Any introvert will relate .
Tina FeyandSteve Carellspent years gracing our televisions, both playing questionable sitcom bosses. And despite my longstanding love for bothMichael ScottandLiz Lemon, it seems like their shared bravado didn’t quite translate off-screen.
Any fans of30 RockandThe Officewill know that if there’s one thing Liz and Michael have in common, it’s an often astounding amount of confidence. But despite their characters, Tina recently revealed that she and Steve are both very different IRL.
In an interview withthe Hollywood Reporteron April 16, Tina spoke about how she has a pretty reserved nature, and what made her try and work to overcome it. “Parenthoodmakes you push through,” she revealed. “You have to demonstrate for your kids how not to be shy, so I’m better than I used to be.” Tina has two daughters: Alice Zenobia and Penelope Athena.
And to illustrate just how hesitant she can be, Tina explained that she and Steve, who star together in her new Netflix series,The Four Seasons, took years to actually become friends. In fact, they’ve only just become close — despite acting opposite each other in the 2010rom-com,Date Night.
“Steve Carelland I made a whole movie together without ever breaking through to the other side because we’re both very shy,” Tina explained. “Without anyone to make us talk, he and I would both sit in polite silence. After working with this big group, I feel like Steve and I are actually all-the-way-friends now.”
And I don’t know about you, but as someone pretty extroverted who loves nothing more than adopting introverts and coercing them into friendship, that’s just the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Anyway, despite their initial hesitation, it sounds like Steve and Tina are getting along just great.Steve even saidthat he agreed to hop on the project pretty much no questions asked.
“I was in instantly. You can’t say no toTina Fey,” Steve said. “‘What is it? I don’t even care, sounds great.’ ‘I haven’t even explained it to you, Steve.’ It doesn’t matter,” he said, recalling their initial conversation.
And when asked about Tina’s comment about it taking 15 years for the two to become close, Steve confirmed it all. “We’ve always liked each other,” he explained toEntertainment Tonightat the April 25 premiere ofThe Four Seasons. “I’m a huge fan, have been for a long time.” Later that night, he toldthe Hollywood Reporterthat they both were, in fact, “super shy.” “So the two of us, I think we’re very similar in that we don’t want to bug the other — it’s like, ‘I shouldn’t text her, should I call her? No, she’s got kids and they’re busy,’” he said.
“But she was thinking the same thing, and we’re very protective of each other that way,” he added. “I know she’s got a lot going on. So yeah, on this one we became buds. It was really fun, she’s the best.”
