The changing face of Steve Carrell

SINGAPORE — Steve Carell may be starring in Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but it is safe to say he is far from having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad career.

With his spate of film roles — running the gamut from kid-friendly fare (being the voice of Gru in the Despicable Me films) to serious award-winning bait (as sociopath John Du Pont in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher) — there is clear indication of Carell’s ever-widening influence.

Since Carell’s big-screen breakthrough in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the 52-year-old has regularly mixed comedy and drama in films such as Little Miss Sunshine, Dan In Real Life and The Way, Way Back. But his take as Du Pont has been hailed as one of the most extraordinary of the year (and yes, Carell is also considered a shoo-in for an Oscar best actor nod.)

“It’s definitely darker than anything I’ve ever done,” Carell told The Associated Press. “The fact that Bennett had faith in me to do it, that was really a reward in itself, getting that kind of affirmation from someone like that.

“I don’t want to play it safe going forward,” he added. “I would rather do things that are interesting and are possibly a little bit dangerous, and maybe unexpected and maybe things that are a little bit out of my comfort zone. That’s an exciting thing to try. It’s challenging. The experience definitely primed me for challenging myself.”

But before that, audiences here can catch Alexander, based on the classic children’s book by Judith Viorst, in which Carell plays Ben Cooper, the job-hunting father of 11-year-old Alexander, who, like his son, is not having the best day of his life. It may not seem as challenging as Foxcatcher, but you could say it builds upon his previous family-oriented movies such as Horton Hears A Who! and Despicable Me, as Carell delivers a performance that is silly but sensitive at the same time.

Q: Did you identify with Ben Cooper?

A: Totally. As a dad, you feel like you need to be this steady hand, the rock. And at a certain point when that well runs dry ... when you reach the end of your rope, when it’s gotten so bad that you can’t help but have a bit of a meltdown and maybe wallow in a little bit of self-pity — it’s hard to find your way back. Things tend to not go the way you think they’ll go. But there’s always a contingency plan. That’s part of the charm of this movie: Everyone experiences those days — it’s all about how you struggle through, keep your dignity, your sense of family and fun, and the kind of love that is pervasive between the characters in this film. I think that’s very human and that’s how you can describe this movie. Ultimately, it’s a very human story.

Q: Was there a specific moment in the film that really resonated with you?

A: One of my favourite parts is the morning of the second day when the family wakes up late. While running around the house, Jennifer Garner smacks her leg into the door. Frankly, that is my wife. We’ve been married for almost 20 years and I’ve probably seen it happen a couple thousand times. Jen gives exactly the right reaction: It’s not exactly rage, but it’s that silent effort to contain the pain along with the anger inherent for having done something so stupid.

Q: Did you all get along like a real family?

A: It’s such a cliche to say that we felt like a family, but we did. There was really a sense of caring. We didn’t want it to feel like work. And you know what? They’re kids. I certainly didn’t want it to feel like work for them. On my last day of shooting — the rest of the cast still had a few days left — Kerris (Dorsey, who plays Alexander’s sister, Emily) and Dylan (Minette, who plays the brother, Anthony) had written a song and they performed it for me. I was so overwhelmed and trying to thank them, but I was getting all choked up. I think things like that creep up on you. You don’t realise the relationships that you’re building with people.

Q: Can you recall a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?

A: I’ve never ended up with a burnt pirate shirt, but before we had kids, Nancy and I went to dinner with my best friend and his wife and their new baby. We were in a pizza place here in Los Angeles. I had the baby on my shoulders and I was bouncing her around when all of a sudden, I felt warm goo coming down the front from my head, down my face. I’ll never forget it. I watched the baby’s mom start to laugh — that kind of laughter from someone who’s so tired from raising a newborn. I’m glad I could give that to her because it was such a release. I could see she was happy that for once it was someone other than her getting puked on. It was not the worst day of my life, but it was pretty funny.

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is in cinemas now.