Steve Carell says Domhnall Gleeson reached out about The Office follow-up series

A follow-up to The Office was officially given a series order by Peacock last month, and while Steve Carell won’t be reprising his role as Michael Scott, he did have some advice for new star Domhnall Gleeson.

Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson starred together in FX’s limited series The Patient, so when Gleeson was trying to decide whether he should take The Office gig, he reached out to Carell. “I know Domhnall Gleeson – who I did ‘The Patient’ with – is going to be one of the leads. I know that for sure,” Carell told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. “He’s an excellent actor. And he actually called me and asked, you know, ‘Should I do this? Is this something… Did you enjoy it?’ I said, ‘Of course.’“

The official logline for The Office follow-up reads: “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.” The untitled follow-up comes from Greg Daniels (The Office) and Michael Koman (Nathan for You) and will star Domhnall Gleeson (Ex-Machina) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus). Further members of the ensemble cast will be announced soon as production is expected to kick off next month.

“It’s been more than 10 years since the final episode of The Office aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock,” said Lisa Katz, president of NBCUniversal Entertainment. “In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper.“

In an interview last month, Carell said that while he won’t be appearing in The Office follow-up, he will be watching. “I will be watching but I will not be showing up. It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character [Michael Scott] to show up in something like that,” he said. “But I’m excited about it, it sounds like a great conceit. I love the idea — I guess it’s set in a failing newspaper company.“