Steve Carell’s not Despicable enough for his own kids

Being the lead actor in one of 2010’s most successful animated movies didn’t impress Steve Carell’s two children.

“My son and daughter loved the movie, but my son was disappointed that I didn’t play a Minion,” recalls Steve of the response of daughter Annie, 12, and 10-year-old Johnny to their dad’s role in Despicable Me.

“He thought the Minions were really the coolest thing.”

Unperturbed by the family reaction, Steve is back as the voice of Gru, the villain with a heart of gold, in Despicable Me 2.

The first film saw him abort a dastardly plan to steal the Moon after the three young daughters he was forced to adopt to help him with his outrageous scheme ended up bringing out his lighter side.

Having now turned his back on villainy to live an unexciting life as a reader of bedtime stories and attending ballet, Gru’s life takes an unexpected turn when he’s recruited by the Anti-Villain League.

As Steve explains, there are other challenges for Gru to face: “One of Gru’s daughters starts to enter the dating scene, and that is an enormous transition for him, as it is for most dads.

“When they see their daughters maturing and becoming interested in boys, suddenly they’re not the apple of their daughter’s eyes. There is, I wouldn’t even say a ‘jealousy’, but there is a tension that comes about.

“I think that’s one of the things I identified with when I first saw the script, the way having children completely changes a person’s life.”

One of Hollywood’s nice guys, Steve worked for nearly two decades writing jokes for other comedians before getting his first big break in a comedy film, playing Jim Carrey’s rival broadcaster Evan Baxter in Bruce Almighty.

A successful hook-up with Will Ferrell, most notably in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and a spot on US television series The Daily Show helped his burgeoning profile before a lead role in The 40-year-old Virgin, which he co-wrote, and taking on the tough task of replicating David Brent in the US version of The Office cemented his status as a funny man.

Despite this, the 50-year-old doesn’t think of himself as a comedian.

“I don’t think I’m that naturally funny guy who can entertain a group of people it’s just not my forte.

“I approach it in terms of acting if the character ends up funny, it’s a result of the script and the situation.

“It was never my intention to go into comedy, the idea was to become an actor. It just so happened I got hired to do more comedies than anything else.”

l Despicable Me 2 is at cinemas from Friday, June 28.