The run-of-the-mill office sitcom ‘The Office’ became one of the most successful and best-loved comedy formats ever in the 2000s, most notable for Steve Carell’s portrayal of the obnoxious yet pitiable boss Michael Scott. After Carell left the series at the end of the seventh season to take on new challenges, the sitcom suddenly struggled to find a suitable replacement for the actor – which for many fans led to the series being canceled at the beginning of ran out the last two seasons. without the legendary role.
While Kathy Bates, James Spader and Will Farrell, among others, ended up in the daily office lives of Dwight (Rainn Johnson), Pam (Jenna Fisher) and Jim (John Krasinski) at Dunder Mifflin, series creator Greg Daniels and broadcaster NBC were actually was that someone else was being considered for the position. This is how “The sopranos“-Star James Gandolfini made the offer to join “The Office”. However, the late acting legend ultimately turned this down – because he was paid for it.
James Gandolfini for his non-participation in “The Office” $3 million
Here’s what Gandolfini’s “Sopranos” co-star Steve Schirippa explained in an interview with “The Office UK” mastermind Ricky Gervais on the podcast that James Gandolfini would even have accepted the role if HBO had not intervened: “I think they did that before James Spader came in, after Carell left [James Gandolfini] offered about $4 million for a season, and HBO paid him $3 million not to. That’s a fact. [James] actually wanted to do it because he wasn’t working and it had been a few years [,Sopranos’] came to an end.”
After “The Sopranos” ended in 2007, James Gandolfini signed a new deal with HBO to provide additional content similar to the hit series. However, the sixth season of ‘The Office’ premiered on NBC in 2009 and featured Steve Carell’s final appearance as Michael Scott. It’s unclear to what extent Gandolfini was still contractually bound to HBO at this point – but the one-time payment of $3 million ultimately prevented him from following in Carell’s footsteps on the hit sitcom. After ‘Sopranos’, the actor worked on the HBO productions ‘Cinema Verite’ and ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’.