NEED TO KNOW
Steve Carell married his wife Nancy Carell on Aug. 5, 1995
The couple share two children, Elisabeth Anne and John
Nancy is a comedian and actress
Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Carell (née Walls) have been married for 30 years.
The couple wed on Aug. 5, 1995. Since then, they’ve welcomed two children, daughter Elisabeth Anne and son John.
Steve and Nancy first met in Chicago’s comedy scene, where they both had great success. While Steve is best known for the hit sitcom and films like Despicable Me and Little Miss Sunshine, Nancy has a legacy of her own on Saturday Night Live and as the co-creator of TBS’ Angie Tribeca.
“My wife is way funnier than I am. As much as I don’t really feel I share a sense of humor with my family, I definitely share one with her — we find the same things funny,” Steve told The Guardian in June 2013. “People say, ‘What’s the secret to a marriage?’ There’s no secret — I think you get lucky.”
So who is Steve Carell’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Nancy Carell, 30 years after their wedding day.
She is an accomplished comedian and actress
Nancy has made her own name in the comedy world. After getting her start at The Second City comedy theater in Chicago, she joined the cast of SNL for one season in 1995. She was also a correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart from 1999 to 2015 alongside Steve, who left in 2005 after being cast on The Office.
On the big screen, Nancy has appeared in movies like Bridesmaids, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World and Anger Management.
Nancy appeared on The Office as Steve’s love interest
Nancy appeared in seven episodes of The Office as real estate agent Carol Stills, who briefly dates Steve’s character Michael Scott after she sells him a condo.
But that’s not the only time Nancy and Steve have worked together. She was also in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and they co-created the detective comedy Angie Tribeca, which starred Rashida Jones and ran for four seasons.
She and Steve both grew up in Massachusetts
While Steve grew up in Concord, Mass., Nancy was raised about 50 miles away in Cohasset, according to Boston Magazine.
In 2009, Steve bought the Marshfield Hills General Store in their home state, which is managed by Nancy’s sister Tish Vivado.
Steve’s attraction to Nancy was “immediate”
The pair met in Chicago when Nancy took one of Steve’s improv classes, and their connection was instantaneous.
“I was immediately attracted to my wife,” Steve told The Guardian in 2013. “She’s beautiful, intelligent and really funny. She kind of checked all the boxes in my head, but I thought she hated me because she was very quiet around me.”
He added of Nancy, “I thought she for sure knew that I was full of it, and I later found out that she was just as nervous as I was and trying to act cool.”
She and Steve were “nervous” to ask each other out
During an October 2015 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Steve recalled the period before he and Nancy started officially dating. At the time, Nancy worked as a bartender across the street from Second City, and Steve would go in to chat with her.
“We were terrible,” Steve recalled. “We were both very, very timid, sort of nervous, shy people around each other. The conversation would go something like, ‘Hey, you know, if I were ever to ask a woman out, it would be someone like you, exactly like you.’ “
Nancy was equally as timid. “And she’d say, ‘If a guy like you were ever to ask a woman like me out, I would definitely do that,’ ” Steve added. “But this went on for weeks!”
They eventually mustered up the courage to make it happen: “Other people at the bar must have been like, ‘Just do it! Put us all out of our misery.’ And finally, we did, and it was great.”
Nancy and Steve got married in 1995
Nancy and Steve wed in August 1995 in a church in Massachusetts.
“I’ll never forget standing at the altar and I saw her coming down the aisle — immediately a sense of calm came over me,” Steve told The Guardian. “There was an ethereal sense of how right it all was and more than anything it was very empowering knowing that person was going to be my partner and have my back. It just made me feel strong, and I’ll never forget it.”
She shares two children with Steve
Albert L. Ortega/Getty
Steve Carell, daughter Elisabeth Carell, son John Carell and wife Nancy Carell at Steve Carell’s Star Ceremony held on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Elisabeth Anne (who goes by Annie) in May 2001. Their family expanded in June 2004 with the arrival of their son John.
Having kids shifted Steve’s perspective on his acting. “When we had kids, my career completely changed. I’ll never forget the first audition after my daughter was born. I nailed it because I didn’t care anymore,” he told The Guardian in June 2013.
She is Steve’s biggest supporter
Nancy often appears as Steve’s date on the red carpet — and even made her husband emotional ahead of the 2015 Academy Awards. When asked about his Oscar-nominated performance in Foxcatcher, Nancy said, “I thought he was amazing.”
Steve responded, “That means everything to me. I’m going to start crying before I get inside.”
Steve shows his love for her every day
At the New York City premiere of Date Night in 2010, Steve opened up about how he keeps the romance alive between him and Nancy.
“I tell her that I love her, and I will make her breakfast at times or at least coffee,” Steve told PEOPLE. “I will also take out the garbage and empty the dishwasher. She definitely likes that, but let’s put it this way, if I didn’t do those [chores] — she would not like that!”
Read the original article on People
