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Judd Apatow opened up about how Steve Carell’s ‘big heart’ gave The 40-Year-Old Virgin the sweetness it needed
The 2005 comedy celebrates its 20th anniversary this month
Apatow said Carell’s work in the film is ‘really remarkable’
Steve Carell was the secret sauce that made The 40-Year-Old Virgin a classic, according to director Judd Apatow
Apatow, 57, spoke about the raunchy comedy and its legacy on the Aug. 13 episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name, hosted by Ted Danson. The 40-Year-Old Virgin celebrated its 20th anniversary on Aug. 11. In 2005, the movie — Apatow’s directorial debut and Carell’s first starring role — grossed over $177 million at the box office.
The idea for the movie, Apatow told Danson, came when he asked Carell, 62, if he had any movie ideas. After Carell’s scene-stealing role in 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Apatow thought the comedy actor ought to be leading a comedy.
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Steve Carell (center) in ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’
Carell pitched him on a character he used to play in comedy sketches. “He was in a poker game, and they’re all telling dirty sex stories. And when you get to him, it’s clear he’s never had sex and he’s lying,” Apatow remembered. He could “relate” to that idea, and the duo were on their way.
Danson admitted he only recently watched the movie for the first time and said he and wife, Mary Steenburgen, “howled with laughter.” He called it “such a sweet, loving, raunchy movie.”
Apatow said he recently attended an anniversary screening with a thousand people, and it was the first time he’d seen it since 2005. “I got to watch it, having not remembered about 80% of what was in it,” Apatow said. He said he was “laughing” and appreciated how many jokes were in it.
In the movie, Carell plays Andy, who is 40 and has never had sex. He works at an electronics store where his coworkers — played by Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth Rogen — try to help him change his circumstances. Catherine Keener plays Andy’s love interest, Trish, with Kat Dennings as her daughter.
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Steve Carell (left) and Judd Apatow on the set of ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’
Danson reiterated how “touching” the movie was. “Steve has such a big heart,” Apatow said. “At the beginning of the process, we were like, ‘What if we took this very seriously, like emotionally?’ Not just like a big dumbass movie, like what his problem is, what emotionally he needs to get over his shame, his sense of feeling less than, and his insecurities, and really write to the truth of it.”
“And because he’s such a great actor, and so emotionally available, in addition to being the funniest guy ever, he did something really remarkable,” Apatow said of Carell’s performance.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is returning to theaters for a week beginning Aug. 22 in celebration of the milestone anniversary.
In one of the movie’s most iconic scenes, Carell’s Andy gets his chest waxed. The actor actually had them wax his chest in the scene. As he screams out in pain, he yells and swears, in between apologizing to his waxer. When he runs out of swears, he famously yells, “Oh, Kelly Clarkson!”
Carell told PEOPLE at the time, “There is something inherently male — I am guessing it is a chromosome we have — that allows us to find joy in other men’s pain.” Apatow added, “He said the audience wouldn’t find it funny unless they believed he was in actual pain.”
The 40-Year-Old Virgin premiered the summer after the first season of The Office aired on NBC, and Carell’s TV and movie careers combined to make him one of comedy’s brightest stars.
Read the original article on People
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