Carell Gets Past First Base

"What section is this going to be in?" What section would he like?

"Education. It's important for people to stay in school."

Actually, it may go in Style.

"Nice," Stewart hisses. "Carell's got the style ."

He is doing good, no? First, "Bruce Almighty," then "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," then "Bewitched," (well, maybe scratch "Bewitched," which faltered). Now leading man. Plus, the starring role in the upcoming unmade film where he'll play agent Maxwell Smart in "Get Smart," and a project called "High T," just announced Wednesday in Variety, about a guy who starts taking testosterone shots.

Stewart snorts. "From humble beginnings. It's a story Washington loves. It's like the man from Hope, but instead of Hope, it's Comedy Central, it's basic cable. But very similar. Rags to riches."

So, seriously, what makes him tick?

"Steve Carell? I've never spoken with him."

(We play along, but you know, you can't win this game against a professional.) Okay, so is it sex or drugs or greed?

"I'm assuming it's greed," says Stewart. "But again, he's an enigma wrapped in a puzzle wrapped in what appears to be prosciutto."

Then he amends. "Um, did I say greed? No, he makes the children laugh. That is what I meant to say. Did I say greed? I meant to say the children." Stewart has not seen the movie, so we explain it's "raunchy, but with a heart," or that's how Carell and his director and co-writer Judd Apatow describe it. It's sort of sweet, in its way, a love story (Carell is attempting to achieve his personal nirvana with Catherine Keener, whose character is a hot grandmother) but with jokes about how the best girls to pick up at bars are the ones with a little bit of vomit in their hair.

"Really?" says Stewart. "We here did not know the three-dimensional Steve Carell. We only knew him as two-dimensional. So maybe that is disquieting."