Steve Carell Describes the “Fun Fan Encounter” That Knocked Him off His Bike

Jacob Meschke
·2-min read
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Watch: Steve Carell Tells Story of Bike CollisionAxelle/Bauer-Griffin - Getty Images

Steve Carell was out riding near his Los Angeles home a few weeks ago when a driver struck him from behind, he revealed Wednesday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But the collision left him unharmed, and true to his good-natured personality, Carell called it a “fun fan encounter.”

Carell was riding on what he described as a fast road when he made a turn, not noticing a vehicle behind him. The driver bumped his bike from behind, throwing Carell forward over the handlebars.

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“It’s a weird experience, because everything just slows down,” Carell said. “I thought, well, I’m going to tuck and roll, and I rolled, and I was fine.”

The driver jumped out of the car, Carell said, unharmed herself but distraught at what she had done. But once she realized the rider she’d hit was okay, the excitement that she’d just met Steve Carell took over.

“Oh my god, it’s Steve Carell!” he recalled her yelling. “She was so excited that she hit me. It was really kind of a fun experience, a fun fan encounter.”

Carell said he regularly rides his road bike in and around his Los Angeles neighborhood, “through the park and up over mountains,” leading DeGeneres to question him about what kind of bike he rides—and getting a little confused about the difference between a road bike and a mountain bike.

So Carell tried to clear it up by explaining his road bike: “It’s the thinner tires, and you wear all Lycra, with a helmet.”

“You’re one of those guys?” DeGeneres said, chuckling.

Carell confirmed enthusiastically: “Very hot,” he said.

The 56-year-old actor later mentioned his cycling attire had been scuffed in the fall, leading DeGeneres to suggest Carell wear an all-leather onesie while riding. To end the segment, she brought out a neon safety vest and helmet with a flag, both garishly over-decorated with flashing safety lights.

Carell was on the show promoting several films in which he appears this year: Beautiful Boy, Welcome to Marwen, and Vice.

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