Funnyman Steve Carell's teary Office exit

Steve Carell has confirmed his exit from The Office was an emotional moment as "everybody was crying".

The funnyman filmed his final scenes for the hit TV comedy back in March and the episode showing his character Michael Scott's departure aired in the US on Thursday.

Carell has now admitted he was surprised by the outpouring of sadness as he left the series and said goodbye to his longtime colleagues.

"I had been preparing myself because I had known for about a year that I was going to be leaving this season, and I thought I was emotionally prepared. But, I was really surprised at how bittersweet it was. Everybody was crying," he told US TV host Ellen DeGeneres in an episode which airs in the US on Monday.

"It was nice though - they're my friends ... The difficult part of it is sort of moving on. I felt like I was a senior and everyone else is a junior, and I was graduating."

Carell also reveals he has been taking time out from work after leaving The Office, enjoying quality time with his family.

"I'm so great at not having anything to do. I think that I am an intrinsically, extremely lazy person. An entire day will go by, I will have done nothing but drive my kids to school, pick them up, have a cup of coffee, read the paper and go to bed. And that's it. I have nothing to show for a day," he said.

- AAP