The comedy star appears in a new series that has already drawn strong viewership — it’s the most-watched HBO comedy debut on the streaming network in 10 years.
The series is two episodes in. “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence created the show in which Carrell stars and serves as executive producer. “Rooster” is set near a college campus and features myriad students in bit parts — sometimes to a distracting degree, Lawrence said.
“They’d go ‘That’s Steve Carell’ and then we’d have to say cut,” Lawrence said of filming.
The show was inspired by Carell and the co-creators having grown daughters, and the dynamics they’ve run into as dads.
“Making Steve laugh is a high I will chase for the rest of my life,” Charly Clive, who plays Carell’s daughter on the series, said Tuesday at SXSW.
Lawrence and the cast describe the show as a “big, warm hug” in the Ted Lasso-esque spirit — the kind of heartfelt programming that uplifts.
And it starts with having a no-jerks-allowed rule while filming, Lawrence said.
“It’s very reminiscent to me of my experience on ‘The Office,'” Carell said about the ensemble-driven series. He later added, referring to not working with jerks: “I am at a point of my career where the experience is just as important to me. I don’t want to waste my time.”
Carell also winked at recent projects like Netflix’s “The Four Seasons,” in which — spoiler alert — his character unexpectedly perishes.
“People love to watch me die,” he said. Lawrence joked that happens in “Rooster.”
“I do have some nudity coming up,” Carrell said. “There’s a big buzz… just skip right to episode 6.”