Why did Steve Carell leave 'The Office'? Cause explored as actor set to reunite with co-star John Krasinski in 'If'

Fans of The Office will be treated to a long-awaited reunion between Steve Carell and John Krasinski in the upcoming Paramount Pictures film IF, directed by the director of The Quiet Place.

This is the first project that Carell and Krasinski will work on together since their time on the hit NBC comedy, which concluded in 2013.

The show put Krasinski on the map and made Carell a TV sensation, as the two actors enjoyed a lot of success. But Steve leaving the show wasn't a mere happenstance; here's discussing why.

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Why did Steve Carell leave 'The Office'?

Steve Carell's exit from The Office was almost flawless on screen. 'Goodbye, Michael,' his last episode, and the episodes leading up to it, were both emotional and rewarding. His future with Amy Ryan's wonderfully dorky character Holly Flax was decided after a long, hard journey.

Michael Scott had finished growing, and it was time for him to leave.

Carell's farewell, while well-acted, didn't have to be the end of his time on the program. When The Office first aired, the cast had signed contracts that would keep them on the show for up to seven seasons. Everyone except Carell renegotiated for another two seasons as the seven-season deadline neared in 2009-10.

According to showrunner Greg Daniels, this indicated that Carell was planning to quit, but producer Silverman and editor Scanlon disagreed. On An Oral History of The Office podcast presented by Brian Baumgartner, Scanlon said:

"I feel like NBC dropped the ball, because I knew the story behind it, which was they just never even bothered, which was just like so dumb. I don’t know what was wrong with them. Steve claimed he would have come back, they didn't even try!"

Silverman further added:

“When I heard the story of how the network went about its process with him after the fact, it made me so depressed how they had kind of blown something that they could have saved.”

This is how a misunderstanding between management teams caused Steve Carell's beloved character, Michael, to leave the show in 2011.

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When will ‘If’ be released? All about the movie and its cast.

If is slated to release on November 17, 2023. Alongside the aforementioned actors, Ryan Reynolds, Alan Kim, Cailey Fleming, Louis Gossett Jr., Fiona Shaw, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have also signed on to star in the film.

The plot is based on Krasinski’s notion about a child's journey to regain their imagination, but details are being kept under wraps. The original picture will be directed, written, and produced by Krasinski, alongside producers Ryan Reynolds and George Dewey.