20 Things You Didn't Know About The 40-Year-Old Virgin

20. Universal Thought Steve Carell Looked Like A Serial Killer

Just a week into shooting, Universal suspended filming over concerns that Steve Carell's titular protagonist Andy Stitzer looked too much like a serial killer.

Though this was their primary bugbear, executives also felt the footage wasn't funny, that Paul Rudd was overweight, and that Judd Apatow had shot the film "like an indie."

As a result, Carell and Apatow decided to tweak Andy's character to make him more approachable and, in the director's own words, "a little more Buster Keaton-esque."

Thankfully shooting was able to resume a few days later after Carell and Apatow pleaded with the studio, but had they failed to find a compromise with Universal, it's entirely possible the movie would've been permanently shut down.