SPOILER ALERT! Content and subsequent comments may discuss spoilers.
Here are interviews with two guest stars in tonight’s episode, ‘Employee Transfer.’
North Shore-bred actor Robbins relishes his time in ‘The Office’
From an article “North Shore-bred actor Robbins relishes his time in ‘The Office’,” published October 30, 2008, in The Salem News:
The call that led to Blake Robbins landing a role on one of television’s most-watched shows came while he was walking his dog at a Los Angeles dog park.
“It was out of the blue,” Robbins said yesterday.
Could he be at an audition in three hours?
Yes, he told his manager. The 43-year-old actor from Salem knew he was meeting with the woman who cast “The Office,” but not much else.
They gave him seven pages of lines to quickly digest. Going through them moments before the audition, Robbins realized he was reading for the part of Tom Halpert, Jim Halpert’s older brother.
Turn on tonight’s episode of “The Office,” and you will see that Robbins went from the dog park to prime time. It was a particularly rewarding trip, given his affinity for a show that documents life at the Scranton, Pa., branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company.
“I’m a huge fan of ‘The Office.’ It is appointment television for me,” Robbins said.
Though he now lives in Los Angeles, Robbins grew up on the North Shore. He moved to Swampscott when he was in the sixth grade, attending school there until his parents moved to Salem before his senior year of high school. He graduated from Salem High in 1983.
Robbins, 43, turned to acting in college and pursued it in New York before moving west. He has made a career in television stringing together small roles on popular shows like “The O.C.,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Medium,” “Charmed,” “Cold Case” and “24,” as well as a larger role in the HBO prison drama “Oz.”
In the case of “The Office,” his height — 6 feet 2 inches — helped. They didn’t want an actor shorter than that because Jim, played by John Krasinski of Newton, is 6-foot-3.
On the show, Jim, a paper salesman, is engaged to receptionist-turned-art-student Pam Beesly, played by Jenna Fischer. Tonight, Pam organizes a dinner in New York City so she can meet Jim’s older and younger brothers.
“The most I can say is that it doesn’t go according to her plans,” Robbins said.
The show’s writers generate a premise and script, but there is room to improvise, he said. Both Krasinski and Fischer kept him on his toes during filming.
Laughs on “The Office” are created through authenticity, Robbins said, not by heaping one punch line on top of another.
“They’re not really looking for someone trying to be funny. They’re looking for someone trying to be real,” he said.
During a phone interview yesterday, Robbins had nothing but praise for the show’s famous couple.
“They were extremely gracious, so warm and easy to be around. I can honestly say that I’m a bigger fan of them now, after having worked with them,” he said.
Robbins doesn’t know if his character will appear in a future episode. “I hope they find more for me to do,” he said.
Maybe he will be back for Jim’s and Pam’s wedding. “If they get there,” Robbins said. “I’d like to be back for the bachelor party.”
A father of two young daughters, and with a son on the way, Robbins will watch the show tonight with his wife. He can’t watch with anyone but her.
“I don’t want to worry about what other people’s reaction or response might be,” he said.
And as he always does after one of his performances airs, he will dial up Salem.
“I always call my mom and dad to ask them what they thought,” he said.
The Weekend Tally
Tidbits about ‘The Office’ show, cast, and staff for the week ending October 19.
- Article: a really awesome article about how The Office’s documentary sound is created. I love these types of behind-the-scene articles!
- Article: The Office benefits from multi-platform TAMI ratings.
- Article: Jenna Fischer’s Burger Lust.
- Movie news: Steve Carell to play ‘Brigadier Gerard.’
- New at NBC.com: a new Angela Q&A about Angela Martin’s wardrobe, and a new Dunder Mifflin newsletter.
- Fan photo: Tallyhead Berry says, “This is a prank pulled on my English teacher Mr. Keenan … you can see how happy about it he looks from the photo.”
- Updated OfficeTally posts: new item on The Office spin-off, plus a scan of a Sept. 29 TV Guide article on the spoiler page.
- Auction: bid on a car formerly owned by Rainn Wilson.
- Contest winners: finally, here are the winners to the Caption Distraction contest — patrick, nicole, and little fish in the big apple! Congrats, and look for an email in your inbox soon!
Tipsters: I Braveheart, berry
Got questions for ‘The Office’ writers panel?
I have the crazy honor of moderating The Office writers panel at the Paley Center in L.A. next week.
I’ll be asking questions of the panel; if you have one, submit it in a comment below! Make sure to include your first name (or screename) and city, so I can introduce each question like “This next question comes from Carly in New York, and she asks …”
Scheduled to appear: Charlie Grandy, Ryan Koh, Anthony Farrell, Justin Spitzer, Brent Forrester, Lester Lewis, Aaron Shure, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Jennifer Celotta, Michael Schur, Greg Daniels
If you have a question for a specific writer, that’s cool, too!
DEADLINE: I’m closing this post to new questions tonight. I’m holing up at the library tomorrow to pick questions and prepare …
Am I nervous and excited? You have no idea. :)
P.S.: Yes, Paley will film the event; unfortunately, they usually put only a small clip of the event online, and you’ll have to physically go to the Paley Center in L.A. to view the event in its entirety. I won’t be able to “cover” this event the way I normally would if I were an audience member; I’m hoping some of you will be there to take notes and file reports for OfficeTally later! :)
Vote for OfficeTally — only a few days left!
ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT IN VOTING! OfficeTally is now one of the top three contenders for the Blogger’s Choice Best Entertainment Blog award, and the final days of voting are blind. I would love your vote. Thank you! :)
Here’s how:
- Register at the BCA website. (If you don’t get a confirmation email, create a free GMail account and then re-register at BCA.)
- Go to the OfficeTally page and click the VOTE button.
- Vote ONCE PER IP ADDRESS. BCA will remove duplicate votes coming from the same IP address.
Previous news here.
There is no episode of The Office tonight, but …
A reminder that there is no new episode of ‘The Office’ tonight, due to the vice presidential debate.
That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun, though. Stay tuned …
Someone returning to ‘The Office’?
SPOILER ALERT! Article and subsequent comments may discuss spoilers.
Is someone that we thought was long gone, returning to ‘The Office’ to stir things up? Hmmm.
Read about it at E! Online …
An extra’s report on ‘Weight Loss’
Ohio University student Stefan Kumor was cast as an extra in last week’s episode ‘Weight Loss.’ Stefan appears as a student in the “Expressive Typography in New Media” class that Pam Beesly mistakenly attends.
In the scene, Kumor says “he is sitting behind a computer wearing a blue velvet suit jacket and a white T-shirt with a fake-pink tie painted on it.”
Being the uber-geek I am about behind-the-scenes stuff, I contacted him to ask a few questions.