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Steve Carell Gets Real and Gets 'Smart' Actor Steve Carell, star of The Office and this summer's big-screen adaptation Get Smart, talks about awkward moments on film — and about his unexpected rise to fame.

Culture

Steve Carell Gets Real and Gets 'Smart'

Heard on Fresh Air

Fresh Air

Steve Carell Gets Real and Gets 'Smart'

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Steve Carell plays hapless agent Maxwell Smart in Get Smart. Tracy Bennett/Warner Bros. hide caption

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Tracy Bennett/Warner Bros.

Steve Carell stars alongside Anne Hathaway in Get Smart.

Tracy Bennett/Warner Bros.

Actor Steve Carell has elicited laughs with his deadpan humor in films like Little Miss Sunshine and The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Now, the star of NBC's The Office takes on a vintage role for the summer blockbuster season: Carell plays the always eager Agent Maxwell Smart in Get Smart, based on the 1960s television cult classic.

Carell talks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about awkward moments on film and his unexpected fame.

This interview was originally broadcast on Oct. 24, 2007.