Who needs “The Office“? Steve Carell‘s going to have a big 2013. Coming later this year is the Sundance indie hit “The Way, Way Back,” he’s reprising his voice role in “Despicable Me 2” and landing in theaters very soon is “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” in which he stars as a magician in crisis alongside Jim Carrey and Steve Buscemi. ‘Wonderstone’ will premiere even sooner at the SXSW Film Festival, which kicks off this week.
Playlist contributor Todd Gilchrist recently caught up with Carell in person in Las Vegas to talk about “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” and the actor also shared his thoughts on Bennett Miller‘s (“Moneyball“) upcoming fall film, “Foxcatcher.” A dark, dramatic change of pace for Carell, the movie is the true story of John du Pont, a paranoid schizophrenic who built a wrestling training facility on his 800-acre Pennsylvania estate where he subsequently unraveled and was instrumental in the death of Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler David Schultz in 1995. Carell plays du Pont in the film, that also co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum, and he told us he didn’t actively seek the role, but embraced it when it came along. “That is something I don’t think any actor would turn down,” he said, “But it wasn’t something I had in my mind, ‘Oh, I need to do a very dark drama.'”
About the long-awaited sequel “Anchorman: The Legend Continues,” Carell said recent table reads have been a blast and the ensemble cast feels exactly the same as it did the first time. “It’s eerie how how much the same it all feels,” he laughed. The actor also suggested that perhaps it was best “Anchorman 2” had to wait all these years because it gave time for Will Ferrell and director/writer Adam McKay to marinate the idea over in their minds. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” opens March 15th. Watch below and more from this interview next week.