do it unless it\u2019s fun and everybody feels represented and seen,\u201d he says. \u201cWriters, cast, crew, everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy also shapes the way Lawrence builds the series. Rooster is structured as a true ensemble rather than a vehicle for a single star, with a supporting cast that includes actors such as John C McGinley (Scrubs), Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso<\/a>) and Alan Ruck (Spin City).<\/p>\nWhile a large part of the cast had worked with Lawrence before, he says he encouraged everyone to approach these roles differently from the characters audiences might recognise.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody who saw John C McGinley play Dr Cox on Scrubs knows he\u2019s not doing any of that on this show,\u201d Lawrence says. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely different voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warmth of a Bill Lawrence show is an intentional byproduct. If it feels like a group of friends enjoying each other\u2019s company, that is often because they are. Cast members return across his projects, writers move with him from one series to the next, and the environment is designed to feel collaborative rather than hierarchical.<\/p>\n
After decades admiring each other\u2019s work, Carell now finds himself part of that world as well. However long Rooster lasts, he says the experience will remain special.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we never shoot another episode,\u201d he says, \u201cI\u2019d still feel lucky to have been part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rooster airs weekly on OSN+ in the Middle East<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When parents get together, sooner or later, the conversation turns to their kids. That was how Rooster began…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[91691,884,146,85,46,162772,2865,789,8443,411],"class_list":["post-329794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-arts-culture-team","tag-comedy","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-osn","tag-standard","tag-story","tag-television","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}