Los Angeles, Jan 19 (IANS): Actor Steve Carell says getting into acting was never a potential career choice, and "just something fun to do".

"None of us took it very seriously, including me. It was just something fun to do. It was never a potential career choice," Carell said.

"My parents sent me through private school and they didn't have a lot of money. But, my mom worked nights, so they afforded me this great education so I felt like I owed them something that sounded better than saying I was going to be an actor, honestly. At that time, I thought, that was not a legitimate career choice in my head.

"I need to give her a doctor, a lawyer or something to warrant all of this effort. And, they are the ones who actually said 'you should go for it'. After college they were just like 'it's your life, you have to do what's going to make you happy. You're on your own, so go for it'. So, I really owe them that," he added.

The actor grew up in Massachusetts, and didn't have a family in the film business.

Looking back, Carell said: "Yeah, no one. My dad was an engineer, my mom was a psychiatric nurse, my oldest brother is an architect, then another engineer and a landscape architect. So, yeah. No one from the entertainment business. I definitely went a different way."

Carell has projects like "Vice", "Despicable Me" franchise, "Foxcatcher", "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and "Saturday Night Live" credited to his profile. He is best known for his portrayal of Michael Scott in the mockumentary sitcom "The Office", which airs in India on Star World.