Steve Carell hits the funny spots in life in new film 'Crazy, Stupid, Love'

TO STEVE CARELL, the funniest characters don't know whether they are in a comedy or tragedy. "They're just living and that's not for them to decide," Carell said. "You and I don't know whether our lives are comedic or dramatic. It's just what we're doing, it's just how we're moving through the day."

To prove his point, Carell referenced a prominent line in the trailer for his latest movie "Crazy, Stupid, Love" that hits theaters Friday. His soon-to-be ex-wife, played by Julianne Moore, confesses how she wanted out of their marriage. "You know when I told you I had to work late? I really went to go see the new 'Twilight' movie by myself and it was so bad," she says, breaking into tears.

"There's so much pain and suffering in her voice and it's such a sad scene but it's such a funny observation to me and I think you can have it both ways," Carell said. "You just play the character as honestly as possible and it should be funny within that context."

His theory holds true for his most memorable characters: the obnoxious boss who believes he is universally loved when the opposite is true ("The Office"), the harried father and husband putting his life on the line to rekindle the dying spark that has become his marriage ("Date Night"), the 40-year-old virgin (must we spell it out for you?). Even his persona as a "Daily Show" correspondent - the overly serious fool - never had a whiff of Jon Stewart's self-deprecation or Stephen Colbert's tongue-in-cheek shtick.

When we meet Cal Weaver in "Crazy, Stupid, Love," he appears as a tragic character. One moment he's sitting at dinner with his wife, and the next, she's confessing an affair and he's jumping out of moving car to avoid the ensuing discussion. "This guy, I feel, truly has his head in the sand and is somebody who has become very, very complacent," Carell said.

Enter Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a stud supreme who takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to ensnare women with little or no emotional involvement. "My character is sort of an unwilling ladies' man. It's kind of the 'be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it,' " Carell said. "It's about a guy who learns that when you achieve something, it's really not what you wanted at all."

Carell is not typical leading man material. He doesn't play the guy who gets the girl, unless he suffers total embarrassment first. But Carell said that Gosling was equally uncomfortable with the Casanova role, which is hard to believe considering what Ryan Gosling looks like. "You think it would be such an easy task for him," Carell said, mirroring our incredulity.

But Carell, who produced "Crazy, Stupid, Love," said Gosling's reluctance added layers to what could be a one-dimensional archetype. "Gosling's character, a local lothario, could have easily been interpreted as a very sleazy guy, but that's not how Ryan played him," Carell said. "He was a lady killer but he was also endearing and vulnerable at the same time, which I thought was such an excellent take."

The characters in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" live in this gray zone. There are no sneering villains nor dashing heroes. "That's what really appealed to me about the movie," said Carell. "It was funny but it didn't take an easy, cliche path."

Screenwriter Dan Fogelman wrote the part with Carell in mind and sent it to the actor's production company, Carousel Productions. Carell loved it so much, he decided to take it on even though this kind of relationship comedy is a tough sell in the summer when cars that turn into robots and men in tights grab most of the movie audience.

"It's a challenging movie to try to sell: 'Well, it has a lot of heart. It's very human.' Like, 'Wow, I'm going to run out to see that,' " Carell deadpanned. "You can only use what you like as a barometer and this was the type of movie I wanted to do next. There was something very truthful to me about it. And because of that, it's even funnier."