Harvey Keitel joins list of candidates to replace Steve Carell on ‘The Office …

Online, adding that while he actually hadn’t actually mentioned this to Keitel’s people yet he’s already got the character’s backstory. “He’s an old salesman who thought he could retire and the stock market went down, and he has to come out of retirement to work for a few years.” (A rep for the actor could not immediately be reached for comment.) Producers are looking for someone with a different energy than Carell, and Keitel definitely has it. He could intimidate Jim and go toe-to-toe with Dwight, take a special interest in Pam that she thinks is borderline sexual harassment until she sees a picture on his desk and he tells her that she reminds him of the daughter who no longer speaks to him…. Steve Carell is definitely leaving The Office , but his replacement is still yet to be determined. “He’s probably the only guy who can do it, and he’s doing TV now,” executive producer Paul Lieberstein told E! Just like “American Idol” is going after Elton John as a judge, “The Office” is trying to hire Harvey Keitel to replace Steve Carell next year. Now E! maintains that another name is in the mix, one that sounds so ill-advised that it verges on sabotage and/or genius: Harvey Keitel. News that Keitel “is probably the only guy who can do it, and he’s doing TV now … That’s what a very smart/eager man once called a ‘win-win-win.’” (Keitel recently starred on ABC’s “Life on Mars.”) Lieberstein says he has not yet approached the 71-year-old veteran of “Taxi Driver” and “Reservoir Dogs.” “I haven’t started any talks with his people, but Harvey would do a great job a very different energy,” Lieberstein says. He adds, “He’s a real tough guy, but I saw him in Life on Mars and I saw a lot more comedy in his work, just little slivers of it, little things he would do that made me think he’s capable of a lot more than what he’s done.” See, I thought Keitel was a total disaster replacing Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt on the U.S. remake of BBC AMERICA’s Life On Mars , primarily because the Bad Lieutenant star was so dreadfully miscast. There have been high points, low points, and shocking new faces … but this new one might take the cake. He’s a great actor no doubt, and Keitel could add a touch of Glengarry Glen Ross realness to The Office , which could be mildly amusing.

Life on Mars may have been canceled, but it did showcase Keitel to great effect, bringing out a humorous side not seen since the vastly underrated—and I’m saying this in all sincerity— Little Nicky . “He’s a real tough guy, but I saw him in ‘Life on Mars’ and I saw a lot more comedy in his work, just little slivers of it, little things he would do that made me think he’s capable of a lot more than what (he’s done).” So what’s his back story on the show?

Which means, amusing as this whole thing is to think about, it’s probably bullshit. If you’ve ever seen him on Saturday Night Live , you know he could make absolutely anything funny. It would probably ruin the show, but part of me likes the idea of having a 13-episode eighth season with a new boss every week. But then we could get Keitel, Emerson, Better Off Ted ‘s Portia de Rossi (another one I could see facing off with Dwight on a regular basis), Fred Willard, and, of course, Ricky Gervais.