There we too many hilarious moments to choose from in the hit film, '40-Year-Old Virgin'. In fact, some of the best scenes in the film were completely organic, such as Steve Carell's waxing scene, one that haunts Kelly Clarkson to this day. According to the star singer, that's all fans remember her for. Judd Apatow was quick to point the finger at Seth Rogen for the scene, "I'm gonna blame that Seth Rogen," explained Apatow. "There's a picture I think you have with a piece of paper with all the curses that we gave Steve to scream when he gets waxed and in the middle the column says 'clean words' — right in the middle, it says 'Kelly Clarkson.'"
As great as the film was, it encountered a serious problem early on. In fact, once production began, the studio wanted to scrap the project completely because of a scene they watched. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, but it was a close one!
Carell's Look Was Problematic With The Studio
Not only did the film shut down but it was forced to stop production for a week! According to an interview with EW, Steve made mention that his look was too reminiscent of a serial killer, “We were actually shut down after the first week of shooting because the studio was freaking out,” The Big Short star, 53, said during an appearance on James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio. “Universal saw the dailies and thought, ‘This guy looks like a serial killer.'”
At that point, the film's studio had only one scene, and it was of Steve riding a bike. That was enough to stop the film completely because of the comparison. Carell admitted with Conan, it was the faces he was pulling that really alarmed the studio, “They said, ‘We’ve been watching the footage, and you look like a serial killer … You, Steve Carell, look like a serial killer.’”
It All Ended Up Working Out Just Fine
After pleading with the studio, the film was back up and running a week later. Once the film came to an end from a production standpoint, they knew it was going to be a hit, given the reaction of fans during test screenings.
In particular, it was Steve himself who came up with the ending, one the fans completely ate up, "We would test the movie, and the place would explode. It would explode when Steve started singing… It’s one of those magical things, you don’t know why it works and it makes people laugh, and it’s probably the only time you’ll ever see Seth Rogen dance like that."
The film did not disappoint at the box office and it remains up there as one of the greatest comedies of all time, despite the minor hiccup at the start.
Sources: Today, EW, Vulture & Cinema Blend