Steve Carell Won’t Be in Upcoming The Office Spinoff

Last week, NBC officially announced a spinoff series for The Office , with the new series set in the universe of The Office . At the time, nothing was said about whether or not The Office characters and actors would be returning, but now we know that at least one won’t be.

At the premiere of John Krasinski’s new film, IF, Steve Carell confirmed to THR that he won’t be making an appearance in the upcoming The Office spinoff, saying that it just doesn’t make sense for his character, Michael Scott, to make an appearance.

“I will be watching but I will not be showing up,” Carell says. “It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that. But I’m excited about it, it sounds like a great conceit.

“I love the idea,” Carell continues. “I guess it’s set in a failing newspaper company, and I worked with Domhnall Gleeson, who is one of the leads. I did The Patient with him and he’s an excellent actor and a super nice guy, so I think it’ll be great.”

Domhnall Gleeson will be starring as the lead of the as-yet untitled series alongside Sabrina Impacciatore, whose career really took off after her appearance as Valentina in season two of The White Lotus. The series will see the same documentary crew that followed Dunder Mifflin in The Office making a new documentary about a failing newspaper.

The Office producer Greg Daniels is leading the creation of the new spinoff series, alongside Nathan For You co-creator Michael Koman. So far, no returning cast has been confirmed, although Lisa Katz, president of NBCUniversal Entertainment, has said that the series will feature “a new cast of characters,” suggesting any appearances from prior characters will probably be minimal at best.

No release date has been announced for the new series, but when it does come, it’ll be available on Peacock in the US.

Related: Peacock is About to Charge You More Per Month