Steve Carell: 'The Office' will continue to be great without Michael Scott

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Steve Carell says The Office will be able to continue to be successful without him after he leaves the show when his contract expires next year and hopes his character, the egotistical boss Michael Scott, ends up happy.

"I hope that he finds whatever he's looking for," Carell told Parade magazine, adding: "The show's going to be great. The show has been very consistent and I'm just one part of this ensemble. The show is so strong and has such good writers, it will continue to be great. So the show's not going anywhere."

Carell had said last month he would leave the show at the end of the 2010-2011 season, when his contract expires. The actor, whose movie career took off after the success of the hit 2005 comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, had in 2008 signed a three-year contract extension to play Scott on The Office, which is entering its seventh season.

Carell currently stars in Despicable Me, a recently-released animated 3-D film with How I Met Your Mother star Jason Segel and Get Him To the Greek star Russell Brand. He has more than a handful of movies in development and can be seen next in the comedy movie Dinner for Schmucks, which stars Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis and is released on July 30.

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