Steve Carell eventually became the Michael Scott we all know and (mostly) love, but the regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch was almost played by "Better Call Saul" actor Bob Odenkirk instead. Though Carell was a top contender, he had signed on to appear on the NBC sitcom "Come to Papa" around the same time "The Office" was finding its cast, and Odenkirk was cast instead. However, once "Come to Papa" was cancelled after four episodes, Carell was back in the running.
"Bob has an edge to him," casting director Allison Jones later told Andy Greene, author of The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s. "His take on Michael was just as funny as Steve's, but it was darker . . . The worst thing I ever had to do is tell Bob Odenkirk's agent that he didn't get The Office."