Steve Carell tells Stephen Colbert that Fred Willard could be 'ten times funnier' without ever showing it
Today's (May 20) episode of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' gave us the quirkiness that is Steve Carell as he spoke on the upcoming release of his latest work 'Space Force'. He shared about how he's been spending the lockdown days and how Fred Willard received a standing ovation on set during filming. An episode filled with questionable jokes peppered the hour, but we're all here for the laughter.
Carell revealed to Colbert that he's been enjoying an old Father's day gift during his time at home on lockdown. Apparently, 'The Office' star has been having a ball of a time with his 1500 psi powerwasher cleaning his patio and patio furniture from 8-2. It gets rid of "mildew, grime, everything!" said Carell. After an exchange of a "power washing porn" joke as they spoke of before/after pictures of the furniture, Colbert dove into Carell's new Netflix series, 'Space Force' in which Carell stars as General Mark R Naird.
The acclaimed actor revealed that in real life, he would never go to space as he divulged some information on his spacesuit - we got two things, it's not modern and has a fan that can be used BUT only when stationary. The series has a star cast with Lisa Kudrow as Maggie Naird and the late Fred Willard as Fred Naird. Colbert then asked the question that most fans would want to know - how was it working with Willard?
Carell revealed that Willard who also co-starred with Carell in 'Anchorman' had very quietly influenced a whole generation of comedy and comedy in general. "He had a mind that you couldn't quite pinpoint," said Carell explaining that Willard was always deep in character. "He never indicated at all that anything he was doing was funny, and I think that is what made it ten times funnier." Carell went on to say that Willard was probably the funniest in 'Space Force' revealing that during the take of one scene, the entire cast and crew had put their equipment down and gave Willard a standing ovation.
'Space Force' was co-created by Steve Carell and 'The Office' (US version) creator Greg Daniels and will debut on Netflix with 10 episodes on May 29, 2020. 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' airs on all the weekdays on CBS.