How much is Steve Carell worth?
| Net Worth: | $105 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | August 16, 1962 (age 60) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.75 m) |
About Steve Carell
Steve Carell is known for his ability to switch between dramatic roles alongside Christian Bale and improvisational goofy comedies with Seth Rogan. It’s something that few actors can do as they’re usually identified as one or the other, which is what makes Steve Carell an overwhelmingly in-demand actor.
Carell was always featuring on TV doing comedy in some form or another, but his big break can be traced back to his small role in the Jim Carrey movie Bruce Almighty (2003), in which he plays the first of three news anchor roles of his career. Carell’s scene in Bruce Almighty has become so popular due to being shared as meme on social networks that he could be recognized for the .gif alone. Carell aced the role and became such a hit among audiences that he was offered to reprise the character in his own spin-off movie, Evan Almighty (2007).
Carell’s role in Bruce Almighty was very closely followed by Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, with the role of Brick Tamlan, another news anchor, but this time more in keeping with the otherworldly characters we have become accustomed to seeing Carell play. In character as Brick, it is unanimously understood the Carell stole the show in Anchorman, Brick has become iconic in pop-culture whose lines you can often hear and see being quoted among friends and online.
Steve Carell’s career trajectory is a lot different to his peers’. By the time it came to Carell being cast in The Office and turning a cult hit show into something else entirely, he was already a movie star. As if there weren’t eyes already on him after his Anchorman performance, Carell somehow created a syndication empire when he took on the role of the inherently lovable best-worst boss ever, Michael Scott in The Office.
There is no way the creators could have thought this US adaptation of Ricky Gervais’ UK comedy of the same name, famous for its dry humor, could have been so successful. But it was, and if they had cast anybody other than Steve Carell, it unlikely would have been. Steve Carell is synonymous with Michael Scott and it’s what made him famous.
At the start of the show in 2005 Carell was earning between $50,000 and $75,000 per episode. By the end of the show in 2013 he was earning $300,000 per episode, plus backend profits.
Carell initially became recognized as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 to 2005. After only getting paid $500,000 for The 40-Year Old Virgin in 2005, a movie that he co-wrote, produced, and starred in, it wouldn’t be until years later when the comedian would start reaping the rewards. However, in the later 2000s and early 2010s, he would be offered cash hand over fist to play even the smallest role.
The Office is credited for having turned him into a certified star and proved that he could carry a TV show, that’s when he started getting salaries of a reported $12 million for movies like Dinner for Schmucks and $15 million for his role as Cal in Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), starring alongside Canadian Actor, Ryan Gosling.
The reality is, it only took the first season of the The Office to air and the release of The 40-Year Old Virgin, for Carell to start getting movie offers left and right. Carell voiced the role of Hammy in the DreamWorks animation, Over The Hedge, in 2006, where he was paid millions. Just four years later, Carell hit the lottery when he was cast to voice the Despicable Me antagonist, Gru, for five movies including Minions and the upcoming Minions sequel. The Despicable Me Franchise which includes the Minions movies has gone on to be one of the highest grossing animated franchises (worldwide) in history, with a box office gross of more than $4 billion.
After having been paid just $500,000 for his lead in Despicable Me, Carell was paid $12.5 million dollars for the latest installment, Minion: The Rise of Gru. In total, it is estimated that Carell has earned $35 million for his involvement in the Minion franchise.
Between successful film franchises and huge movie salaries, Carell also makes money from syndication sales of The Office. As he was the star of the show and had a hand in producing and writing a lot of the material as well, he continues to receive millions for re-runs of the show.
Carell’s Total Net Worth
Since his 2005 appearance as Michael Scott on The Office, Steve Carell’s career has taken off as if he himself had been injected with rocket fuel. While he was known among the Seth Rogen and Will Ferrell crowds, it wasn’t until Evan Almighty that he began to become familiar worldwide. That said, for a movie with a $175 million dollar budget it only earned $174.4 million at the box office. For Carell however, he was paid upfront $5 million dollars and by 2010 after being cast as Gru in Despicable Me, his career couldn’t have been brighter.
Despite having earned an estimated $105 million from his film work alone. He has also done incredibly well on TV, earning $60 million there as well. In total his career earnings are at around $168 million dollars after factoring in his producing credits and other work behind the scenes as well as his other appearances.
Of that amount, $14-16 million is expected to have been paid in business related costs. The remainder, $153 million, will have been taxed at a rate of around 49% as Carell has been residing in the state of California. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $78.03 million dollars, having paid $74.97 million dollars in taxes.
Steve Carell married Nancy Carell in 1995 and they remain together. They have two children together, Elisabeth Anne and Johnny Carell. Steve is committed to his acting and comedy work and doesn’t rock the boat in his personal life. He has kept it easy, together they have purchased some luxury property and it seems that when Steve is not at work he is relaxing and working at home.
The couple paid $6 million dollars for a property in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, in 2010. After acquiring the property which was the home of the late actor Jonathan Winters, they leveled the existing structures and rebuilt a 6,600 square-foot mansion. They had also previously purchased another property which is where they lived before the 2010 acquisition. In 2012 it was sold for a reported $5.1 million.
In his other investments, like most Hollywood actors and other high net worth celebrities with busy work schedules. Often a wealth management firm is hired after much discrimination. While there are many horror stories about such firms, complaints made by the likes of Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone, Uma Thurman and others, all lost money in the Starr Investment Advisors LLC scandal. Generally, however, this is not the case and celebrities like Steve Carell will have earned large returns on their investments through these firms. Of course, they carry additional fees and so on.
In terms of spending money, unlike investing. When one buys a brand new car for example, some of the money paid cannot be recovered. Some stars spend more money than others on items that cannot earn a return of at least break even. Carell’s habits appear to be in the opposite direction. He seems to like to buy things that are going to appreciate over time or at least hold their value. He may drive a Porsche Cayman S but this is somewhat of a negligible expenditure, what is more, it maintains his Hollywood image and it is an expected social and business vehicle.
Steve has also given to charity and supported various causes. For example, the Alliance For Children’s Rights, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Worldwide Orphans Foundation are some of the organizations that he has donated money to.
In his personal life Carell has likely spent $4-5 million dollars of his career earnings but also probably possesses assets valued at around $2-3 million, not including investment assets. In his investments, he may have earned investment returns of $25-35 million dollars. Therefore, it is estimated that Steve Carell has a net worth of around $105 million dollars.
With a lot of character actors, it’s hard to become accustomed to seeing them in different roles, but like some his peers such as Will Ferrell; Steve Carell has done a marvelous job of overcoming this. For someone who was named America’s ‘Funniest Man’ by Life Magazine, he is an insanely dynamic actor.
Like a lot of actors, Steve Carell is involved in many aspects within the industry, especially in the streaming services which are taking over how cinema works. For example his role as General Mark R. Naird in Space Force is only available on Netflix which has been one of the highest paying producers of TV content for many years now. Steve Carell is reportedly earning $1 million dollars per episode for the show.
Between 2021 and 2022 Carell played the roll of Mitch Kessler on The Morning Show, an American drama television series that premiered on Apple TV+. Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon both earned a reported $1 million per episode. Carell was paid a reported $750,000 per episode.
Space Force, which is more than just a Michael Scott-does-government-stuff type show has already had rave reviews and outstanding success online. The other series The Morning Show, in which he plays news anchor has just been renewed for a third season. These are two shows that intelligently incorporate the current political and economical climates while being funny, satirical, and dramatic; essentially combining Carell’s best skills.
Carell also has a great actor-director relationship with Adam McKay, who helmed Anchorman and more recently directed Carell in more dramatic roles in The Big Short and Vice. Usually a TV actor’s career dies with its character, and on paper that is what should have happened to Carell after he ended with The Office.
It’s a credit to him that he took on serious roles so naturally, which is something so few comedy actors can pull off, especially after starring in a TV show for seven years. Now, Carell is known for his dramatic roles almost as much as his comedy roles. He has gone on to be nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Foxcatcher, and has won several other awards for his dramatic acting as well.
Summing-Up
His big switch into drama shouldn’t have come as that much of a surprise as he was taking these kinds of roles ever since 2006, where he played a man on the verge of suicide in Little Miss Sunshine. He has always walked the tightrope between a serious and comedic actor so well that it has led to a great number of roles available for him.
There are no gimmicks, no cheats in his work. He started out getting paid just an estimated $500,000 for the movie he co-wrote and created, The 40-Year Old Virgin, all the way to getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per episode for The Office as much as an estimated $15 million per movie as he did in Crazy Stupid Love and now $1 million dollars per episode for his role as General Mark R. Naird in Space Force.
