Steve Carell’s very private home life with famous wife

Steve is married to actress and comedian Nancy Carell. Like her husband, Nancy boasts an impressive TV career, having joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for one season in 1995 before landing a correspondent position on the satirical TV show, The Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart.

Viewers may also recognise her for her brief appearances in The Office, in which she guest-starred as her husband’s on-screen love interest, real estate agent Carol Stills.

The couple teamed up again as co-creators of the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca, which starred Rashida Jones and aired in 2016. Nancy also appeared in the 2005 rom-com, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, in which Steve starred.

The two actors first met in Chicago, when Nancy attended one of Steve’s improv classes. 

“She happened to be in one of the improv classes I was teaching. She’s beautiful, intelligent and really funny,” Steve told The Guardian in 2013.

“She kind of checked all the boxes in my head, but I thought she hated me because she was very quiet around me,” he continued. “I thought she for sure knew that I was full of it, and I later found out that she was just as nervous as I was and trying to act cool.”

Steve and Nancy tied the knot in 1995 before going on to welcome two children together: Elizabeth Anne (who goes by Annie), who was born in May 2001, and John, who arrived in June 2004. 

While Annie and John tend to stay out of the spotlight, they have accompanied their parents on the red carpet on a few occasions, including at the LA premiere of Beautiful Boy in 2018.

Both children attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with Annie, 23, having graduated in 2023, and John still a student. 

Back in 2013, Steve revealed that becoming a parent was “the most important thing” he’s ever done.  

“When we had kids, my career completely changed,” he told The Guardian. “I’ll never forget the first audition after my daughter was born. I nailed it because I didn’t care any more. Before that, I hadn’t had great success auditioning for TV shows, it was spotty at best but for that audition, it wasn’t a life or death thing. 

“All I wanted to do was get home to my baby and it changed my perspective on my career and on the world, on who I was. The world was so much bigger than me, or any of my concerns and so much richer too,” continued the star, adding: “Having children is by far the most important and best thing that we ever did.”