James Gandolfini Almost Replaced Steve Carell In ‘The American Office’

We’re not going to get into a debate here about whether the American version of ‘The Office’ was better than the English version, let’s just start this off by saying that they’re both great shows and if you don’t agree with me then just watch the whole run of both of them some time – we’re in quarantine at the moment so why not start tonight?

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Anyway, hopefully you’re of the mindset that the American version was a superior show to most of its contemporaries at the time and really does deserve its spot as one of the top sitcoms of all time. However, we all know that it went downhill and got a bit shit towards the end when Steve Carell left and was replaced by Will Ferrel for a bit and then James Spader. Even though Robert California was a cool name, it just wasn’t the same.

However, how cool would it have been if none other than Tony Soprano came in to replace Carell as the top dog? I guess he wouldn’t exactly have been playing a mob boss, but I’m fairly sure that James Gandolfini could have pulled off whatever kind of comedy role they chose to give him.

What’s worse to know is that apparently this almost happened as well according to Andy Greene’s new book ‘The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s’. Here’s what it says, courtesy of Uproxx:

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In The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s (out today), author Andy Greene writes that during a lengthy search over who should take over for Michael everyone found an actor they were really excited about: James Gandolfini.

Paul Feig and B.J. Novak met with Gandolfini to chat about the role, and though the Sopranosstar was very complimentary, he wasn’t sure if he was right for comedy. Apparently Gandolfini eventually said yes to the role, but then hesitated before things became official as he was worried about whether or not he had the chops for comedy.

Goddamit Jimmy! You totally would have smashed that role and I can’t believe that it’s only coming out now that he was this close to doing it. Something else to be sad about during the Coronavirus lockdown, but I suppose it’s a good time to order that book as it’s probably going to be good.

For more of the same, check out this supercut of the best of Jim Halpert. Absolute fire.