Steve Carell says leaving The Office was ‘emotional torture’: ‘Imagine saying goodbye for a week’

Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin in season seven of the sitcom

Steve Carell remembers his departure from The Office as “emotional torture”.

The actor and comedian opened up about his final moments on the sitcom’s set in a recent episode of An Oral History of The Office, a podcast hosted on Spotify by Brian Baumgartner, who portrayed Kevin Malone in the series.

Carell’s character Michael Scott left the show in season seven. His final episode, aptly titled “Goodbye, Michael”, was the 22nd episode of that season.

In it, Scott is shown trying to say farewell to each of his employees, before moving to Colorado with his partner Holly (Amy Ryan).

Shooting the episode had emotional repercussions for Carell, who said on the podcast: “It was almost more than I bargained for. ...I had scenes with everyone in the cast.

“And it was emotional torture. Because – imagine saying goodbye for a week.

“It wasn’t, ‘See you later!’ and you wave and you’re out.”

The moment, he said, was “fraught with emotion and joy and sadness and nostalgia”.

“But it was also really beautiful,” he added. “I treasure it. I treasure doing that episode because it did allow me to have a finality with everybody.”

The Office aired for nine seasons between 2005 and 2013.

Carell reprised his role as Scott for the finale, which aired in May 2013.