Society

Straight out of ‘Rooster’: Steve Carell gave one of the funniest commencement speeches ever at Northwestern

The actor and comedian who’s starring in a new HBO TV series gave a memorable address to the Northwestern Class of 2025 full of humor and some dancing.

Greg Heilman

Update: May 15th, 2026 09:48 EDT

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Every year, thousands of young adults come to the end of a years’ long project to attain a college degree. To celebrate their accomplishment universities across the nation invite prominent individuals to give commencement addresses.

Sometimes they can be cringeworthy events, but others go down in the annals of time for their inspiring message and the charisma of the speaker. One of the latter was given to the Northwestern Class of 2025 by actor and comedian Steve Carell. His speech was full of simple advice for going forward into the future, which he infused with a good dose of humor and a touch of dancing.

Simple life lessons from Steve Carell

The star of hit movies such as ‘Anchorman’ and ‘Despicable Me’, and TV shows like ‘The Office’, ‘The Morning Show’, and his most recent project ‘Rooster’, warmed up the audience by expressing his gratitude for the honor, privilege, and “enormous pain in the ass” of being asked to give the commencement speech. He shared that he had considered several topics for his speech but settled with something that is very important to him, kindness. After which he told the audience to “please just shut up and listen.”

Carell forewarned the audience that anything he was about to say was “very likely conjecture, falsehoods, or simply made up.” Like his character Greg Russo from the ‘Rooster’, he explained that he’s not an academic, “not that smart nor gifted in any way,” that his “grasp of human knowledge is weak at best” and he isn’t that good of a speaker.

“But even with all of these intellectual setbacks, I understand the importance of kindness,” he said. “I am kind. Or at least that seems to be a common misconception about me.”

The actor and comedian then gave “a few tips to being pretty nice and/or kind.” These included donating time or money to a worthy cause. Putting your shopping cart back when in the parking lot, and even taking the time to return a stray shopping cart.

“An act like this will not only help others, but it will fill your heart and spread great joy throughout the parking lot, humanity’s parking lot,” he reflected. “And remember to wash your hands because some gross person probably touched that cart before you.”

“Remember that kindness isn’t a weakness. It is a very potent strength,” he noted.

The enemies of kindness

Next, he talked about Envy. “Envy is an enemy of kindness,” Carell said. He used the example of his own envy of friend and fellow Second City comedy club alum Stephen Colbert. “Envy comes from the ignorance and lack of belief in your own gifts. And frankly, what are you envious of? A façade that another human being, say Stephen Colbert, creates for themselves.”

“Turn your jealousy into admiration and use it to fuel your ambition in a positive way. In all honesty, I am not jealous of Stephen Colbert. He is in fact a dear friend and for a shell of a man, he is a great guy,” Carell quipped in a perfectly choregraphed deadpan voice.

Carell also warned against holding a grudge as it is “another stumbling block to kindness.” He shared that he had held a grudge against an actress, who he did not name, for 18 years after she was extremely mean to him at the Academy Awards. Last year, he ran into her again and she was horrible to him again.

“I was right the first time,” he said to much laughter. “So, I guess what I’m saying is that in 99% of the cases, grudge-holding is completely a waste of time. But the other 1% can be extremely satisfying and perfectly valid.”

The art of listening

While he didn’t took university classes at Northwestern, it was there that he attended a Summer High School Institute for Theater. That gave him his first introduction to improvisation when some students from the university gave him a masterclass in the art and inspired him to follow a career in it and move to Chicago.

The comedian shared that when he began at Second City, he had a wonderful teacher named Don Depollo, who stressed the importance of listening. “An improv scene goes nowhere unless everyone listens to each other,” Carell told the audience. “Don taught us about listening and a bunch of other stuff.”

“Should have paid attention, but I did learn this from Don,” he continued. “The best way to see and understand another human being is to listen to them,” Carell pointed out. “To listen is to show respect.”

“Respect can be an elusive concept,” he said. “Some say you must earn my respect. How about this? Instead of requiring people to earn your respect, start out by respecting them.”

“Fight against the natural inclination to be cynical. Assume they are good people,” he advised. “I try to do this with Stephen Colbert and it doesn’t work.”

A few random final thoughts

Among the last recommendations and words he had for the 2025 graduates at Northwestern, Carell encouraged them to send a handwritten note to someone, it “will shock and confuse them, but they will love it.” He urged them to “hold the door for people regardless of gender, age, or political affiliation,” and “be wary of those who use ChatGPT for personal emails.”

“Never pick your nose in your car at a stoplight,” he warned. “Someone is watching you and it’s grossing them out.”

He then wished the fathers of the graduates a happy Father’s Day and apologized that the graduation celebration had ruined their own special day. “Remember that you are loved.”

Carell finally shared that as a father of two children of similar age as those graduating, that it’s difficult for him to process and heartbreaking for him “just how much you’ve all experienced in your young lives.”

“You have already had to overcome a lifetime’s worth of turmoil and uncertainty, and it doesn’t seem fair,” he said. He pointed out that there is a silver lining to this. “Keep in mind that as badly as you feel about the state of the world, your parents probably feel worse.”

“Use that. Take advantage of that. Now is the perfect time to exploit your parents’ guilt and to emotionally blackmail them,” Carell suggested tongue in cheek. “They might even let you live in the basement for an extra six months.”

But in all seriousness, he shared the advice he and his wife give to their own children. “Remember the little things like being kind and that you’re not alone. Take care of one another. Remember to laugh when you have the opportunity. And to cry when necessary.”