People.com Entertainment Movies Steve Carell Reveals Why 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' Almost Didn't Happen: The Studio Thought I Looked 'Like a Serial Killer' Steve Carell says production was briefly shut down because executives thought he looked "really weird" in initial footage By Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble is a Senior Digital News Editor and the Sports Editor for PEOPLE Digital. She's worked at PEOPLE for over seven years as a writer, reporter and editor across our Entertainment, Lifestyle and News teams, covering everything from the Super Bowl to the Met Gala. She's been nominated for the ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30, and previously wrote for Us Weekly while on staff at Wenner Media. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 17, 2015 02:10 PM Share Tweet Pin Email One of Steve Carell‘s most memorable movies (fo’ sho) was almost never made. Carell said The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the 2005 film directed by Judd Apatow and also starring Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, was temporarily shut down after only a week. “We were actually shut down after the first week of shooting because the studio was freaking out,” The Big Short star, 53, said during an appearance on James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio. “Universal saw the dailies and thought, ‘This guy looks like a serial killer.’ ” In the hilarious movie, Carell plays Andy, a nerdy 40-year-old who spent more of his life focused on video games and action figures than on romantic endeavors. Seth Rogen Says His Office Doesn’t Smell like Pot Carell said that the only scenes the studio had seen at that point were of him “riding around on a bicycle.” “I think there was one scene where I’m like walking down the street, looking at images of like breasts and things and freaking out,” said Carell, who was memorably waxed in the movie. The actor said the production was abruptly shut down before lunch and that he and the other crew “had to go in the studio and plead our case.” The solution? Universal Pictures put a special editor on the flick, and movie magic was made – fo’ sho. Inside the Actors Studio featuring Steve Carell premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.