Paul Rudd told Steve Carell auditioning for The Office was a "bad, bad move"

New York Post

Rudd advised his Anchorman co-star that the NBC remake wasn't going to be as good as the British original. “Ugh, don’t do it. Bad, bad move. I mean, it’s never going to be as good (as the original)," Rudd told Carell, according to the new book Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office from The Office star Brian Baumgartner and executive producer Ben Silverman. Also in the book, John Krasinski recalled The Office facing cancelation during Season 1, saying that an NBC executive would visit the set to inform cast members that they were filming the final episode. “He was like, ‘This will be the last one … It’s just not getting the ratings and the network doesn’t get it.’ He said that every week of the first season,’” said Krasinski.