Steve Carell made Timothy Olyphant repeatedly break character on ‘The Office’

Timothy Olyphant, who played Danny Corday on The Office, doesn’t seem to remember much about the experience.

He was the latest guest on the Office Ladies podcast, hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Pam Beesly and Angela Martin on the show, respectively. Olyphant appeared in just two Season 7 Office episodes, portraying the handsome, super-effective salesman Corday. It adds up, then, that Olyphant might not remember everything about the experience.

But one thing he did remember was just how funny Steve Carell was in his portrayal of Michael Scott. Olyphant recalled repeatedly breaking character during a deleted scene in which Carell has blocked him from leaving in an effort to steal Corday for the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch.

“I do remember laughing. I’m sure I screwed up what would have been a really good scene with Carell where I just couldn’t stop laughing because it was so intense and funny,” Olyphant said on the podcast. “And there’s a little bit of disappointment still there that I could not keep a straight face.”

Olyphant had lots of praise for Carell, even if the performance caused him to break character.

“He’s incredible,” Olyphant said. “He’s fully committed. And I’m quite certain, I haven’t seen it, you know, that I’m the one busting up more than he is.”

Video evidence of the deleted scene would seem to agree. Olyphant does, indeed, bust up when Carell delivers a line straight-faced.

It’s hard to blame Olyphant, however — Michael Scott had a way of making everyone laugh.