Sara Paxton Recalls Working With Steve Carell Before He Became A Superstar
Long before Steve Carell became a household name as Michael Scott in The Office, actress Sara Paxton had a front-row seat to his comedic brilliance. In the 2004 teen comedy Sleepover, a young Paxton shared the screen with Carell, who played Sherman Shiner — a quirky bicycle-riding security officer.
Recalling their brief but memorable interaction, Sara, now 36, shared in a recent interview, “I remember I didn’t have a full scene with Steve Carell, but there is a scene where the doorbell rings in Alexa Vega’s house, and we think it’s the pizza or they think it’s the pizza.”
She continued, “And I open the door and it’s him. He’s like the bicycle security. He’s like the Paul Blart. And I say something like, ‘Oh, whatever,’ to him.”
Steve Carell went on to star in The Office, earning multiple Emmy nominations, an Oscar nod, and a Golden Globe win. Reflecting on his performance during Sleepover, Sara said Steve was “riffing and kind of improvising and saying really funny things.”
But Sara has carved her own path in Hollywood as well. Recently, she starred in the second season of Based on a True Story, playing Paige, the Copycat Killer, in Peacock’s dark comedy thriller. Stepping into an established cast can be nerve-wracking, but Sara was quick to praise her co-stars and crew.
“They were so warm and welcoming. Everybody on the crew. When you’re going into a season 2 … it’s nerve-racking because it’s like starting high school or sophomore year or something and everybody knows everybody already and you’re like the new kid and you’re just kind of nervous like, ‘Where am I going to sit at lunch?'” she shared.
