Melora Hardin Says Steve Carell Scene Was 90 Percent Improvised

Melora Hardin says a classic steve carell scene on The Office was 90 percent improvised. She recalled that the Michael-Jan fight, filmed during the 16th episode of season 2, was built around a beat the cast had to hit while the dialogue and movement changed on the fly.

Hardin made the claim on Wednesday’s episode of the Office Ladies rewatch podcast, which was dedicated to Jan. She said the producers told her and Carell, “We're going rewrite the scene. We don't like it. Basically, we need you to hit this beat. You guys improvise. We're gonna go rewrite it. We'll be back, have fun,” and added, “I would say, 90 percent improvised.”

Jan, Michael, and the elevator

Jenna Fischer pointed to the scene in which Jan and Michael fight while walking to and riding an elevator together. Hardin said, “That was one where we got given the candy bag,” using the phrase to describe the freedom they were handed on set. The scene ended with a cutting look from Hardin, but the broader point is the same: the comedy came from actors adjusting in real time, not from a locked script.

Hardin also praised Greg Daniels for making that possible. “extraordinary,” she said of his approach, adding, “That was the first set I'd ever been on with that much collaboration with the writers and the actors.” On a show that ran on NBC from 2005 to 2013 and won five Primetime Emmys, that kind of latitude helps explain why certain scenes still play like they were discovered rather than staged.

Greg Daniels and the set

The revelation matters most for readers who track how network-era comedies were built. The Office has become a legacy title, and its first spinoff, The Paper, premiered on Peacock in 2025; Hardin previously shared her idea to cameo Jan on the new series in December, while Oscar Nuñez is the only actor to cross from the core Office cast onto The Paper.

For anyone rewatching the Michael-Jan material, the takeaway is plain: the scene’s rhythm came from performance freedom, with Hardin and Carell improvising around the beat rather than repeating lines verbatim. That kind of setup can’t be faked in hindsight, which is why the elevator scene still feels loose, specific, and built around two actors being allowed to chase the moment.