Steve Carell film Beautiful Boy is distracting Office US fans thanks to unexpected reunion

The casting director is clearly a fan of the beloved NBC sitcom

Fans of The Office are being left surprised by an unexpected discovery upon watching Steve Carell’s new film, Beautiful Boy.

The addiction drama, which documents the best-selling pair of memoirs written by journalist David Shef and his son Nic (Timothee Chalamet), has just been released in the UK, months after its debut in the US.

It flips back and forth in time with the film showing Nic’s battle with sobriety over the course of several years. One scene sees David reach out to Nic’s mother whom he divorced years before, and Office viewers were shocked to see she’s played by none other than Holly Flax actor, Amy Ryan.

Ryan’s casting is as normal as it comes to the uninitiated. But to fans of The Office, it carries huge weight.

Amy Ryan ad Steve Carell as Holly Flax and Michael Scott in 'The Office' (NBCUniversal Television Distribution)

Holly was the love interest of Carell’s character, Michael Scott, and was first introdcued in the beloved sitcom’s fourth season and recurred until it ended with season nine in 2013.

Fans have been quick to point out the casting on social media.

Others ponted out that whenever they see Carell shouting, all they can picture is Michael Scott yelling (probably at Toby).

Ryan’s other credits include The Wire, Birdman and Gone Baby Gone.

Beautiful Boy – directed by Felix Van Groeningen – is in cinemas now. It also stars Maura Tierney and Timothy Hutton.

All nine seasons of The Office can currently be streamed on Amazon Prime.