After striking a comedic nerve with TV audiences on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Steve Carell's career took off like a rocket when he booked the role of Michael Scott on the American version of The Office. On the heels of small-screen stardom, Carell then landed the lead in Judd Apatow's gargantuan hit The 40 year Old Virgin, which took his career to new heights on the big screen, with subsequent roles in Little Miss Sunshine, Evan Almighty, Dan in Real Life, Horton Hears a Who, and now the theatrical remake of the classic '60s series Get Smart.

With big shoes to fill (one with a phone) after the late Don Adams gave life to bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, Steve Carell teams up with Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, and Dwayne Johnson to revive Get Smart for a whole new generation.

At the recent Get Smart press junket, Steve Carell took a seat with journalists to give everyone new insight into the mind of Maxwell Smart, his career, and what the future holds in The Office.

Steve Carell on the challenges of dancing with the large lady in the movie:

"I think the challenge was hers. She's actually a fantastic dancer and I am not, so I think the inherent challenge there was to try to make me look good. And if I may comment about the high heels for Anne [Hathaway], there were several scenes in the movie where we are running toward Disney Hall at full tilt. I was running as fast as I possibly could run. Anne Hathaway was wearing four, five, six inch heels and she was kicking my ass. I have no idea how that is physically possible."

Carell on whether he looked to the original Get Smart TV series or if stayed away:

"I steered away from it because I didn't want to do an impression of Don Adams. I figured there was no way to improve upon what he had done. And I thought the more I watched of him, the more I would be inclined to be an impersonation because he was so good and so definitive in the role. So no, I sort of backed off of that."

On how much he stuck to the script:

"Our writer's here... and I can say that I improvised everything. It was, I think, a mix. We stuck to the script but there were options and there were chances to play... in collaboration with Pete and the writers and the cast. We would come up with alternatives because you never know in the final outcome what will or won't work. So we tried to give ourselves some options on various takes."

On his Second City background and what he was doing prior to Jon Stewart:

"Just before Jon Stewart I was unemployed. The employed part, I was on a failed TV series called Over the Top in which I played an outrageous Greek chef in a hotel. One of the reviews referred to me as Heinrich Himmler of comedy and said that Tim Curry was Hitler and every Hitler needs his henchman. You know who pointed this review out to me was Stephen Colbert. Much to his delight, and it was years later when we were working on The Daily Show, he said, ‘Did you ever see this?’ And he brought it up online. It was the funniest review because the reviewer went on to say, ‘I have experienced pain in my life. I have witnessed the agony of childbirth.’ It went on and on and then likened the premiere episode of Over the Top to all of those experiences. So that's what I was doing before The Daily Show.

Second City, I carry that experience with me always. Alan Arkin is a huge idol for me. As one of the originators, the genesis of Second City, he's legendary obviously. The best thing for me about Second City was having that freedom to fail night after night. To be able to try things and experiment and attempt without being too precious about it and knowing that if it didn't work, you could always try something different the next day. That's a very freeing kind of thing to have.

Steve Carell on what it takes to make him break character:

"Oh, it takes editing to cut out all the times I'm laughing hysterically. That's the long and short of it. Well, more importantly than that, I try specifically not to laugh when someone else is doing their thing because if you laugh and ruin someone else's take, if somebody's doing something inspired or incredibly funny, it's a gift. To take that away by laughing and ruining it, I think that's a cardinal sin in my mind. But there are some times you just can't help yourself. There's a scene in the movie when Alan is trying to pronounce a name at the Cone of Cilence sequence, the scene probably took five times longer than it should've because I couldn't control myself. So I took that gift from Alan. That just killed me."

Carell on the physical preparation for Get Smart:

"Well, I worked out and made my body a physical specimen to be admired and fine tempered steel - I tried not to get killed was my M.O. in this. The most dangerous stunt, I probably don't know really which the most dangerous one was. There's a scene in which we're riding a banner behind a moving SUV. So we were on a platform, we weren't hooked in to anything, and just being pulled down train tracks riding on top of this platform - that probably. The only reason I think it was dangerous was because everyone said, ‘Okay, are you ready to go? Good, okay, let's go. Let's do it.’ Then we just did it. But the safety crews, everybody was great. I never felt that anything was in jeopardy and the stunt people did the really heavy lifting and did a great job."

Steve Carell on his future with The Office:

"I have at least three more seasons. Beyond that? I have no idea."