It took Steve Carell considerably more courage to ask her out than to get onstage and improvise.
Steve Carell met Nancy at Second City in Chicago, when he was teaching improv and she was one of his students. Years later, he joked in an interview with Esquire that he had practically “cheated” because he was her teacher.
The chemistry was there, but neither of them was exactly forward. Steve has said he used to stop by the bar where Nancy worked after class, and the two of them would dance around it with comments like “if you ever asked someone like me out…” without ever getting to the point.
Until finally, someone made a move.
The couple married in 1995 and later had two children, Elisabeth and John. Over the years, they also worked together: Nancy appeared on The Office as Carol, one of Michael Scott’s romantic partners, and both took part in other comedy projects.
Steve has said he knew fairly quickly that Nancy was the one and that, with her, he simply felt he had found someone who was a good fit.
In the end, two people who could barely bring themselves to ask each other out ended up building a story that has lasted more than three decades.